Scaling a community association management company is hard to do without automation. Most leaders know that at some point, manual processes start to take too much time—and their team starts feeling stretched too thin.
But accounts payable automation isn’t the right fit for every company, especially not right away. Depending on your systems, your team, and your invoice volume, automation might not solve your problems. It might even create new ones.
At AvidXchange, we’ve been building AP automation solutions for over 25 years. We’ve worked with hundreds of community association management companies, and over time, we’ve seen clear patterns. Certain challenges make automation more difficult—or even unnecessary—for some companies.
In this article, we’ll walk through the most common challenges that can get in the way of successful AP automation. This can help you make an informed decision about whether it’s the right next step for your company.
Here are 6 common challenges with AP automation in the community association management space:
1. You're not processing enough invoices to see a return
If you’re only handling a handful of invoices each month, automating your AP process may not be worth the time or cost. We often talk to community association management companies that feel like they’re buried under invoices, only to realize they’re processing fewer than 100 a month.
If you’re doing 50 or fewer invoices monthly, you probably won’t see a strong ROI on AP automation. The software could still help, but you might be better off sticking with manual processing for now, at least until your volume grows.
And when your volume does grow, reach back out, and our experts can tell you if it would be beneficial to automate.
Keep reading: Is Your Business Big Enough For AP Automation?
2. You're still using paper and spreadsheets to track invoices
If your company is completely paper-based or you’re tracking invoices in Excel, it may be too early to jump into automation.
While it’s technically possible to automate some parts of the process, solutions like AvidXchange are designed for companies that have already adopted some form of accounting software or ERP system.
The next best step might be moving to an ERP system that helps you more efficiently manage the accounting within your community associations. AvidXchange has robust integrations and strong partnerships with the leading community association management ERPs.
Once you’ve got a more modern setup in place, AP automation becomes significantly more impactful.
3. You don’t have time to implement the software
A common challenge for community association managers is that the person managing AP is already wearing too many hats. They’re buried in manual work, which makes it tough to carve out time for software implementation—even if the software is supposed to solve that exact problem.
The best way to overcome this is to plan ahead. Try to implement during your slower season. And make sure others in the company are on board, so they can help fill in when needed.
When you decide it’s time to automate, be sure to choose an experienced vendor who will partner with you throughout the implementation process, work with you on your schedule, and provide access to training materials for you and your team.
Time will always be a factor, but the right partner will work with you to make the process as manageable as possible.
4. You're worried about changing roles on your AP team
Many community association management companies have long-time team members who have helped the company grow, one community at a time. Every time you added a new association, maybe you also added more headcount to keep up with the invoice volume.
This might make you or people on your team worried: what happens if software takes over part of their work?
Automation doesn’t mean layoffs. But it does mean you’ll need to reassign work or shift responsibilities. What else could your team accomplish with the extra time?
For example, one client with AvidXchange found their community association management company spent 50% less time on AP tasks after automation. The team uses that extra time to research issues for the communities and to stay on top of industry trends at tradeshows.
The bottom line is automation can free up time—time that you could spend to grow your company. But if you’re not ready to rethink how your team operates, you might not be ready for automation.
5. You need multiple people to approve every invoice
If your process requires several layers of approval—like a community manager, a regional director, and even board members—you might be wondering if AP automation software can keep up.
Not every tool handles complex approval chains well. Some may only support one or two levels of approval, which can create bottlenecks or force you to change your workflow.
Before you commit to any software, make sure it allows for multiple approvers, customizable approval paths, and visibility across every step of the process. Otherwise, you may find yourself working around the system instead of saving time with it.
AvidXchange was built with this in mind. It supports multi-level approvals and flexible workflows that adapt to how your team operates.
6. You're worried automation will upset your vendors
Vendors are the lifeblood of community associations. You rely on landscapers, pool companies, electricians, and general contractors to keep your communities running smoothly. Many of these vendors are small businesses—and for some, the way they get paid can make or break their operations.
If you’re considering AP automation, this is something to watch for. Not every solution is built with your vendor network in mind.
AvidXchange takes a more flexible approach. Your vendors can still receive paper checks if that’s what they prefer. And if they’re ready for digital payments, they have the option to receive funds by direct deposit or virtual credit card.
There’s also a high chance some of your vendors have already onboarded within our system. Our network of over 1.2 million suppliers includes hundreds of vendors focused on serving community association management. If they’re already getting paid by other companies like yours, setup becomes faster and smoother for you and your vendors.
The key takeaway is this: make sure any tool you’re considering puts your vendor experience first. If they don’t, the fallout will hit your communities fast.
So is AP automation right for your company?
Scaling your community association management company without automation isn’t impossible, but it does require lots of manual labor.
However, automation alone won’t fix everything. If your team isn’t ready to restructure around new software, or if your invoice volume just isn’t high enough to see real ROI, you may encounter more problems with AP automation.
That said, for companies that are in the right place, AP automation can drive meaningful change. It can free up time, reduce errors, and give your team more capacity to grow.
At AvidXchange, we’ve spent decades helping community association management companies with the challenges you deal with every day. If you’ve read through these common challenges and still feel automation might be right for you, the next step is to see how AvidXchange’s solutions could benefit your company.
Book your demo to explore whether AvidXchange can support your team—and help you avoid the common challenges we talked about here.
Important Notice: This content is intended solely as a research tool for informational purposes and not as investment advice or recommendations for any particular action or investment and should not be relied upon, in whole or in part, as the basis for decision making or investment purposes. Any estimates, projections, and information contained herein have been obtained from public sources or are based upon estimates and projections and involve numerous and significant subjective determinations, and there is no assurance that such estimates and projections will be realized. This content does not in any way reflect expectations for (or actual) AvidXchange operational or financial performance
