How Automation Is Reshaping AP & AR Roles across Scotland

 7th Jan 2026

Automation and AI are increasingly influencing accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) roles across Scotland’s Central Belt. Finance teams are under growing pressure to modernise manual processes, improve efficiency, and adapt professional roles to new technologies.  

Following the new year, we’ve produced this article to capture some of these changes, but also to highlight how things are going currently. Overall, it seems that Automation and AI have enormous potential to reshape this level of accountancy and finance, but many organisations currently still depend on a heavy manual process. 

 

Automation Adoption in Finance: Progress and Gaps 

While there has been plenty of movement on this topic in the past few years, it’s still an ongoing development as more businesses move towards AI and automation. 

• Around 50% of UK finance teams continue to rely heavily on manual AP processes – above average, globally. 

• Less than 10% of organisations have fully automated accounts payable. 

• Finance leaders widely recognise that lack of automation constrains growth and scalability. 

These numbers are expected to increase in the next 12 months as more finance leaders commit to adopting more automated processes – with so many organisations still relying on manual processes, there’s a lot more change to come. 

 

Impact on Accounts Payable Roles 

While the impact on Accounts Payable roles has been high, automation hasn’t erased the need for manual workloads. It’s taken the pressure off of some more of the more repetitive and manual tasks – PO and invoice mismatches, error resolution, payment reconciliations – but nonetheless, there are plenty of factors that have kept AP teams busy. 

• Increased cross-border activity lead to complicated compliance challenges which would be risky to have AI navigate alone – humans need to be involved here. 

• Policy changes globally have kept finance teams busy – these automation tools need to be maintained, particularly when policies and budgets are so volatile and changeable. 

• Many organisations have reported increased invoice volume. 

 

Enterprise Times reports that many finance professionals believe continued reliance on manual AP processes will limit their organisation’s ability to scale and respond to economic uncertainty. As a result, AP roles are under pressure to evolve beyond transactional processing toward oversight and process improvement. 

 

Impact on Accounts Receivable Functions 

Automation in the context of AR is especially impactful, as it takes the administrative duties away from Credit Controllers whose time is best spent in relationship management. 

• AR and broader ledger roles face growing complexity due to data volume and reporting demands – AI and automation helps with the volume, freeing time to focus on details and customer care. 

• Automated processes reduce the risk of errors, and so improves the customer experience. 

• Automation is increasingly positioned as a means of improving accuracy and decision-making. 

Automation in the context of AR is a solution to navigating high-volume environments without sacrificing quality, and customer care. 

 

Scotland’s Central Belt: Culture, Skills, and Change 

The Scottish Financial News discusses Johnston Carmichael’s use of their own digital worker and how it was received in the workplace. They found that: 

• Scottish firms are adopting AI and automation cautiously but strategically. 

• Cultural acceptance and staff confidence are as important as technology itself. 

• Digital workers should be seen as companions to the finance team as opposed to replacements. 

Scottish Financial News highlights how firms are using automation to remove repetitive tasks while preserving professional judgement, with digital workers supporting human expertise. This approach is particularly visible in Central Belt organisations balancing innovation with regulatory and ethical considerations. 

 

Conclusion 

Automation is steadily reshaping AP, AR, and wider ledger roles across Scotland’s Central Belt. While adoption remains incomplete, finance leaders increasingly agree that manual processes are unsustainable. The future of ledger roles lies in balancing intelligent automation with human judgement, enabling finance professionals to move away from repetitive tasks and toward higher-value, insight-driven work.