How MakersHub Delivers Instant ROI: Real Results from Real Teams

If you are evaluating AP automation ROI, you want evidence. Not a calculator in a vacuum, not a promise of savings that never shows up in your month end numbers. This guide lays out the levers that actually create return, a simple way to estimate your payback, and real results from teams that switched to MakersHub and saw measurable gains within their first cycles.

MakersHub automates the entire AP journey for operationally complex teams. The platform captures complete bill data at the line item level, applies your coding, routes approvals, and syncs cleanly to your accounting system. The result is faster processing, fewer errors, reliable controls, and a month end that runs on time.

The three pillars of AP automation ROI

1) Labor time saved
Touchless capture, accurate coding, and routed approvals remove hours of entry and follow up. The most immediate return comes from fewer manual steps per invoice and fewer status checks.

2) Cash flow and discount capture
When terms are extracted and surfaced, early pay discounts are consistent rather than luck. Faster approval cycles also reduce late fees and keep vendor relationships healthy.

3) Accuracy and control
Clean data prevents duplicate payments, overpayments, and miscodings. Better control reduces rework at close, cuts auditor back and forth, and prevents fraud losses that never should have happened.

A simple ROI equation your finance team will trust

Use this quick framework to estimate payback and defend the investment.

Annual ROI ≈ (Labor Savings + Discount Capture + Error Avoidance) − Platform Cost

• Labor Savings:
  invoices per year × minutes saved per invoice ÷ 60 × fully loaded hourly rate
  
• Discount Capture:
  annual discountable spend × avg discount rate × capture rate lift
  
• Error Avoidance:
  prevented duplicates or overpayments × average error cost
  
• Platform Cost:
  your MakersHub subscription, predictable and not tied to approver count
  

Example:
A construction firm processes 24,000 invoices per year. They save 6 minutes per invoice, at 40 per hour, which yields 96,000 in labor savings. They capture 500,000 of spend on 2 percent terms at a 50 percent higher capture rate, which yields 5,000. They prevent three duplicate payments at 3,000 each, another 9,000. If platform cost is 36,000, the net annual ROI is 74,000. Payback is reached in months.

What changes inside the first 90 days

• Data capture becomes complete and reliable
  Line items, terms, allocations, and vendor context are extracted automatically.
  
• Approvals move faster since context is visible
  Approvers see the bill, coding, notes, and history in one place.
  
• Two way sync eliminates reconciliation gaps
  Your accounting system remains the source of truth while staying current.
  
• Payments gain traceability
  Clear remittance, reliable status, and fewer vendor follow ups.

Five levers that drive AP automation ROI on day one

Accurate line item capture
Teams stop rekeying items, units, and costs. That improves project visibility and closes the loop for estimator feedback.

Configurable approvals
Rules by vendor, amount, entity, department, or project keep exceptions tight while routine invoices clear quickly.

Separate validation and payment authorization
You decide what should be paid and when to pay it. That improves control of cash timing and reduces month end scrambling.

Predictable pricing that scales
You are not punished for adding approvers or increasing volume. This allows you to open the workflow to stakeholders without cost anxiety.

Vendor friendly payments
Vendors get status, remittance, and confirmations that cut emails and calls. That goodwill matters when labor is tight and material is scarce.

Real results from real teams

Construction and field services

Liberty Fence and Supply

• Outcomes: month end close three times faster, 32,000 per year in early pay discounts captured
  
• Why it mattered: six branches approved locally with paper checks and manual reconciliation, discount windows were unclear, and vendors lacked visibility
  
• What changed with MakersHub: centralized bills inbox, terms extraction at ingestion, role based approvals, two way QuickBooks sync
  
• Result: branch managers review P and L weekly, discount windows are surfaced, and lingering bills at close are rare
  
  

PJB Construction

• Outcomes: AP processing time cut by half, payments same day when needed
  
• Why it mattered: handwritten checks and in person pickup slowed subs and risked schedules
  
• What changed with MakersHub: digitized intake and approvals, auto coding to jobs, real time cost sync to JobTread
  
• Result: faster throughput, stronger vendor loyalty, smoother project timelines
  
  

Cahill Construction

• Outcomes: 64 hours per month of data entry removed, live project cost visibility
  
• Why it mattered: hundreds of invoices and card charges made spreadsheet approvals unmanageable
  
• What changed with MakersHub: line item capture that maps to items and accounts, approvals with context, instant bill creation in QuickBooks
  
• Result: granular costs flow without extra work, estimators get timely feedback
  
  

Locke Buildings

• Outcomes: about 40 hours per month saved in approvals, remote friendly signatures
  
• Why it mattered: printed packets and wet signatures tied up the office manager and delayed payments
  
• What changed with MakersHub: online approvals, audit trails, searchable bills repository
  
• Result: approvals now take about two hours per week, QuickBooks remains up to date without reentry

Client accounting services and accounting firms

Paseo Advisors

• Outcomes: roughly 80 percent cycle time reduction, 200 to 250 invoices per run without new headcount
  
