Selecting the Right AP Automation Solution: What the Embedded vs. Integrated Debate Means for User Experience

Accounts Payable (AP) teams carry a heavy load. Every day, they balance tight deadlines, high volumes, and the constant pressure to do more with less. When technology doesn’t keep up, the strain only grows. Outdated systems and patchwork fixes often leave AP staff dealing with duplicate data entry, clunky interfaces, and risky workarounds that evolved over years of under-investment.

The right AP automation can bring real relief. With well-designed tools, processes become easier, costs per invoice go down, and your team gains measurable efficiency. But how those tools are deployed makes a real difference in the day-to-day experience. 

For organizations using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, one of the most important choices is whether to select an embedded solution or an external integration. That decision shapes everything from daily tasks to long-term results.

In this article, we’ll share what Business Central customers experience when choosing between embedded and integrated AP automation. We’ll define both approaches and highlight the outcomes we’ve seen firsthand through our work with customers and partners.

Why Business Central Customers Choose an Embedded Solution

An embedded AP automation solution is built to work as part of the ERP itself, not as a separate system. In Business Central, that means:

• It uses the same design patterns and navigation as the ERP
• User management, security, reporting, and process tools are fully unified
• Payments are processed faster, in real time

For AP team members, the experience feels natural and intuitive. Everything lives in one environment. Organizations benefit from easier user adoption, stronger governance, and more streamlined workflows.

An AP clerk using an embedded solution might notice efficiency gains in several ways:

• Fewer manual approvals through automation
• No context switching between systems
• Elimination of duplicate data entry
• Less time spent printing documents or checks
• Real-time processing — no manual file transfers
• Built-in security with ERP role-based permissions

This leads to greater accuracy, efficiency, and trust in daily work.

Why Some Organizations Consider an Integrated Option

Not every AP department has the same needs. Some industries or organizations require complex or highly customized workflows that an embedded solution may not fully support. In those cases, an external platform with a robust integration to the ERP may be the better fit.

Integrated solutions can deliver advanced features, but they often come with added complexity: more systems to manage, more logins, and greater training requirements. The overhead is higher, and so are the risks if integrations break or fall out of sync.

For most organizations without unusual complexity in areas like purchase orders, enterprise architecture, or disparate systems of record, an embedded solution is usually the most straightforward path to success.

Moving Away from Paper: A Journey for Each Organization

Even the latest ERP system doesn’t guarantee good AP performance. But with an embedded AP automation solution that streamlines invoice processing — from batch creation to vendor validation to cloud-based payments — organizations can reduce the cost per invoice to between $1 and $2. That’s competitive with the best industry benchmarks. By contrast, non-embedded solutions often run closer to $3 per invoice.

Beyond the numbers, AP professionals need technology that improves their daily experience. By adopting embedded AP automation, teams move past duplicate entry, juggling multiple tools, and patchwork fixes that expose security gaps. Those gains save both time and money, freeing up skilled staff to focus on higher-value work like reporting and cross-department collaboration.

While no two AP teams are exactly alike, the decision between an embedded or integrated AP automation solution is a powerful starting point. More than technology, the goal is to deliver a better work experience and stronger business outcomes.

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