Summary:
- Trade show season is one of the few opportunities each year to compare payment automation providers side by side.
- The most productive conversations start before the event—when you identify the manual processes creating the most operational cost.
- Strong providers demonstrate familiarity with community association management workflows, multi-community portfolios, and board approval requirements.
- Asking the right questions about check reduction, supplier enablement, and ERP integrations can quickly reveal which providers deserve deeper evaluation.
Community association management companies are operating in 2026 under increasing financial pressure. Supplier costs continue to rise; economic uncertainty is forcing closer scrutiny of operational spending, and boards expect clearer financial visibility across the communities they oversee.
At the same time, accounting teams are under pressure to automate the growing volume of invoices flowing through accounts payable. Manual invoice entry, approval routing, and check payments require multiple staff touchpoints, consuming hours of time that could otherwise be spent on financial analysis, reporting, and planning.
With your team already stretched thin, the idea of missing work for tradeshow season may be daunting. However, these events provide one of the few opportunities each year for finance and operations leaders to compare tools, technologies, and providers side by side and gather insights that can help modernize back-office operations and ease strain.
Approaching trade show season with a clear modernization agenda allows finance and operations leaders to use these events as a strategic opportunity to begin the research process and align technology decisions with broader business priorities.
Why Trade Show Season Matters More in 2026
Technology decisions in community association management are increasingly tied to cost control and operational resilience.
Many organizations are managing larger portfolios while accounting teams remain the same size. According to the AvidXchange 2026 Trends survey, 96% of finance professionals report being asked “to do more with less.” Invoice volume grows as communities expand, suppliers multiply, and service contracts increase. At the same time, boards expect faster reporting and stronger financial transparency.
These pressures often expose the hidden cost of manual accounts payable (AP) processes. Paper invoices, manual approvals, and check-based supplier payments slow reporting cycles and create operational friction that becomes harder to sustain as portfolios grow.
Two-thirds (66%) of mid-market finance professionals said they plan to increase their use of ePayments in 2026, and 30% said it’s to improve payment processing efficiency.
Payment automation solutions help increase efficiencies by allowing organizations to reduce check volume and associated fraud risk as well as speed supplier payments for strengthened relationships. Additionally, platforms that actively support supplier adoption of ePayments can significantly reduce tedious work like updating supplier payment information and addressing payment inquiries.
But it’s hard to know which payment automation provider is best for your unique community management company. Trade shows allow organizations to compare providers in real time, learn from peers about how they’re modernizing their community association management technology, and determine which solutions align with their operational priorities.
When approached intentionally, these events can become a starting point for broader payment modernization efforts.
Know Before You Go: Define the Cost You’re Trying to Eliminate
The most productive trade show conversations begin before you arrive at the event.
Finance leaders considering payment automation for community association management should first identify where manual processes are creating the greatest operational cost. Without this clarity, it is easy to focus on product features instead of the inefficiencies those features are meant to solve.
Common inefficiencies of manual payment processes include:
- Check volume that continues to grow each year
- Approval workflows slowing financial reporting
- Limited visibility across multiple communities
- Concerns about fraud exposure in check-based payment processes
Clarifying these challenges helps ensure that conversations with payment automation providers stay focused on outcomes. The goal is not simply to digitize existing processes, but to reduce the manual work associated with payment processing.
How to Evaluate Payment Automation Providers on the Expo Floor
Trade shows are not the place to complete a full evaluation. Instead, they provide an opportunity to identify providers that demonstrate a strong understanding of the operational realities of community association management.
Often, the most valuable signals come from how providers talk about the work itself and the client base they serve.
What to listen for in booth conversations
Strong payment automation providers typically demonstrate familiarity with the complexity of managing multiple communities.
- Familiarity with community management pain points: During conversations, listen for whether providers reference issues such as portfolio structures, board approval workflows, property-level coding requirements, and reporting demands across multiple communities.
- What work they take off your plate: Another important signal is how providers describe reducing manual work. Some solutions focus on digitizing paperwork. Others focus on eliminating manual steps by routing payment approvals electronically and converting checks to ePayments.
- Integrations: Integration discussions can reveal a great deal about a provider’s maturity and flexibility. Established payment automation platforms should clearly explain how their solution integrates with your current community association management ERP system and how financial data flows between platforms. Outside of your current ERP system, ask about their breadth of connections with other popular ERPs so you can continually adapt to future needs or system changes as your company grows.
- Questions they have for you: Finally, pay attention to the questions providers ask you. Experienced providers often ask about portfolio size, centralized accounting structures, fraud concerns, and current check volume. When a conversation focuses entirely on product features without curiosity about your operational structure, that can be an important signal.
Smart Questions to Ask at the Booth
When time is limited, a few targeted questions can quickly clarify whether a payment automation provider is worth evaluating further. The following questions can help community association management leaders evaluate payment automation providers during trade show conversations.
How much manual invoice data entry can your platform realistically eliminate?
Look for clear explanations of how invoices are captured, how approval routing works, and how manual touchpoints are reduced. Strong solutions should focus on eliminating repetitive tasks rather than simply digitizing documents.
What percentage of check payments can you typically convert to electronic methods?
Reducing check volume is one of the fastest ways organizations improve efficiency and reduce risk. Providers should be able to explain their approach to increasing ePayment adoption among suppliers.
How do you support supplier enablement and onboarding?
Successful payment automation depends on strong ePayment adoption, which requires active supplier outreach. Work with a provider that includes outreach and ongoing supplier support to help your team drive faster results. If that support is limited, be clear on what role your team will play and how that may impact ePayment adoption rates and ROI.
Which community association management systems do you integrate with?
ERP integration is critical for maintaining financial accuracy and visibility. Providers should be able to explain how their platform integrates with existing accounting systems and how data flows between them. Ask whether their integration with your ERP is file-based, an API, or native.
What does implementation look like for a centralized accounting team?
Implementation should support centralized accounting operations while preserving the approval workflows and reporting needs of individual communities.
Is onboarding structured to minimize operational strain?
Vendors should offer a structured, well-supported onboarding process that fits your team’s schedule and minimizes disruption to day-to-day operations. Look for dedicated experts who provide tailored training and resources so your team can quickly understand and use the platform, with adoption feeling manageable, not stressful, and value realized without a heavy time burden.
After the Show: Turning Trade Show Conversations into a Provider Shortlist
The real value of trade show conversations comes from what happens after the event.
Next steps:
- Internal debrief: Within a week of returning, finance and operations leaders should conduct an internal debrief with accounting and IT stakeholders. Reviewing conversations while they are still fresh helps identify which providers reveal the strongest understanding of community association management operation’s needs. These post-show conversations help narrow the field to a shortlist of providers worth evaluating in greater detail.
- Schedule demos: From there, organizations can map each payment automation provider to the cost-reduction goals identified before the show and schedule structured demonstrations with the most promising solutions.
- Ask for customer references: Ask potential vendors for customer stories, case studies, or direct references to validate their experience in the community association management space. Proven success with similar organizations helps ensure the solution can handle the complexity and scale your team requires.
- Prep for sales conversations: Organizations evaluating modernization strategies may also want to explore the broader benefits of automated payments. Well-established payment automation providers should be able to explain how organizations reduce check payments, improve supplier payment efficiency, and scale financial operations across growing community portfolios.
Important Notice: The information presented on this page is based on research and intended for educational purposes only. Anyone seeking to follow the information contained herein should consult their own advisors and conduct their own research prior to doing so. AvidXchange, Inc. and its affiliates disclaim any and all liability resulting from reliance on the information contained herein.