As of January 1, 2026, structured e-invoicing between VAT-registered businesses has been mandatory in Belgium, with Peppol as the standard. This mandate may be a good reason to take a closer look at your invoicing process; you can read about what manual work remains after the Peppol mandate on a separate page. Before you consider automating your processes, here are ten questions, four metrics compared to an external benchmark, and a score that serves as a first step—no form required. The result might also be that automation won’t yield much benefit for your business. First, let’s address the question of which metrics an invoicing process is actually evaluated on.
The four criteria used to evaluate your AP process
A score only compares things if the definition behind each number is clearly established. Write down the definition before you write down the number; otherwise, you’ll end up measuring something else later. This invoice processing benchmark uses four metrics. For each metric, read below to learn how Ardent Partners measures them and what to look for when you measure them yourself.
– Cost per invoice. At Ardent Partners, the cost per invoice includes all personnel and operating costs associated with receipt, processing, and approval, including salaries, benefits, technology, and overhead. What to look out for: Make a note of which components you include in your calculation so you know what to compare with Ardent’s figure.
– Processing time per invoice. Ardent Partners measures the processing time per invoice: the number of days it takes to process a single invoice. What to keep in mind: note where your measurement begins and ends, and next time, measure between the same points.
– Touchless percentage. Ardent Partners defines “touchless” as an invoice that is processed straight-through, without human intervention. What to keep in mind: If you want to measure your own touchless invoice processing, make a note of what you consider to be human intervention.
– Percentage of exceptions. Ardent Partners classifies invoices as exceptions if they stand out due to coding errors, missing information, delayed approvals, or a missing purchase order. What to look for: Define which types you consider to be exceptions.
| Greatness | Average | Top-performing group |
| Cost per invoice | approximately 8.37 euros (9.40 dollars) | approximately 2.48 euros (2.78 dollars) |
| Processing time per invoice | 9.2 days | 3.1 days |
| Share of touchless | 32.6% | 49.2% |
| Percentage of exceptions | 14% | 9% |
Source: Ardent Partners, “AP Metrics that Matter in 2025,” February 2025, a web survey of 212 AP and finance managers. Ardent Partners defines the top-performing group as the 20% of companies with the lowest average cost per invoice and the shortest average processing time.
Ardent Partners reports an average cost per processed invoice of $9.40, compared to $2.78 for the top-performing group. Converted at the ECB exchange rate as of October 2, 2026 ($1.1225 per euro), that amounts to approximately 8.37 euros versus approximately 2.48 euros, for illustrative purposes. The conversion is our own calculation; it is not a figure provided by Ardent.
The sample consists primarily of North Americans (59% of respondents), and 53% work for a large company with revenue exceeding $1 billion. For a Belgian company, these figures are therefore indicative, not a standard.
Here’s how we interpret the Ardent figures: the difference between an average team and the top-performing group lies primarily in the percentage of invoices that go through the system without human intervention, not in how fast someone types. That’s our own interpretation, not a research finding. Where does your own process stand in relation to those four figures?
The 10-Question Self-Assessment
This test doesn’t ask for any information from you and doesn’t give you a score: you add up your points yourself and look up what your score means in the score range.
For each question, choose the answer that best fits your situation. Some questions are best directed to the person who handles the process on a daily basis.
1. Do you know your cost per invoice?
– 0 points: I don’t know it.
– 1 point: I know part of it (an estimate, or the salary cost only).
– 2 points: I know it fully loaded, with the definition written down.
2. What share of your invoices arrives in a structured format?
– 0 points: I don’t know.
– 1 point: an estimate.
– 2 points: a measured share.
3. What share of your invoices comes with a purchase order (PO)?
– 0 points: I don’t know.
– 1 point: an estimate.
– 2 points: a measured share.
4. How do you match an invoice against its PO?
– 0 points: there is no fixed match, or I don’t know.
– 1 point: on the total.
– 2 points: at line level.
5. Next to your tolerance percentage, is there an absolute limit?
– 0 points: no tolerance is set, or I don’t know.
– 1 point: a percentage only.
– 2 points: a percentage and an absolute limit.
