AvidXchange, a provider of accounts payable (AP) automation software and payment solutions for middle market businesses and their suppliers, today announced the recent release of a white paper titled, “2024: Anticipating Tomorrow’s Trends.”
The report highlights the findings of a September 2023 survey of 500 finance leaders at middle market companies across various industries “to understand top priorities and concerns as planning begins for the year ahead.”
The survey results revealed that 2024 will center “on digital transformation and technology adoption within finance departments.”
More specifically, the top five trends on finance professionals’ radars “include: artificial intelligence (AI); remote and hybrid work options; business analytics; fraud concerns; and real-time payments (RTP).”
Dan Drees, President of AvidXchange, said:
“Keeping a steady pulse on which areas finance professionals are planning to invest in for the future is key to understanding how the finance function and our customers will evolve. In today’s modern business landscape, it’s important to understand the main concerns and priorities of finance departments as they look to adapt to market changes and deliver superior services to stakeholders.”
Highlights from the report include:
- Artificial intelligence (AI)AI is poised to supercharge productivity and has a large presence within finance departments today, as 72% of finance leaders say they are currently using the technology. More than half of the finance leaders surveyed said they are “very comfortable” using AI technology (60%), while only 12% noted they are “hesitant” or “very uncomfortable” with AI.
- Remote and hybrid work options – While 80% of finance departments work in hybrid or fully remote models, organizations must still make refinements to improve operations and collaboration efforts in these working environments for the year ahead. Inadequate technologies, including computer hardware and cloud-based software, pose a challenge for 29% of remote and hybrid finance leaders.
- Business analytics – Demand for financial analysis and reporting among organizational stakeholders is prompting finance teams to invest in tools that automate the reporting process, provide real-time views and simplify report building. Data analytics is being used for a number of mission-critical uses like informing decision-making (64%), identifying fraud (59%), catching and reducing errors (56%), pinpointing opportunities to grow the business (54%) and finding money-saving opportunities (49%). Accounts payable teams are also using data analytics to analyze invoice data (75%), measure invoice and payment workflows (67%) and track purchasing patterns (60%).
- Fraud concerns – Though 64% of financial leaders revealed their companies have strengthened security measures in 2023, organizations must remain vigilant and aware of threat actors’ constantly evolving tactics. About 57% of respondents revealed that their organization fell victim to check fraud attacks or attempts and 60% suffered from cyberattacks, including phishing attempts. In 2024, it will be more important than ever to safeguard finance departments from threat actors, as most finance professionals reported that data protection and security (29%) and digital transformation (29%) are their department’s top priorities for the year ahead.
- Real-time Payments (RTP) – Suppliers are expecting the same convenience and rapid payment associated with P2P payments for their businesses. As a result, in 2023, 49% of organizations have used real-time payments to pay suppliers and vendors, with 21% of them using this method most often.