Table of contents
- Introduction
- How Do You Calculate Your ROI
- General ROI Formula
- How Much Money Can You Save
- ROI Calculator for Accounting Automation (USD)
- How Much Time Can You Save
- How Atidiv Provides You the Best ROI
- Accounting Automation ROI Calculator FAQs
Running a business is not an easy task, especially if you are just stepping out into the competitive market. A lot of calculations need to be ironed out and made, including accounts payable automation ROI, to understand liabilities better and allocate resources effectively. It is not easy to juggle in-house operations and simultaneously focus on these non-core but extremely important functions.
Introduction
The role of automation software in finance and accounting has been on the rise, with seasoned accountants using it to increase efficiency. You could, of course, choose to do your bookkeeping work in-house, but with scores of automation and accounting platforms vying for your attention, how do you proceed?
Wondering whether it is a fair call to outsource your accounting tasks? Worried about the ROI that you can earn? Here is some data that will shed light on your queries:
- 41% CFOs have automated more than a third of their accounting processes
- The finance automation market is set to grow at a CAGR of 14% from 2023 to 2030
Therefore, your business needs to outsource to finance and accounting agencies that handle your accounts with a potent combination of automation and expertise in 2025. Calculating a probable ROI that you are going to yield by outsourcing is a subjective value, but it always helps to have a figure in mind.
How Do You Calculate Your ROI
Automating your accounting processes reduces the workload of your employees, allowing them to focus on work better, ultimately contributing meaningfully to your company’s performance. To evaluate whether automation is worth the ROI it brings in, businesses compare their total savings with the total costs involved. A positive ROI shows that automation is generating more financial value than it costs to implement and maintain.
Here is the formula that is used to calculate ROI, and the succeeding table illustrates a case in point.
General ROI Formula
ROI = [(Total Savings − Total Costs) / Total Costs)] × 100%
| Input / Metric | Explanation | Example Value (USD) |
| Total Savings | Reduction in labor hours, error-related costs, software consolidation, faster processing, etc. | $450,000 yearly |
| Total Costs | Automation software fees, implementation costs, and training costs. | $150,000 yearly |
| ROI Formula Applied | [(450,000 − 150,000) / 150,000)] × 100% | 200% |
| Interpretation | A 200% ROI means every $1 spent on automation returns $2 in financial benefit. | — |
The above calculation might seem to be an exaggerated one, but with automated processes costing only 33% of the manual processes, we are not far away from the truth. Therefore, you can potentially save a significant amount every year that can be channeled towards funding important work processes.
How Much Money Can You Save
Before coming to an abrupt conclusion with a concrete savings figure, let us first try to list some of the areas that could potentially help you with a healthy accounts payable automation ROI:
- Labor
- Error Reduction
- Software Consolidation
- Processing Time
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, which is a still bigger argument in favor of automating your finance and accounting processes. Now, let us proceed to estimate the savings you could potentially make with automation, along with the rationale that justifies these figures.
ROI Calculator for Accounting Automation (USD)
| Category | Example Value (USD) | Rationale |
| Labor Savings | $25,000/year | Savings from reduced manual data entry, banking reconciliations, and reporting hours. |
| Error Reduction Savings | $8,000/year | Money saved from preventing billing mistakes from creeping into paperwork and avoiding compliance penalties or costly rework. |
| Software Consolidation Savings | $12,000/year | Savings from replacing multiple tools with a unified automation system. |
| Processing Time Savings | $5,000/year | Value gained from faster month‑end closing of accounts, budget approvals, and faster payment cycles. |
| Total Savings | $50,000/year | Combined financial impact of automation-driven efficiency improvements. |
In 2025, it is imperative to save as much money as you can without compromising on service quality, and the above are the areas that you must watch out for.
How Much Time Can You Save
The time you can hope to save is open to more subjective interpretations. The automation processes are not yet well-realized, with 51% respondents in a survey conceding that they would not know where to begin if they were to start working alongside automated processes. In any case, let us take a good look at the work processes that could potentially save you significant time.
- Invoice processing: With automation in accounting processes, important touchpoints like invoice processing could be completed in minutes instead of days. According to this research, automation facilitates real-time procurement comparison and conducts simultaneous inventory checks. Furthermore, since it can access and analyze data, employees do not have to manually enter data, making transactions with suppliers smoother and faster.
