Accounts payable KPIs are more important than ever in 2025 and beyond. As businesses face rising costs, tightening regulations, and pressure to improve cash flow, knowing which numbers to watch is essential.
But not all metrics are equal. Some offer insights that drive efficiency and cost savings, while others simply report activity without adding value.
4 Accounts Payable KPIs To Track And Why They Matter
Here are four accounts payable KPIs worth tracking and why they matter this year more than ever.
1. Average time to process an invoice
Accounts payable KPIs often begin with this simple yet revealing metric: how long it takes to process a single invoice.
If your team takes 10–14 days or more, it could be a sign of manual bottlenecks or system inefficiencies. Slow processing increases the risk of late payments, missed discounts, and strained supplier relationships.
Reducing the time to process invoices helps free up working capital, but it also improves supplier trust and operational agility. Automating invoice validation and approvals can cut processing time significantly — sometimes down to just one or two days.
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2. Cost per invoice processed
One of the most telling accounts payable KPIs is the cost of processing a single invoice. This includes labour, technology, paper handling, and overhead.
Manual processes push this number up, especially if staff spend hours rekeying data or chasing approvals. In contrast, automated systems reduce the need for human input and prevent errors that require costly corrections.
Tracking this KPI helps identify how much value you’re really getting out of your current system. If costs remain high, it’s a clear sign it’s time to modernise.
3. Percentage of early payment discounts captured
This is one of the most overlooked accounts payable KPIs. If your business is offered early payment discounts but misses them due to slow processing, you’re losing money.
More suppliers are incentivising faster payments to protect their own cash flow. But without fast invoice handling, you won’t qualify for those savings.
Improving this KPI directly boosts the bottom line. It also requires solid internal collaboration, ensuring procurement, finance, and technology teams are aligned on payment timelines.
4. Percentage of invoices processed straight through
Straight-through processing refers to invoices that require no manual touchpoints from receipt to approval. This is one of the most powerful accounts payable KPIs to track because it reflects the health of your entire process.
A low rate usually means missing data, mismatched POs, or poorly integrated systems. A high rate indicates mature processes, good data quality, and fewer errors.
The more invoices that go straight through, the faster your accounts payable runs, and the fewer resources you need to keep things moving.
Focus on the right metrics
There’s no shortage of data in finance. But choosing the right accounts payable KPIs means focusing on outcomes: speed, cost, accuracy, and value.
These four metrics provide a strong baseline to assess performance and guide improvements. More importantly, they help you build a case for automating manual processes and increasing the efficiency of your accounts payable team. Download our Accounts Payable First Steps guide to get started.