A Holiday Tale for Accounts Payable Leaders Everywhere
Every AP department in Who-ville knew one thing for sure: December wasn’t just the season of twinkling lights, gingerbread smells, and year-end closings – it was the season when manual processes came crawling out like the Grinch from Mount Crumpit.
Stacks of invoices nearly as tall as a Christmas tree.
Payment deadlines tighter than Cindy Lou Who’s hair bow.
Approvers who vanished like holiday ham.
If chaos had a holiday home, it was in a manual AP process.
But this year, the Grinch had bigger plans …
The Grinch Who Stole … Invoices?
Down in the AP cave, the Grinch rubbed his hands:
“If those Whos want invoices on time,
I’ll slow them down, one late payment at a time!”
He snatched paper invoices from incoming mail trays.
He deleted emails with PDF attachments and cryptic vendor notes.
He hid coding spreadsheets behind folders named “DO NOT OPEN.”
And as for approvals?
He rerouted them straight to Who-Knows-Where.
The AP Whos panicked. Staff scrambled. Vendors called. Auditors frowned.
It was shaping up to be a very Grinchy fiscal year-end.
But the AP Whos Had a Secret Weapon: Automation
Just when the Grinch thought he’d sabotaged every invoice in town, something strange happened.
Instead of frantic typing …
He heard quiet.
Instead of chaos …
He heard calm.
Instead of overdue notices …
He saw dashboards gleaming like ornaments.
The Whos had automated.
Invoices were captured automatically
No more paper piles, no more missing PDFs. Smart data extraction meant the Grinch couldn’t hide a thing, not even a sneaky duplicate.
Coding and workflows were pre-built and rules-driven
Approvals routed themselves, even when managers were off sipping mint cocoa.
The Grinch tried to break the workflows …
… but automation just rerouted, tracked, and timestamped everything with Who-like cheer.
Every payment was electronic
No checks to steal! No envelopes to misplace!
The Grinch hated efficiency, and this was efficient and secure.
Real-time visibility lit up the night like a holiday tree
No more blind spots.
No more guessing cash flow.
No more month-end surprises dressed up like lumps of coal.
The Grinch couldn’t stand it.
The Grinch Tries One Last Trick… Vendor Fraud
The Grinch was desperate.
“If I can’t steal invoices,” he growled,
“I’ll steal the bank account changes!”
He crafted emails pretending to be vendors.
He forged forms.
He tried to sneak in routing numbers written in crayon.
But the Whos had automated vendor validations.
Bank accounts were verified instantly.
Fraudulent changes were blocked automatically.
And the Grinch’s emails went straight to the Land of Spam.
“Well, that’s no fun,” he muttered.
Then the Grinch Learned What AP Automation Really Meant
Standing before dashboards of clean data and timely payments, the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes.
He saw AP leaders spending their time on strategy, not searching for invoices.
He saw staff going home on time, not stuck with late-night batch runs.
He saw vendors getting paid faster, without calling to ask, “Where’s my money?”
Automation didn’t just save Christmas.
It saved the entire fiscal year.
The Moral of the Story
Manual AP is the Grinch in your process, stealing time, joy, visibility, and control.
Automation gives all of that back.
It delivers:
- Reliability: No more lost invoices or broken workflows.
- Speed: Faster processing, faster approvals, faster paymentsA general term for modern payment methods that allow funds to move quickly – often in seconds – between financial institutions..
- Visibility: Real-time views into cash flow and spending.
- Security: Fraud-resistant, compliant, audit-ready processes.
- Control: Standardized operations across every business unit.
In other words: AP automation is the holiday miracle that keeps working long after the decorations come down.
So, AP Leaders … What Will You Do Before the New Year?
You can keep wrestling the Grinch: manual invoices, outdated workflows, fraud risks, vendor inquiries, and the holiday crunch …
Or you can automate and enjoy a happier, calmer, faster AP in 2026.
Your heart (and your team’s sanity) will grow three sizes, too.
Ready to elevate your B2B payments?
Whether you are automating for the first time, ready to refresh your existing technology, or looking for ways to complete the ‘last mile’ of automation, Edenred Pay can help. Let’s chat about your needs.
