The Question Operators Ask, and the Question Vendors Ask

Every operator evaluating AP automation software asks the same question, “how large is your vendor network?” We understand why the question is asked. It feels like the closest available proxy for "will my vendors accept the software, and how quickly can they submit invoices?"

The vendors we onboard and speak to are asking something different that mitigates the network size discussion.

Lets explore:

• How many portals and systems do vendors utilize today, and what are they asking

• What Vendors care about

• New technology that provides a better experience

• Six questions to ask that predict right outcomes

Vendors Using Different Vendor Portals:

After onboarding vendors to Energy Payables, the feedback is consistent across the board. Vendors already use multiple platforms and methods to submit invoices and work tickets.

On average, vendors are submitting invoices and field tickets anywhere between three to seven systems on any given week.

They are not asking "why am I signing up for another system?". They’re asking which software will solve the ultimate pain points with manual processes or legacy systems. The pain points vendors deal with are consistent to what Customers face as well.

What Vendors Care About:

• Getting paid by the operator.

• Automate manual processes from hours to seconds.

• Understand invoice payment status without constantly contacting the Operator to ask for an update.

• Not having to pay for portal access.

When those four things are true, adoption happens without a mandate. That compounds in a direction a mandate cannot. A vendor count assumes vendors are the friction to overcome.

A Better Vendor Experience:

Vendors want less keying, cleaner data, and visible status of payment. What changed is the technology behind the portal. Three shifts matter, and they compound.

Machine reading has caught up to messy inputs: Hand keying line items, off-template PDFs, and a scan of a scan have been driven by human work. Modern invoice-reading models handle these at production quality, and the vendor no longer has to translate their reality into a form. They send what they already send and the system reads it.

Master data gets matched, not memorized: Cost centers, AFEs, GL accounts, approval chains, negotiated rates are operator-specific, and they used to require a vendor to learn a new taxonomy per customer. The system now matches invoices against the operator's master data in the background. The vendor just has to verify and send the invoice.

Workflow status is a live signal, not a report: Vendors used to email AP to ask where an invoice sat, and accounting would have to check different systems to get the answer. Status is now a first-class object visible to both sides in real time. That single change removes the largest recurring source of vendor phone calls and eliminates interruption in your AP team's day.

Together, these three are what make onboarding fast in the first place. When there is nothing for the vendor to key, no taxonomy to learn, and no phone call to make, there is nothing to teach. Onboarding compresses to a single email invite because there is very little left to onboard.

Six Questions To Predict Outcomes:

For most operators, invoice volume is concentrated among a small number of vendors, even though the majority of the vendor base consists of lower-volume vendors.

Here are six questions to ask with software companies providing a vendor portal:

✅ What does it cost to onboard my top 40 vendors by volume, who handles onboarding, and how fast can it be done?

✅ How much time does a vendor spend submitting a single invoice, and how much is keyed by hand?

✅ What percentage of AFE, Cost Center, and Account coding contained on an invoice automatically carry over to accurate suggestions for an invoice?

✅ Does the vendor incur a fee to avoid manual invoice entry?

✅ Can the vendor see clear status on their invoices as they move through the customer's workflow?

✅ What percentage of invoice lines are posted without a human touching the coding?

Those six questions describe the data quality you should expect and what your AP department will feel like eighteen months from now.

Modernize your Invoicing. Gain better visibility. Strengthen your vendor relationships.

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