What is Digital Maturity?
In simple terms, it is the extent to which a business has replaced manual processes with automated ones. Digital transformation maturity has evolved beyond a buzzword. It is now a critical journey for your business to embark on to stay competitive and relevant.
Many models define five key stages in a company’s digital transformation journey:
|
Stage |
Description |
Status |
|---|---|---|
|
Initial / Traditional (manual) |
Paper-based, manual processes like physical filing and printing |
10% of Australian businesses |
|
Modernised / Emerging Adoption (partially digital)
|
Cloud accounting adopted, digital compliance, but manual invoice processing |
On average, 72% of businesses are at this stage |
|
Defined / Integrated (partially digital) |
Integrate key digital technologies across functions like real‑time inventory and automated payroll |
|
|
Optimised / Enterprise‑wide (almost digital)
|
Digital capabilities like data analytics are embedded broadly |
87% have implemented AI at some level |
|
Leading / Transformative (fully digital) |
End-to-end automation, closed-loop processing, and complete compliance trail |
18% of Australian businesses |
Source: Freeform Agency & Hubspot
What Is The Digital Maturity Gap?
On average, 90% of Australian businesses have adopted some level of digitalisation, yet only 18% are fully digitalised. This is the digital maturity gap, and it’s often in the back office, specifically, AP.
Consider your typical invoice workflow: an invoice arrives, someone manually enters the details into a spreadsheet or system, your team manually routes the invoice for approvals, and then it’s manually matched to purchase orders.
Every step still requires a person to do manual work, tasks that AP automation could handle for you, freeing up your time and reducing the risk of errors.
Your tech stack probably includes cloud accounting software, maybe a POS system, and perhaps a CRM. You’ve done the hard part. Now it’s time to take the next easy step in closing the gap by automating your AP.
Closing the Gap: Role of Automation In Digital Transformation
The gap between "mostly digital" and "fully digital" shows up in your finance team's everyday workload. Automating AP can help close that gap and deliver tangible benefits:
1. Time Savings
AP automation eliminates manual data entry from invoices and the need to chase approvals. As a result, your team gets back hours each week, allowing them to focus on strategic priorities rather than repetitive tasks. Walhburgers finance team has seen the results with AP automation. After implementation, they save 10 hours every week in AP work. In another instance, Plate it Forward saved 1.5 headcounts' worth of time.
2. Cost Savings
When you automate repetitive, low-value tasks, you don’t require extra hires as invoice volume grows. This also lowers training costs for your temporary or seasonal staff. As a result, there are significant cost savings. For example, City Golf saves $100,000 each year in finance department wages by simply adopting AP automation. Additionally, with digital invoice capture and storage, you save on printing, postage, and filing, and minimise the overhead of storing physical records.
3. Faster Approvals
Automated workflows ensure invoices are routed to the right approver, so your team doesn't have to chase them. Additionally, with faster approvals, you not only strengthen supplier relationships but also often secure early payment discounts, resulting in additional savings. Rare Steakhouse adopted AP automation, reducing approval time from 15+ days to just 3 days. This had a positive impact on the wider business, as there are no more last-minute goals against late payments.
4. Reduced Errors and Risk
AP automation also minimises errors by automatically capturing and matching invoice data, detecting duplicate invoices, and flagging price variances. This reduces the risk of costly mistakes, duplicate payments, and compliance issues, giving you confidence that your financial records are accurate and secure.
5. Staff Productivity & Engagement
When your team is free from repetitive, manual tasks, they can focus on strategic, high-value work such as analysis, forecasting, and supplier management. By reducing stress and making work more meaningful, automation boosts engagement, supports collaboration, and helps you retain top talent. As David, CFO of an educational trust, puts it: "AP automation helped us cover for Nicci while she was on leave, without overwhelming the team. Now that she’s back, smiling, it’s clear how much time it’s saving her to focus on more important things."
6. Improved Visibility
AP automation gives you real-time visibility into every invoice, including approval and disputes. With all actions tracked digitally, you get a clear audit trail, monitor cash flow, and generate accurate reports instantly. This makes managing your finances and making informed strategic decisions easy. Maroochy RSL is a testimony of this, as the company’s board and management have clearer oversight of spending and financial commitments after implementing an AP automation system. As the CFO said, “Having invoices enter the system faster naturally improves forecasting and gives us up-to-date data for cash flow, profit, and budgeting.”
Final Thoughts
Closing the digital maturity gap is more straightforward than it sounds, because your infrastructure is already in place.
The logical next step is to automate your AP. By adding this layer to your existing infrastructure, you can streamline invoice processing, approvals, and payments, saving time and costs while boosting productivity and moving your business into the 18% of fully digitalised organisations.
The right automation works with what you already have, enhancing your current systems rather than replacing them.
