The AP Leader’s Guide to Getting Ahead of Spend

In 2026, your role in accounts payable matters more than ever. You’re closer to committed spend, cash flow, and risk than most teams, and leadership is paying closer attention to what you see and how quickly you can act on it.

Getting ahead, however, isn’t about moving invoices faster for the sake of speed. It’s about having the right spend management technology so you can see what’s coming, apply controls earlier, and support the business with confidence.

Here are five ways AP leaders and their teams can get, and stay, ahead of spend.

1. Start by removing the manual friction that slows everything down

If a big part of your day still goes to chasing invoices, fixing exceptions, or nudging approvals along, it’s hard to feel like you’re truly ahead of spend.

Manual capture and routing do more than slow processing. They delay visibility into what the business has already committed to pay and keep your team stuck reacting instead of managing. Over time, that friction adds up.

According to Ardent Partners, best-in-class AP teams process invoices in 3.1 days, compared to 17.4 days for all other organizations, and operate at an 80% lower cost per invoice ($2.78 vs. $12.88)¹.

That’s where Concur Invoice fits in.

As one part of the SAP Concur connected, AI-powered platform, Concur Invoice brings invoice data together with the rest of your spend ecosystem so you can strengthen control, reduce risk, and stay ahead as conditions change.

SAP Concur users report:²

• Positive ROI in as little as seven months
• An estimated $43,000 in annual savings
• 134 fewer hours of manual work each week across AP and finance

Learn how modern invoice management supports scale in 6 Reasons Concur Invoice Is Right for You.

2. Use invoice data to see spend before it turns into a problem

Invoices reflect what the business has agreed to pay, often weeks before costs appear in the general ledger. When that visibility comes late, forecasting turns into guesswork.

In fact, delayed invoice visibility directly contributes to forecasting challenges and downstream spend surprises¹, particularly in manual or low-automation environments.

Conversely, earlier insight into invoice data allows your accounts payable to move from being the last step in the finance process to one of the earliest signals of what’s coming next.

For practical guidance, get our tipsheet on Accounts Payable Reporting: Achieve Financial Transparency with SAP Concur.

3. Connect AP to the rest of spend for a clearer picture

Invoices don’t exist in isolation. They’re tied to expenses, purchasing cards, and travel, all of which shape total spend and cash exposure.

When those pieces live in separate systems, you’re left stitching together the story after the fact. When they’re connected, the picture becomes clearer and easier to explain.

This is a big reason why AP’s role is evolving.

In fact, Ardent Partners’ 2026 AP trends research identifies accounts payable as an increasingly strategic driver of spend visibility, cash control, and business resilience, not just a transactional function.

With invoice data connected to the rest of spend, AP teams can:

• Identify patterns and risks sooner
• Reduce reconciliation effort
• Share a more credible, complete view of spend with finance leadership

To dig deeper into this trend, read the Accounts Payable 2026: BIG Trends and Predictions report.

4. Build risk and compliance into the process, not after the fact

Invoice fraud and duplicate payments aren’t new, but they are getting harder to catch with manual checks alone.

As AP teams move faster and rely more on digital workflows, fraudsters look for gaps in approval, vendor setup, and payment processes. In fact, 80% of organizations report being targeted by payment fraud attacks or attempts, and 44% say expense-related fraud poses a significant threat to financial performance.⁴

Once a fraudulent payment goes out the door, recovery is often limited. In 2023, 30% of fraud victims were unable to recover any lost funds, while 59% recovered less than 75% of what was taken.⁴ That reality makes prevention far more effective than cleanup.

AP teams that stay ahead build controls directly into the process using SAP Concur solutions.

With automated invoice capture, three-way match, embedded policy controls, and integrated add-on solutions like Intelligent Audit, AI is applied continuously to review invoices and payment activity as it happens. That makes it easier to flag duplicate invoices, unusual payment behaviour, and risky vendor activity early, before payments are released.

The impact is measurable. Best-in-class AP teams report invoice exception rates of just 9%, compared to 22% for other organizations¹, a gap driven largely by stronger controls and automation.

Explore Accounts Payable Metrics That Matter to see how your current performance compares and learn 7 Effective Ways to Detect and Prevent AP Fraud and Financial Loss.

5. Design AP processes that scale as the business grows

Growth is where AP processes are truly tested.

More suppliers, more invoices, and more complexity can quickly overwhelm manual workflows. Without scalable systems, control erodes and teams feel it fast.

SAP Concur invoice customers report that automation helps them:²

• Reduce manual AP effort as invoice volume grows
• Avoid adding headcount as complexity increases
• Support expansion into new markets and regulatory environments without disrupting control

That scalability allows AP to support growth without losing visibility or confidence.

Ready to build a business case for AP automation? Download the Accounts Payable Automation: A Buyer’s Guide and the Invoice Management Solution Comparison Checklist.

What getting ahead really means for AP

Getting ahead of spend isn’t about predicting every challenge perfectly. It’s about being ready to respond with confidence when conditions change.

With SAP Concur as your spend management partner, you have the tools to strengthen control, reduce risk, and stay ahead in 2026 and beyond.

See what’s possible right now by taking a Concur Invoice Self-guided Demo.

1. Accounts Payable Metrics That Matter, Ardent Partners, 2025
2. Travel, Expense, and Vendor Invoice Management Study, Analysis Mason, 2022
3. Accounts Payable 2026: BIG Trends and Predictions, Ardent Partners, 2026
4. 7 Ways to Detect and Prevent AP Fraud, SAP Concur, 2025