- Tax compliance: Tax season could be stressful for you, especially if you have not maintained tidy books so far. When you opt for outsourcing brands like Atidiv, you need npt worry about error detection, legal compliance, identifying payments, or retrieving important information. Expect these time-intensive processes to be done in a jiffy.
- Bank reconciliation: Automated systems for matching and comparing data dramatically reduce the time required for monthly account closing. Moreover, automation also does away with the chances of human errors, which could account for error rates of up to 1.8%. Thus, ensuring smooth operations with automation saves time and effort.
- Accounts receivable follow-ups: Collection cycles often tend to be lengthy because it is not possible to follow up with all suppliers/vendors that do not clear invoices on time. The best way to handle such matters is to automate your accounting services and send automated follow-up reminders. Thus, you will have a better grip on your cash flow and make investments smoothly, which will add to your accounts payable automation ROI.
- Financial reporting: Automated financial reporting could help you build pre-built workflows and real-time dashboards, thus significantly reducing the time for planning and coordinating. Furthermore, it significantly reduces the time spent generating reports, especially during audit and monthly account closing periods.
- Document Management: Automated tagging, storage, and retrieval (which are often AI-powered by the best U.S. accounting firms) save hours previously spent locating or organizing files.
- Data Entry and Validation: OCR tools, when combined with AI-driven extraction, eliminate repetitive tasks and ensure accuracy without manual oversight. The rule-based checks used in these automated processes reduce the chances of errors so that no time is wasted in dealing with botched-up records later on.
Combined, these time savings translate into faster monthly closing cycles and quicker financial visibility (better cash flow management). Furthermore, your business also encounters fewer operational bottlenecks, allowing your accounting team to focus on strategy rather than paperwork. In 2025, your business must make the most of AI-led automation to save on time and money that could be channeled into better purposes.
How Atidiv Provides You the Best ROI
It is not at all easy to understand the impact of automation on your business by yourself. Finance and accounting require a lot of expertise and experience, and Atidiv helps you navigate these tricky waters with ease. With 16+ years of experience and delivering with a 100% accuracy rate across industries, it serves your purposes with precision.
Atidiv helps you with:
- Access to a network of 390,000+ chartered accountants and CPAs equipped to support your financial goals, giving you the best ROI
- Comprehensive financial statement preparation that detects inefficiencies and reveals critical operational insights, saving time and money
- Triple-layer quality checks are designed to deliver near-perfect accuracy across all reporting and compliance workflows to prevent inaccuracy-related delays
- Customized reporting solutions tailored to your business model and industry demands, respecting challenges unique to your domain
- Flexible, scalable service models that evolve with your business as it grows
Atidiv ensures that you always have reliable, real-time financial data to guide decision-making. Your team stays focused on strategic growth while Atidiv manages the complexity, precision, and compliance needed to maintain a strong financial foundation. Book a free consultation call with us today!
Accounts Payable Automation ROI Calculator FAQs
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How do I know if accounting automation will actually give me a positive ROI?
A positive ROI occurs when the financial benefits of automation outweigh the software, implementation, and training costs. ROI improvement can be realized by comparing measurable savings in labor hours and reduced error-correction costs. Additionally, faster reconciliation cycles and painstaking manual labor bring in efficiency-induced ROI augmentation. To provide an example from the article, automation generated $450,000 in yearly savings against $150,000 in costs, producing a 200% ROI, meaning every $1 spent returned $2 in value.
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Which metrics matter most when calculating accounts payable automation ROI in 2025?
Several KPIs directly influence ROI calculations. From the AP perspective, metrics like invoice processing time, payment error rate, and days payable outstanding (DPO) play a central role. Efficiency in these areas helps businesses manage cash flow better and make informed market decisions. Furthermore, factors like early-payment discount capture reduce the costs that you incur, finally contributing to an improved ROI.
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How long does it take to see ROI from accounting automation?
Most businesses begin to see ROI within a few months because the biggest efficiency gains in the form of faster invoice processing and reduced manual data entry errors start showing results almost immediately. Time savings also scale quickly with reduced reconciliation delays, expedited reporting, and elimination of repetitive AP/AR follow-ups. As shown in the article, companies can save $50,000 per year from combined automation improvements. The timeline can be even shorter when outsourcing to providers like Atidiv, which automates workflows and pairs them with expert accountants. Thus, your business benefits from work-process accuracy, legal compliance support, and faster execution right from day one.