Independent survey reveals over 85% of finance and accounting professionals want the power that comes with greater visibility, control, and automation.

Research shows that over 90% of accounting and finance professionals still waste time chasing down invoice details every month.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Airbase, the fast-growing and top-ranked spend management platform for mid-market and enterprise companies, has today announced the results of an independent survey of over 200 finance and accounting professionals in the U.S. to better understand their day-to-day reality when managing company spend in 2022.

The findings among the respondents — all from companies of 50-3,000 employees — indicate that over 85% want better visibility, control, and automation over employee spending. Inefficiencies in accounts payable and general purchasing processes were evident as 97% stated they waste precious time chasing invoice details every month, and 47% declared that a lack of automation is costing them time and money. Finance teams are searching for simplified processes, access to better data, the eradication of low-value work, and an assurance around visibility and control.

The survey also revealed that finance professionals don’t see what employees are spending until it’s too late. And it showed that a lack of automation keeps them trapped in low-value tasks preventing them from contributing to their company’s strategic initiatives.

Key findings include:

1. Finance professionals don’t see what employees are spending until it’s too late.

• Finance professionals lack real-time visibility on spend.
  • 54% have no visibility into company spending until after it has occurred.
  • 17% wait for credit card statements to be received or for the books to be closed to see this expenditure.
  • 88% want greater visibility of all company spend in real time.

2. Company spend — increased demand for tools to provide true visibility and control.

• 65% believe that current lack of control over spend will negatively impact their growth.
• Over 90% wish for more visibility, control, and automation around how their company spends money.
• 39% say they are controlling less than 50% of their risks.

3. Automation is seen as the path to success.

• 47% say a lack of automation is costing them time and money.
• 78% say automation will directly have a positive impact on growth.
• 97% waste time chasing down invoice details every month.

Thejo Kote, CEO at Airbase, commented, “At Airbase, we’re always listening to our customers and other professional contacts — it helps us stay attuned to the key issues being tackled by the finance community. Every few months, we also like to cast the net wider, and ask a broader cohort via independent surveys what challenges they’re facing.

“While the results in this most recent survey are not directionally surprising, it’s disappointing to see how many finance professionals still struggle to get to a level of efficiency that can be easily achieved with systems that are readily available today.”

View the full results of the Spendlightenment survey.

Airbase also hosts Off the Ledger, a Slack community of around 4,000 finance professionals that’s a private space for networking, advice, and members-only events.

About Airbase:

Airbase is the #1 spend management platform. It combines all-inclusive accounts payable automation, software-enabled corporate cards, and simplified employee expense reimbursements. Airbase applies consistent approval workflows across all areas, automates accounting, and provides real-time reporting for all non-payroll spend. Innovative accounting automation results in a faster close, better visibility, and true control. Most companies rely on a combination of siloed software products, spreadsheets, and manual workarounds to pay vendors and reimburse employees. Airbase eliminates the resulting messy tech stack and inefficient processes by replacing products like Expensify and Bill.com. Airbase empowers employees with a uniform approach to spending money, whether that involves corporate card spend, raising a PO, or requesting reimbursement.