In retail, margins are tight, competition is fierce and customer expectations never stop rising. That means there’s no room for wasted time, money or effort in Accounts Payable.
Manual checks, duplicate payments and slow approvals might feel like minor issues, but in a sector that moves fast, they quietly drain cash and damage supplier trust.
To protect margins, you need to understand the root causes and fix them before they cost you more than you realise. When AP runs well, suppliers are paid on time, costs stay under control and Finance teams can focus on driving the business forward.
Why an efficient Accounts Payable department matters in retail
In retail, even small mistakes in AP can have big consequences. Late or incorrect payments strain supplier relationships, block stock from reaching shelves and leave money on the table through missed discounts.
Inefficient processes also tie up staff time and cash, making it harder to respond to opportunities or challenges. Only 23% of retail leaders feel their Finance function is completely prepared to handle these pressures.
A proactive AP team with full visibility over spend and accurate data protects margins, keeps suppliers happy and gives Finance leaders the clarity they need to make confident, timely decisions.
Four modern Accounts Payable issues in retail and their solutions
Human error & manual data entry
A mismatched Purchase Order, wrong supplier name or incorrect order reference can result in duplicate invoices, overpayments and even fraud, all of which hit margins and slow stock moving through your stores.
Keeping track of thousands of invoices across multiple systems is tough, especially during peak periods. Mistakes aren’t just human error. They’re the result of overworked teams juggling repetitive and error-prone processes.
The impact goes beyond lost cash too. Data entry errors can delay payments, frustrate suppliers and disrupt your supply chain, affecting everything from product availability to customer satisfaction.
Dunelm was facing real challenges with manual processes in its Accounts Payable department. Claire Hull, Finance Operations Manager at Dunelm, highlighted supplier statement reconciliations as a particular pain point that often led to delays and errors.
Since introducing Xelix, Claire’s team has been able to triple their statement reconciliation output and achieve a 25% reduction in supplier queries. The wider coverage of statement reconciliations has improved compliance, boosted team morale, and given everyone greater confidence in their processes.
Watch the full Dunelm and Xelix webinar and hear how Claire and her team transformed their AP processes.
Lack of insights & weak KPIs
Without meaningful, timely metrics, Finance teams may feel they’re flying blind. Data trapped in spreadsheets or silos makes it impossible to see trends, benchmark performance against peers or optimise cash flow effectively. You might not know which suppliers are waiting for payment, which invoices are stuck in approvals or where overpayments are quietly draining margins.
The consequences pile up quickly. Teams end up reacting to issues instead of preventing them, which means they miss out on early payment discounts and leave supplier cash flow unpredictable. That unpredictability can ripple through the business, delaying stock deliveries or slowing down store openings. Poor visibility also makes it harder to plan working capital, manage seasonal peaks or respond to supply chain disruptions, putting both revenue and customer experience at risk.
Modern AP teams need more than just processed invoices; they need clear, actionable insights in real time. With the right metrics and dashboards, Finance leaders can spot bottlenecks earlier and make proactive decisions to combat them.
Xelix’s Reports module gives retail Finance teams the visibility they need to stay ahead. Instead of relying on static spreadsheets or chasing data across multiple systems, you get a single source of truth for all AP activity. Interactive dashboards show you exactly which invoices are delayed, where exceptions are spiking and how your payment performance compares to peers.
Rising fraud & supplier impersonation
As fraud threats escalate across industries, CFOs are becoming increasingly focused on prevention.
Scammers are targeting Accounts Payable by mimicking legitimate invoices, altering bank details, hijacking email chains and launching phishing attacks to trick staff into redirecting payments. The risk is highest when approvals rely solely on email, supplier-bank details aren’t independently verified and anomalies go unnoticed in large transaction volumes.
Read more: The worst invoice fraud cases
Xelix's Helpdesk solution addresses these challenges by automating vendor query management. The agentic AI reads, understands and categorises incoming vendor emails which includes flagging fraud by cross checking information from your ERP and P2P systems. The system flags potentially fraudulent requests by identifying:
- Multiple recent change requests from the same supplier (often a red flag for attempted fraud)
- Unfamiliar email addresses or domains that don’t match how you usually communicate with certain vendors
- Mismatches between the requested changes and the supplier details already on file
By checking new bank details against existing records in real time, Helpdesk makes it much harder for phishing attempts to slip through. It gives AP teams an extra layer of protection, so payments don’t get diverted to the wrong place, tackling vendor impersonation scams before they become a costly problem.
Poor supplier master-data & onboarding
In retail, clean supplier data isn’t just a Finance problem – it’s a business-critical one. If vendor records are messy, everyone feels the impact: payments are delayed; stock doesn’t arrive on time and customers can’t get the products they want.
Duplicates, missing tax IDs, wrong bank details or inconsistent payment terms might look like small errors, but they quickly snowball. They slow down reconciliations, create compliance risks and eat up hours of AP time. The usual culprits? Ad hoc supplier creation, patchy onboarding processes and multiple regional systems that don’t talk to each other.
Xelix takes the pain out of supplier data by automating daily cleansing, validation and monitoring. It flags missing fields, duplicate records and suspicious changes before they become problems, keeping your vendor base accurate and secure. That means fewer failed payments, tighter fraud protection and smoother supplier relationships.
With accurate supplier data, you keep goods moving and free up your Finance team to focus on work that adds real value.
How AP issues turn into financial losses
It’s easy to underestimate the impact of AP process problems in your retail business. They’re not high-profile problems that can derail your business overnight. But like water undermining the foundations of a building, they consistently compromise your financial performance.
Direct financial losses
An overworked AP team – using manual processes – isn’t equipped to prevent, identify or reclaim financial losses in your business. Financial losses may result from:
- failure to identify duplicate or fraudulent invoices
- paying an invoice multiple times
- overpaying due to data entry mistakes
- paying an invoice to the wrong supplier
- paying an invoice in the wrong currency
Once this has happened, it can be difficult to reclaim that money. If the error is even noticed…
There’s also the risk of incurring late payment charges for slow payment – as well as lost opportunities to claim early payment discounts.
Indirect losses
There are also indirect financial losses associated with poor AP processes. Retail businesses depend on their suppliers to provide the products their customers desire. So, supplier relationships are essential. Late payment, errors, and poor supplier communication…these issues all undermine that important dynamic. In extreme circumstances, this can result in the suspension of services, which means lost sales for your stores.
It isn’t just suppliers you need to keep on your side either. AP staff are in high demand and hiring is getting harder – leaving employers struggling to get the AP talent they need. AP experts are looking for more enjoyable work, where they feel empowered and appreciated. Trap them in tedious manual roles and you’ll experience high turnover – and the associated costs and disruption of staff churn.
Solving AP challenges with AI
AI is already transforming the way retail Finance teams work by automating manual tasks, spotting errors, flagging fraud and turning data into actionable insights. The result? Cash stays where it belongs, suppliers get paid on time, avoiding late fees, and teams can focus on strategic work instead of firefighting.
In a fast-moving retail world, automation is the difference between chasing problems and staying ahead of them.
