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According to recent Shared Services & Outsourcing Network (SSON) research, most AP functions remain less than 50% automated , even after decades of technology investment. The problem isn’t automation itself. It’s how it’s been designed. Traditional AP automation focuses almost entirely on buyer efficiency, often overlooking suppliers in the process. The result is familiar: fragmented supplier portals, limited invoice visibility, extended payment terms, and rising inquiry volu

When Taylor Swift shows up at a Chiefs game, cameras don’t scan the whole field. They cut straight to Travis Kelce. Because that’s where the action is. AP automation has the same blind spot. AP Automation solutions have always spotlighted the clean, fast plays—invoice capture, routing, straight-through processing. That’s the highlight reel. But the part that decides whether it delivers happens somewhere else. It happens in the red zone. Most finance teams have automated the e

When suppliers are the focus of AP automation solutions – everyone wins.  When suppliers have no visibility, no incentives to participate in early payment programs, and no ability to self-service their needs, it creates a race to the bottom. AP teams get swamped with endless inquiries and working capital cannot be put to use. There's a better way. And it starts with Direct Commerce.

Direct Commerce's innovative platform was gamechanging for Nationwide Consulting When a small business works with global enterprises, visibility isn't a nice-to-have. It's vital.  Robert Hanson knows this fact intimately. He also knows a thing or two about Accounts Payable – he's been working with clients (and their AP systems) since the 1990s.  He also knows how damaging inefficiencies in the AP process can be – as every supplier inquiry, back and forth with a buyer, and del

Suppliers have become the forgotten stakeholder. They've been punished by high rates, stuck with clunky and outdated software, and saddled with worsening payment terms. But they are critical to any AP program: if they have no incentive to participate, the entire system breaks down. That's why we're not rethinking the current system. We're rebuilding it from the ground up – creating the industry's only Supplier-First platform.

The AP Automation system is broken: for decades AP automation "solutions" relied on antiquated processes, misaligned incentives, and technology that automated dysfunction. The result was AP chaos.  At Direct Commerce, we're not tweaking the system.  We're replacing it.

We've all seen it - the dreaded "trough of disillusionment." The point where a once-promising technology comes crashing back down to earth, seemingly written off. Are we at that point in AP Automation? The latest report from Gartner®, the 2025 Hype Cycle™ for Procurement and Sourcing Solutions 2025 states "Procurement can accelerate its key value propositions by investing in emerging technologies to optimize and automate across processes. Procurement technology leaders should