A Tariff On Suppliers?
- Philip Rowley
- 20 hours ago
- 1 min read
"That Made Me Question A Decade Worth of Work."
Joe Hyland, President of Direct Commerce, has worked in the industry for decades.
A few years ago, he started asking a simple question: who is AP automation actually working for? He started talking with industry experts, with CFOs, with mom-and-pop small business suppliers. One phrase kept coming up: "Free for suppliers."
But treasurers made it more clear. If their vendors charged high subscription fees or gainshare, they had to bake in steeper early payment rates or extend payment terms to compensate.
The more I thought about it, the less "free for suppliers" rang true. Until he had a bit of an epiphany: it wasn't free. It was just costing suppliers in less obvious ways, through high interest rates, worse payment terms, and less transparency.
But more importantly it spurred an idea that could transform how buyers and suppliers partner with each other in the future.
That thought? Well, it's transformative in its simplicity: Free for buyers. Better for suppliers.
