A survey commissioned by Corpay suggests many UK finance chiefs still see spend management as overly dependent on manual processes, even as they increasingly view automation and card-based payments as strategically important.

The research, which covered 300 chief financial officers at companies in sectors including retail, manufacturing, wholesale and technology, found that 83% believed their organisation’s spend management was more manual than it should be. Corpay said 84% felt their businesses had been too slow to update the way they pay suppliers and handle expenses, while 81% described card-led payments as a competitive advantage.

The findings point to a wider mismatch between the systems finance teams use today and the priorities they say will matter over the next few years. According to the survey, many organisations continue to rely on a blend of manual and automated processes, despite growing interest in digitised payment tools.

The operational burden remains substantial. Corpay said 86% of respondents reported that finance teams spend more than six hours a week per person on administration linked to expenses, invoices and supplier payments, with more than a quarter saying the figure rises to between 11 and 15 hours. Asked how they would use reclaimed time, CFOs most often pointed to business partnering, cash flow forecasting and strategic planning rather than cost reduction.

That chimes with broader industry commentary. Efficio has previously found that visibility over indirect spend is limited even in large European companies, with most senior finance and procurement leaders saying more than a quarter of such spending lacks oversight. Separately, accounting specialists have argued that outdated and disconnected tools continue to hold finance teams back from more strategic work.

Corpay said 91% of those surveyed were worried that competitors were further ahead in adopting automated, card-led payment processes. Looking ahead to 2026, respondents ranked better working capital management, stronger spend controls and greater real-time visibility among their top priorities.

Almost all of those surveyed, 99%, said additional working capital flexibility would be at least somewhat valuable to their organisation.

Piero Macari, Corpay’s vice-president of product for corporate payments, said the research showed payment automation was becoming a strategic issue for UK finance leaders. He said the company’s recently launched Corpay Complete was designed to combine accounts payable, domestic and international payments and corporate card spend in one digital environment.

Corpay’s findings echo earlier industry warnings that the biggest barrier to automation is often not the technology itself but fragmented systems, internal resistance and concerns about data security.

Source: Noah Wire Services