Accounts payable has long been treated as an entry-level finance function: process invoices quickly and accurately, and keep suppliers paid. Two trends are changing that. Finance teams are automating the routine work, and payment fraud aimed at AP is rising. As platforms such as SutiAP take over invoice capture, matching and approval routing, the skills employers screen for are moving from data entry toward judgment, controls and systems knowledge.
Here are the numbers behind that shift, and what they mean for hiring managers and candidates.
Key statistics
- 59% of finance leaders used AI in their finance function in 2025, up from 37% in 2023.
- 37% of finance functions use AI for accounts payable process automation, the second most common AI use in finance.
- 76% of US organizations faced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025.
- 74% were affected by business email compromise in 2025, up from 63% a year earlier.
- 58% of organizations said paper checks were targeted by fraud, more than any other payment method.
Automation statistics
Gartner’s 2025 AI in Finance survey of 183 CFOs and senior finance leaders, published in November 2025, found 59% using AI in finance, almost the same as 58% in 2024 but well above 37% in 2023. Adoption grew fast, then levelled off as teams moved from pilots to daily use.
Accounts payable sits near the top of where AI is used. Knowledge management led at 49%, AP process automation followed at 37%, and error and anomaly detection was third at 34%, according to CFO.com’s report on the findings. Finance leaders said limited data literacy, a shortage of technical skills and poor data quality were holding them back. For anyone hiring into finance, the first two matter most: the bottleneck is increasingly people rather than software.
Payment fraud statistics
The Association for Financial Professionals’ 2026 Payments Fraud and Control Survey, which polled 465 treasury practitioners in January 2026, found that 76% of US organizations faced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2025. Business email compromise affected 74%, a sharp rise from 63% in 2024, as U.S. Bank noted in its summary. Checks remained the most targeted payment method at 58%.
For AP staff, these attacks usually arrive as a convincing email asking to change a supplier’s bank details or to rush a payment outside the normal approval path. Automated checks catch some of them. The rest depend on a person who knows to pick up the phone.
How AP job descriptions are changing
- Exception handling replaces data entry. When matching is automated, the invoices that reach a person are the disputed, mismatched and unusual ones.
- Controls move into the role. Supplier master data, payment verification and audit trails become daily responsibilities, not occasional tasks.
- Systems knowledge becomes a requirement. Employers increasingly want staff who can set up approval rules and matching tolerances in an ERP or AP platform, not just work inside one.
Interview questions for AP candidates
Recruiters and hiring managers can test for the new mix of skills with questions like these:
- A supplier emails asking you to update their bank account before tomorrow’s payment run. What do you do?
- An invoice is $600 over its purchase order. Walk me through how you resolve it.
- Which approval rules or matching tolerances have you configured in an AP or ERP system?
- How would you find out why a quarter of our invoices end up as exceptions?
Strong answers show process knowledge and caution, not just speed.
What it means for candidates
For people already in AP, the opportunity is to move toward the work automation leaves behind. Learning how your company’s AP or ERP system is configured, taking ownership of exceptions and building a reputation for spotting fraud attempts are the clearest routes to more senior roles such as AP analyst or procure-to-pay specialist. The job is getting smaller in keystrokes and bigger in responsibility.
