Touchless AP for the easy invoices, faster close on the hard ones.
CrossRoads worked with the CFO to redesign the AP and close process end-to-end, combining straight-through processing for clean invoices, a focused exception workflow for the rest, and a tightened close cadence. Senior finance time shifted from chasing accruals to analyzing the result.
Illustrative — a pattern drawn from comparable engagements. No specific client or unverifiable results are claimed.
The situation
A services group with multiple legal entities on a shared ERP, processing tens of thousands of invoices a month across captured PO and non-PO spend. Close was anchored to manual reconciliation work that compressed the analytical window every period.
What had to change
- Long close cycle limited time for analysis and commentary
- AP exception handling was unstructured and unowned across entities
- Inconsistent coding eroded reporting quality and audit confidence
- Working capital was leaking through missed early-payment terms
The work
We ran an AP automation and close-acceleration sprint, redesigning the invoice-to-pay flow with a small finance-led squad, then sequenced controls, exception workflow, and close cadence change over the following quarter.
Invoice-to-pay redesign
Re-mapped clean vs. exception paths; configured straight-through processing for PO-matched, recurring, and rules-coded invoices.
Exception workflow
Tiered exception queue with clear ownership, ageing thresholds, and supplier-facing communication.
Close cadence
Hard-close vs. soft-close redesign; standardized cut-offs and pre-close checks.
Controls & reporting
Continuous-controls monitoring of high-risk transactions and dashboards for AP ageing, accruals quality, and close progress.
What changed, measured
Figures are illustrative ranges drawn from comparable engagements. Validated against your data during diagnostic.
What changed in how the business runs
- Finance leadership reviews the result, not the reconciliation
- Supplier queries are handled in a single, owned workflow
- Coding quality is monitored continuously, not sampled in audit
- Early-payment economics are visible and acted on weekly
How value was tracked
Value modeled across three pools — labor reallocation from manual processing, working-capital benefit from on-time payment and dynamic discounting, and control-cost reduction from automated monitoring. Tracked monthly in a finance value-realization log.
What we'd carry into the next engagement
Touchless only works when the exception path is genuinely owned
Close acceleration is a cadence change as much as a tooling change
Don't automate around bad master data — fix it as part of the sprint
Where this connects
Finance & Value Advisory
Performance, valuation, investor readiness, and finance transformation.
Digital & Analytics
AI, analytics, automation, and the data foundations that make them work.
Financial Services
Controls, customer outcomes, and credible AI in a regulated environment.
AP Automation & Exception Management Sprint
Touchless AP for the easy invoices, exception workflow for the hard ones — proven end to end.
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Facing a comparable situation?
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