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Updated 11:29 AM, Nov 6, 2026
Cheques, eInvoicing and the View From Across the Pond
In this edition of the Finance and Procurement People Podcast, PPN CEO Ellen Leith sat down with long-term commentator in the Accounts Payable and end-to-end Procure to Pay space in the US, Mark Brousseau.
In a career in the industry going back over 30 years and 25 running Brousseau & Associates he points to passion as the key element that keeps him going. Passion for the industry. Passion for its evolution in that time, and passion for the people who make it tick.
Historically, he points out that Accounts Payable was the quintessential "back-office" function. It was they who put up with the basement office with the off-brand coffee and the PC that didn't quite work. People only called AP, he said, when guess what - when something went wrong. It was constantly:
Did you get my invoice?
Where's my payment?
You didn't do this right!
We need this now!
But over the years, Mark says, AP has changed and become much more strategic to the organisation. And it's exciting, he goes on to say, not just to him as an observer, but to those working in AP. These days they have an opportunity to leverage the data and knowhow in their departments to help drive the business further, so this is a great time to be a participant in that journey, even if it's at arms length!
"Cheque usage is a bit like my Grandmother's recipe for Christmas ham - she doesn't know why she uses apricot jam rather than orange, that's just the way it's always been done!"
Episode Summary
- The biggest change that's impacted AP and end-to-end P2P is technology. If we think back 25 years ago it was paper, analogue, calculators. Fast forward to today and we have AI, LLMs and Machine Learning. This is a seismic shift.
- The AP department a year or two from now is going to look nothing like the AP department of today in many cases. And this is going to be a challenge for some if not handled and approached properly.
- Cheques! In certain verticals in the US, paper cheques are still the predominant payment method.
- Every year analyst organisations highlight fear of change as one of the barriers to automation.
- AI is tailor-made to be able to eliminate tasks that bog down teams.
- The application of AI in fraud prevention to address the fraud epidemic.
- eInvoicing and the thorny issue of adoption without either vendor or government appetite to enforce change.
- Top tips to achieve P2P transformation for the long-term.
Quotes From the Episode
"One of the most exciting usages of AI is around fraud mitigation. In the US fraud is at an all time high!"
"eInvoicing in the US won't happen by taking a piecemeal approach. It'll need legislation by Federal Government. The technology is there, the question is, where's the willpower?"
"The worst thing an AP leader can do right now is put their head in the sand about AI"
