Improving the stretch from invoice to payment is usually attempted by opinion and is far better done by measurement. Take fifty recent invoices, record the date at each event, and the picture is unambiguous within an hour. Almost every team finds the same shape, and almost every team is surprised by which part of it is largest.
What to record
Date the invoice reached the organisation. Date it was captured. Date the match was attempted and its result. Date it was routed for approval and to whom. Date it was approved. Date it was paid. Six dates on fifty invoices, which is an afternoon in a spreadsheet and the most useful afternoon available to a payables manager.
What the pattern usually shows
A gap between arrival and capture where invoices sat in a mailbox or in internal post. A short capture-to-match interval. A long match-to-approval interval, which is the routing and waiting problem. And a payment-run wait that is legitimate but often longer than necessary. The second and fourth are usually the two biggest.
What to do with it
Attack the largest gap. If it is arrival to capture, consolidate channels. If it is approval, fix routing, cover and escalation. If it is the payment run, consider running weekly rather than fortnightly. Each is a specific change with a predictable effect, which is a much better position than a general drive to be faster.
Questions people ask about invoice to payment process
Fifty invoices is a small sample.
It is enough to see the shape, which is what you need. Precision matters less than identifying which gap is largest.
Should we include exceptions?
Yes, and mark them, since they will dominate the tail. Looking at the clean and exception populations separately is more informative than one blended figure.
How often should we repeat it?
After any significant change, and otherwise annually. It is the honest check on whether an improvement worked.