• Why it mattered: white glove outsourced finance needed to scale without losing personal touch
  
• What changed with MakersHub: AI capture with line items, client specific approvals, true two way QuickBooks sync, payment status that vendors can follow
  
• Result: one hour onboarding for new clients, faster vendor payments, higher client satisfaction
  
  

Zoar Finance

• Outcomes: about 10x accuracy lift, 5 to 10 hours saved per client per month
  
• Why it mattered: nonprofits and multi location clients required approvals and allocations that legacy tools could not handle
  
• What changed with MakersHub: vendor aware extraction, auto coding to the correct GL, routing by vendor, amount, or entity, duplicate detection and fraud flags
  
• Result: cleaner books, easier audits, lower risk
  
  

Sound Numbers

• Outcomes: stronger fraud prevention, faster payments, precise food cost capture for restaurants
  
• Why it mattered: paper checks and multi channel workflows increased exposure and consumed time
  
• What changed with MakersHub: central AP inbox, line item extraction for the costs that drive margins, secure ACH and check workflows with full traceability
  
• Result: fewer errors and measurable reduction in fraud risk
  
  

Specialty operators and multi entity finance

Provignage

• Outcomes: faster payments, near instant QuickBooks sync, high accuracy on complex invoices
  
• Why it mattered: multiple entities and detailed invoices left bookkeepers with inconsistent detail and slow ACH timing
  
• What changed with MakersHub: automated extraction of invoice numbers, terms, due dates, and lines, custom mapping for multi entity rules, next day payment capability
  
• Result: fewer corrections, stronger vendor relationships, scalable AP across a portfolio
  

New customer story: Outsourced FinOps

How Outsourced FinOps increased AP efficiency by 10x after outgrowing Bill.com

• About the firm: a full stack finance partner for architecture, engineering, and construction, led by founder and CFO Michael Newberger
  
• The challenge: high invoice volume, thousands of line items, multi step approvals, and the need for real time cost visibility, a basic bill pay tool could not support data heavy workflows or layered authorization
  
• The MakersHub solution: AI line item extraction, multi step approvals that separate validation from payment, real time payment tracking, predictable pricing that does not spike as teams grow
  
• Results: approximately 10x reduction in processing time, zero manual entry on captured invoices, complete audit trail across approvals and payment methods, real time clarity on when money leaves, when vendors receive it, and when it deposits
  
• Why the ROI holds: labor time collapses, rework falls, approvals move with context, and leaders get the control they expect

What these teams share when ROI shows up fast

• Clean data at the start not after payment
• Approvals in context not in email chains
• Two way truth not one way syncs
• Payment traceability that vendors trust
• Month end that closes on schedule not a late scramble
• Throughput without hiring not throwing people at the problem

How to estimate your payback in minutes

1. Pull the last full month of invoice volume and average minutes per invoice.
   
2. Multiply minutes saved you expect with line item capture and routed approvals. A conservative starting point is four to eight minutes per invoice.
   
3. Add discount capture for spend on 2 percent terms that you miss today. Apply a reasonable capture uplift.
   
4. Include prevented errors if you have duplicates or overpayments in the last year.
   
5. Subtract platform cost.
   
6. Divide net annual savings by cost to get a clear payback and internal rate of return.

Implementation notes that protect ROI

• Start with one or two approval rules, then expand. Avoid over designing before the first cycle.
  
• Map items and accounts for your top ten vendors first. Most volume will flow cleanly once those are set.
  
• Separate validation from payment authorization so controllers keep control of cash timing.
  
• Turn on duplicate detection and build a short review queue for flagged bills.
  
• Send vendors clear remittance. It reduces status emails and helps adoption.

Real world ROI at a glance

• Month end close up to three times faster and consistent capture of about 32,000 per year in discounts
  
• AP processing time cut by 50 to 90 percent across multiple customers
  
• 64 hours per month of data entry removed for a construction team
  
• About 80 percent cycle time reduction for a CAS firm while increasing invoice throughput
  
• Ten times better accuracy for multi location and nonprofit clients
  
• Approvals reduced to about two hours per week with full audit trails and search

Ready to see your numbers

You can move from estimate to reality quickly. Most teams complete an initial configuration in about an hour, then expand rules and mappings as they run their first cycles. You keep your accounting system, and you gain the control and clarity that make AP a lever rather than a bottleneck.

Schedule a demo to see a live run on your invoices. Bring one month of volume and your hourly rates. We will build your ROI model. 

FAQ

How fast is onboarding
Most teams complete initial setup in about an hour, with full value showing inside the first cycles.

Do we need to change our accounting system
No. MakersHub syncs two ways with your ledger. Your accounting system remains the source of truth.

Can we control who approves what
Yes. Route by vendor, amount, entity, department, or project. You can separate validation from payment authorization.

How do vendors get clarity on payments
Vendors receive clear remittance and status. Teams often move to same day or next day timing once approvals run smoothly.

What documents can MakersHub read
Any bill or receipt, including multi page PDFs, emailed images, mobile photos, and portal exports. Line items, terms, and allocations are captured.

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