Edenred Pay: Automation Makes the Invisible, Visible

Automation gives AP teams real-time visibility into cash flow and corporate spending, Edenred Pay Chief Product and Technology Officer Jonathan Beckham writes in a new PYMNTS eBook, “Headlines That Will Shape the Close of 2025.”

Finance leaders are facing a stark reality: you can’t manage what you can’t see. Economic turbulence, shifting trade policies, declining interest rates and a rising tide of payment fraud are reshaping the financial landscape. Accounts payable (AP) leaders are no longer being asked just to process invoices — they are being asked to safeguard cash flows, control spending and provide real-time insight into organizational performance. Without clear visibility, that mission is impossible.

Too many AP teams are still relying on outdated processes that obscure visibility.  Manual tracking, spreadsheets and siloed systems delay critical insights and create blind spots in cash flow forecasting. Decision-makers are left reacting after the fact rather than steering proactively.

In a world where supplier disruptions can ripple across global supply chains overnight and interest rate changes can alter investment yields within days, waiting weeks for invoice data is no longer acceptable. Visibility into AP information must be immediate, accurate and actionable.

Legacy AP processes provide, at best, fragmented snapshots of financial health. Reports are often cobbled together after long delays, creating data latency and forcing teams to re-key information into downstream systems. By the time leaders have answers, the questions have already changed.

These outdated approaches waste staff time and create risk. Fraudulent transactions slip through unnoticed, duplicate payments go undetected, and organizations struggle to respond when market conditions shift. Visibility can no longer be a quarterly exercise; it must be continuous and dynamic.

Forward-looking AP leaders are embracing automation to transform how they see and manage financial data. Automating the processing of invoices and payments end-to-end provides:

• Real-time dashboards that display invoice status and key performance indicators.
• Drill-down capabilities so leaders can move from a high-level trend to the root cause fast.
• Mobile access that keeps decision-makers in the know, even when they’re on the go.
• Seamless exports to downstream systems, eliminating delays, duplicate data entry and errors.
• Ad hoc reporting that adapts to changing business needs.
• This level of visibility empowers the entire organization to make smarter, faster decisions.

The risks of waiting are clear. Without real-time visibility into cash flows and corporate spending, organizations expose themselves to fraud, poor forecasting and costly missteps in turbulent markets. Meanwhile, competitors who embrace automation gain the ability to anticipate risks, seize opportunities and optimize working capital. The wake-up call is here: finance leaders who continue to operate in the dark risk falling behind. Those who act now can equip their organizations with the tools needed to navigate volatility with confidence and precision.

The mandate for AP leaders is clear: visibility is no longer optional. It is the foundation for resilience, agility, and growth in uncertain times. The organizations that thrive will be those that replace outdated approaches with real-time insights — because you can’t manage what you can’t see.

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