How much work is involved in an A/P Recovery Audit?

“How much work is this going to take on our end?” I get this question all the time, especially from companies that have never done an AP recovery audit, or haven’t done one in years. And I get it. Everyone’s busy. The thought of adding one more thing to the team’s plate can feel like too much.

So let me put the worry to rest: it really doesn’t take much of your time. My team does the heavy lifting. Your job is mostly to point us at the data and then review what we bring back.

What it actually looks like

A typical recovery audit runs about 12 weeks, and here’s the honest tally of your team’s involvement:

• Getting started (weeks 1–2): roughly 4–6 hours to pull the data we need (invoice history, vendor master, payment detail), plus an hour to approve the vendor list and a quick alignment on vendor communication.
• The audit itself (weeks 2–12): about 1–2 hours a week reviewing and approving the claims we surface in the portal. We handle the vendor outreach and the documentation.
• Wrap-up (week 12): an hour to walk through the results and talk about tightening controls.

Add it up and you’re looking at roughly 15–20 hours spread over three months. That’s it. The vast majority of the work happens on our side.

The first time is the hardest, but it’s still easy

I’ll be straight with you: the first audit has a small learning curve, mostly around pulling the data that first time. But once you’ve done it, it’s a well-worn path. In fact, a lot of my clients move to a continuous audit after the first one, and at that point it just becomes part of their everyday process. Not a project. Just something running in the background.

And here’s a bonus most people don’t expect: the reporting we produce along the way tends to help with other things entirely. Clients use it to support projects they’re already working on: vendor cleanups, process reviews, spend analysis. The audit pays for itself in recoveries, and the visibility is almost a free byproduct.

So, is it worth it?

Fifteen to twenty hours over three months, most of the work done for you, real dollars recovered, and insight you can use elsewhere. If you’re wondering whether the effort is worth it, I think the math answers the question.

Wondering what an audit would turn up in your data? Start a no-cost Proof of Value, since we only get paid a percentage of what we recover.