6. How many of last month’s invoices were booked without being opened by a person?
– 0 points: I don’t know.
– 1 point: an estimate.
– 2 points: a measured share.
7. How long does an approval take on average?
– 0 points: I don’t know.
– 1 point: an estimate.
– 2 points: measured per invoice.
This is the approval step only. Do not compare it with the processing time in the table above.
8. Do you have a list of your exception types, with an owner per type?
– 0 points: there is no list.
– 1 point: a list, without an owner per type.
– 2 points: a list with an owner per type.
9. When the same correction comes back, does it become a rule?
– 0 points: we solve it again whenever it comes back.
– 1 point: for some of the types there is a rule.
– 2 points: it becomes a rule.
10. For one invoice, can you show within five minutes who decided what, and when?
– 0 points: that doesn’t work.
– 1 point: it works, but it takes longer than five minutes.
– 2 points: it works within five minutes.
Add up your points. You can see what that total says about your billing process by checking the range you fall into.
What Your Score Means
For each area, you’ll find an explanation and one first step that you can take even without JUVO. Source: Ardent Partners, “AP Metrics that Matter in 2025,” February 2025, a web survey of 212 AP and finance managers.
0 to 5 points: You’re not measuring yet
If you don’t know your numbers, that’s your result. If you start automating without a baseline assessment, you won’t be able to demonstrate the benefits afterward. You can read about how we automate accounts payable on a separate page. Your first step is a baseline assessment—not automation.
6 to 10 points: Your chain is working, and you know some of your numbers
The biggest gains are likely to be found in tolerances and exceptions, and much of that involves configuring what you already have. You can read more here about tolerances and matching at the line-item level, what an exception actually costs you , and what we automate in accounts payable. Your first step: review your tolerances and exception types in your existing system.
11 to 15 points: Your invoices with purchase orders are in order; those without are not
Your invoices with purchase orders are processed; those without are not. Invoices without purchase orders cannot be processed through the purchase order match and form a separate workflow. The size of that workflow varies by company. We see this pattern recurring in the projects we work on, and in those projects, automating accounts payable yields benefits. Your first step: identify the invoices without purchase orders and determine who approves them.
16 to 20 points: Automation offers little benefit here
Automation doesn’t help much here. A high score doesn’t tell you how you stack up against the top-performing group. Only the four numbers next to the table show that. In Belgium, e-reporting of invoice data is scheduled for 2028, including for the invoice recipient. Review your intercompany or purchasing processes, or your reporting with e-reporting in mind—or leave it as is.
No matter what your results are: how can you ensure that your next measurement is comparable to this one?
What to Do with Your Score
Your baseline measurement belongs to you, not to a vendor, and it starts with the definition. Anyone who begins automating without a baseline measurement won’t be able to demonstrate the benefits afterward. Write down the definition before you record the number; otherwise, you’ll end up measuring something else later. Three steps:
1. Define the four metrics and their definitions. If you want to calculate your cost per invoice, calculate it as follows: add up the costs of personnel, licenses, overhead, and outsourcing over a single period, and divide that by the number of invoices in that same period. Be sure to note which components you included, as Ardent lists items such as salaries, benefits, technology, and overhead. In our experience, the cost per invoice is rarely listed in a single report: personnel costs are usually found in payroll, licenses in IT, and outsourcing in procurement.
2. Add a date. That way, you’ll know later when your baseline measurement was taken.
3. Measure again in six months, using the exact same definition.
If you still have any doubts after checking your score, you’ll find the answers to three questions below.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the three questions that remain after the score is tallied.
What if you don’t know your grades?
If you don’t know your numbers, that’s your result. Your first step, then, is a baseline measurement—not automation.
Does this benchmark also apply to an SME that issues 200 invoices per month?
For a Belgian SME, the ratios between the average and the top-performing group are more useful than the actual amounts, because the sample is predominantly North American. For an SME, labor costs per full-time employee are a better starting point than the amount per invoice.
Do you have to retake the test after a project?
Yes, repeat the test after a project, using the exact same definition as the first time. That way, your two measurements will be comparable.
From your score to a baseline that holds
Start with your invoice process and see what automation delivers there.