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The Procure-to-Pay (P2P) process, connecting procurement and accounts payable, is a key business function that keeps your business running smoothly. But for many organisations, especially those still relying on manual or siloed systems, P2P is inefficient, error prone and frustrating.
Let’s explore the 10 most common P2P challenges faced by UK businesses today and practical solutions to overcome them.
Many organisations lack real-time visibility across procurement, invoicing, and payment processes making it difficult to track spend, identify bottlenecks, or prevent fraud. A recent study found that 77% of procurement executives cannot access real-time spend data in their business. Implementing an integrated P2P platform that provides a centralised dashboard with real-time reporting can enables better decision-making, spend control, and compliance.
Typically, procurement and accounts payable are both paper heavy and reliant on manual processes from invoice approvals to data entry. Manual processes are slow, tedious and increase the risk of human error, which can be costly. It’s thought that a staggering 40% of invoice errors are due to manual data entry and processing. Automating key workflows such as invoice capture, PO matching, and payment scheduling reduces labour costs and accelerates cycle times. Many UK firms report processing time reductions of 80-90% through automation.
Invoices that don't match purchase orders (POs) or receipts delay payments and require manual intervention. It can be a big headache for procurement and accounts payable teams. However, 2-way or 3-way matching automation ensures invoices match POs and goods receipts automatically, flagging only exceptions for review. An easy fix to a troublesome problem.
It can take at least 10 days to approve invoices manually but using automation can reduce this down to as little as 3 days. Delayed approvals lead to missed early payment discounts, strained supplier relationships and even late payment penalties. Automating approval workflows with routing rules based on department, spend thresholds, or roles is the way forward to drive quicker approval speeds and better supplier relationships.
Manual data entry introduces costly mistakes such as mis-keyed figures, duplicate invoices, or incorrect supplier details. It’s been found that a whopping 40% of invoice errors are due to manual data entry. This is where automation comes into its own! Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and AI-based invoice capture can reduce data entry errors by over 80%, while improving accuracy and auditability by automatically capturing invoice data.
Disconnected procurement, finance, and ERP tools lead to silos and inconsistent data but choosing a P2P solution that integrates seamlessly with your ERP solution, such as Opera 3 SE, can ensure consistent data flow and streamlined processes.
Strong supplier relationships are pivotal to business success and help you secure quality products, faster shipping times and preferable rates. When suppliers are left in the dark about invoice statuses, it leads to frequent queries and strained relationships. Introducing supplier self-service portals that provide real-time updates on invoice receipt, approval status, and payment dates reduces support tickets and builds trust.
Without clear visibility or controls, maverick spending can go unnoticed which can damage budgets and cause financial headaches for finance teams. It’s been found that 25-40% of total company spend is indirect on average. Considering almost half of the average business spend is unaccounted for is a significant worry for businesses. Implementing guided buying workflows, enforce PO requirements, and setting spend thresholds and approval hierarchies will ensure policy compliance and provide full real-time visibility into your company spending.
Manual delays in invoice processing cause organisations to miss out on valuable early payment discounts but automating invoice prioritisation and approvals can help to capture these discounts, saving business noticeable sums. When processing invoices manually the capture rate of early payment discounts is around 50-60%, however this can increase to 75% when using automated workflows to approve and pay invoices in a timely manner.
Manual invoice processing in the UK can cost £4–£25 per invoice but significantly more when you add in the hidden costs too, such as error correction and delays. When companies are processing large numbers of invoices these costs can really stack up. AP automation can reduce processing costs by 20x which can save teams large amounts of money and free up finance teams for more strategic work.
P2P challenges aren’t just operational headaches they impact your bottom line, supplier relationships, and ability to scale. The good news – there is a solution! Every challenge examined in this blog post can be easily overcome with the right mix of automation, integration, and strategic process design.
Ready to get started? Our procure-to-pay automation software available with Opera 3 SE provides cutting edge technology to transform your entire P2P process.
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Posted On: July 30, 2025
