How much does it cost to process an invoice?
The average cost to process a supplier invoice is $9.90, according to Ardent Partners' Accounts Payable Metrics that Matter in 2026. Best-in-class AP teams get it down to $2.67. APQC's cross-industry median is $6.00 per invoice. Most of that cost is people time: keying data, matching to POs, chasing approvals and fixing exceptions.
| Industry average | Best-in-class |
|---|
| Cost per invoice | $9.90 | $2.67 |
| Invoice exception rate | 19.9% | 11.8% |
Source: Ardent Partners, Accounts Payable Metrics that Matter in 2026. APQC median based on 5,846 organisations.
Your own cost is the staff time spent on each invoice multiplied by what that time costs. A finance team that spends 12 minutes on each invoice at a staff cost of €35 an hour pays €7.00 per invoice. With 70% of invoices processed touchless in Kefron AP, that drops to about €1.11 per invoice, an 84% reduction.
How to calculate your invoice processing cost
- Time a sample. Track 20 to 30 invoices from receipt to payment approval. Include data entry, PO matching, chasing approvals, fixing exceptions and filing.
- Work out your hourly staff cost. Use salary plus employer costs and overheads, not salary alone.
- Multiply by volume. Use your average monthly invoice count, then multiply by 12 for the annual figure.
The calculator above does this for you and shows the saving from automating it.
Worked example: 2,000 invoices a month
A finance team processing 2,000 supplier invoices a month, at 12 minutes per invoice and €35 per hour, with Kefron AP at a 70% touchless rate:
| Manual today | With Kefron AP |
|---|
| Staff time per invoice | 12 min | 1.9 min |
| Cost per invoice | €7.00 | €1.11 |
| Staff hours per year | 4,800 | 760 |
| FTEs needed for invoice processing | 2.9 | 0.5 |
| Annual processing cost | €168,000 | €26,600 |
Annual saving: €141,400 and around 4,040 staff hours, the equivalent of 2.4 full-time employees.
How touchless processing rate changes your cost per invoice
Touchless processing rate is the share of invoices that are captured, matched and approved for payment without anyone touching them. It is the single biggest driver of invoice processing cost. Based on 12 minutes and €35 per hour today:
| Touchless rate | Time per invoice | Cost per invoice | Cost reduction |
|---|
| 0% (manual) | 12.0 min | €7.00 | - |
| 50% | 2.5 min | €1.46 | 79% |
| 60% | 2.2 min | €1.28 | 82% |
| 70% | 1.9 min | €1.11 | 84% |
| 80% | 1.6 min | €0.93 | 87% |
| 90% | 1.3 min | €0.76 | 89% |
Assumes touchless invoices take about 1 minute of oversight and exceptions take a third of today's handling time. Kefron AP customers typically see 70 to 90% touchless processing for recurring suppliers.
What makes invoice processing expensive?
- Manual data entry. Keying supplier, line item and tax details from PDFs and paper into the ERP.
- PO matching. Checking invoices against purchase orders and goods receipts by hand.
- Chasing approvals. Emailing budget holders and following up on invoices stuck in inboxes.
- Exceptions. Price or quantity mismatches, missing POs and duplicate invoices that need investigating.
- Supplier queries. Answering "when will I be paid?" calls and emails.
- Filing and audit. Storing invoices and finding them again for audits and VAT checks.
Kefron AP automates capture, 2-way and 3-way PO matching and approval routing, and posts straight into your ERP. See all AP automation features, or read more about what drives invoice processing costs and how to reduce them.
Invoice processing cost FAQs
What is the average cost to process an invoice?
The average is $9.90 per invoice, according to Ardent Partners' Accounts Payable Metrics that Matter in 2026, while best-in-class AP teams process invoices for $2.67. APQC's cross-industry median is $6.00. A good cost per invoice is anything approaching the best-in-class figure, which usually means most invoices are processed touchless.
How do you calculate the cost of processing an invoice?
Divide the minutes spent on each invoice by 60 and multiply by your fully loaded hourly staff cost. For example, 12 minutes at €35 an hour is €7.00 per invoice. Multiply by your monthly invoice volume and by 12 to get the annual cost.
What is touchless invoice processing?
Touchless invoice processing means an invoice is captured, matched to its purchase order and approved for payment without anyone in the finance team handling it. The touchless processing rate is the percentage of invoices that go through this way.
How does AP automation reduce invoice processing costs?
AP automation removes the manual steps that take the most time: data entry, PO matching and chasing approvals. Invoices that match are processed touchless, so the finance team only works on exceptions. At a 70% touchless rate, cost per invoice falls by around 84% in the example above.
What touchless rate can I expect with Kefron AP?
Kefron AP customers typically see 70 to 90% touchless processing for recurring suppliers. Your rate depends on your supplier mix, how many invoices are PO-backed and the quality of your purchase order data.
Does the calculator include the cost of the software?
No. The calculator estimates staff time and cost only. For software pricing, see Kefron AP pricing.
Which ERP systems does Kefron AP work with?
Kefron AP integrates with over 70 mid-market and enterprise ERP and finance systems, including SAP, Oracle, Oracle Fusion, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Business Central, Sage, Infor, Unit4 and NetSuite. See all ERP integrations. Kefron AP does not integrate with Xero or QuickBooks.
