New e-invoicing and payments research suggests finance functions may be falling behind

Only 30% of finance teams automatically reconcile payments with invoices.

How does your organization measure up?

A new global study of 1,150 finance leaders has uncovered a growing disconnect at the heart of finance transformation.

The research from Tungsten Automation shows the gap between perceived progress and operational reality in this core function; one that is increasingly shaping competitiveness.

The takeaway: While adoption of some automation is widespread, it is also limited.

On the surface, the data looks encouraging.

• 77% of finance teams say their automation maturity is established or advanced.
• 43% have fully implemented e-invoicing domestically.

However, one figure stands out. Only 30% of organizations are fully automated when reconciling payments with invoice data.

This suggests that while many organizations have digitized parts of their finance operations, far fewer have fully connected or automated them end to end. In practice, that often means automation exists, but only in fragments.

The result is a growing divide, and a direct threat to efficiency, control, and ultimately bottom-line performance.

A shift in what ‘good’ looks like in finance

Compliance and basic automation are no longer enough. E-invoicing, for example, has reached a tipping point. What began as a regulatory requirement is now the baseline for modern finance.

But when adoption and early-stage automation become universal, they stop being differentiators. The organizations pulling ahead are doing something more. They are extending automation across the full invoice-to-pay lifecycle, connecting processes and removing manual intervention at scale. This is what the new “good” looks like - moving beyond isolated automation to fully integrated, end-to-end workflows.

Exactly how and how far ahead they are, is explored in the full report.

Payments are exposing the cracks

If e-invoicing is the foundation, payments are where transformation is being tested.

The study shows that 73% of organizations plan to expand real-time payments in the next 12 months. But many are doing so while still relying on manual or partially automated processes behind the scenes. This creates a growing tension between faster payment expectations and slower operational capabilities.

As volumes increase, that tension becomes harder to manage, and harder to ignore. Partial automation quickly becomes a blocker.

AI is accelerating the divide

AI is also emerging as a key fault line. A third of organizations are already using AI in payments, with many more planning to follow.

But the research suggests that how AI is applied matters far more than whether it is adopted. Some organizations are still using AI in narrow, task-based ways. Others are starting to apply it more broadly across finance operations by extending automation into more complex, decision-driven workflows.

The implications of that shift are significant, but not yet fully understood by most organizations.

What else the research uncovered

Beyond the headline findings, the study highlights several other trends shaping the future of finance:

• Cross-border complexity is increasing, with 76% of organizations operating internationally.
• Integration remains a major challenge, particularly between invoicing and payments.
• Fraud risk and integration costs are among the biggest barriers to adopting real-time payments.
• Many organizations are still early in their use of AI for risk reduction and decision-making.
• Others remain stuck in partial automation, limiting the value they can extract from digital investments.

Taken together, these trends point to a finance function in transition – where capability is advancing, but consistency is not.

Why this matters now

For CFOs, finance leaders, and transformation leads, the message is clear: The gap is no longer between those who have adopted digital tools and those who haven’t. It’s between those who are scaling automation across the full finance lifecycle, and those who are not.

And that gap is widening.

How do you compare?

So how does your organization compare to your peers?

Are your systems fully connected?

Are your processes scalable?

Are you getting real value from automation and AI – or just incremental gains?

Most organizations believe they are progressing. But the data suggests many may be further behind than they think.

Get the full picture

The full report - Most finance teams think they are advanced. The data says otherwise. - explores these findings in detail. It breaks down where organizations are making real progress, where that progress is overstated, and where the biggest opportunities lie next.

Download the report to benchmark your organization and see how you compare to your peers.