The majority of businesses in the UK (54%) are using purchase processes which are “not fit for purpose” according to finance decision makers.

And nearly a quarter (23%) have claimed that their business needs to fix purchase processes “as a matter of urgency”.

The findings are part of a new “Changing trends in the purchasing processes of UK business” report commissioned by automated accounts payable experts Invu, and these latest figures highlight a significant rise in concern among business finance bosses in the last few years.

In similar research commissioned by Invu in 2016, only 36% of bosses harboured concerns over their purchase processes.

In fact, some businesses are providing their finance teams with processes and tools which are so difficult to use that 10% of respondents to the research said they had to actively work around their established purchase processes to get anything done.

Commenting on the increasing frustration towards purchase processes in UK businesses, Ian Smith, general manager and finance director at Invu, said:

“Purchasing processes are one of the most fundamental functions of any business and convoluted and difficult processes can easily land businesses in trouble down the line, which is why it is so worrying to discover that not only are current processes ‘not fit for purpose’ according to finance bosses, but that this frustration has been growing in the last few years.

“The current business climate is full of unknowns, with GDPR, Brexit and the unstable UK economy so businesses need to be doing everything to put themselves on sure foot in case things do go wrong – this, however, is clearly not happening.

“Businesses wishing to achieve speed and agility in their expenditure planning and execution need to take control of their purchase processing as soon as possible.”