Tipalti’s New Payout Infrastructure Gap Report Reveals Outdated Payout Infrastructure Is Slowing Business Growth

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New research from Tipalti, the AI-powered platform for finance automation, finds that as businesses increasingly rely on distributed business networks to fuel growth, many are being held back by payout infrastructure that has not kept pace with the scale and complexity of today’s global economy.

Published today, Tipalti’s Payout Infrastructure Gap Report surveyed over 700 finance, operations, and technology leaders across North America, the UK, and Europe to examine how organizations manage the infrastructure supporting global payouts. The findings reveal a growing disconnect between the strategic importance of external contributor networks and the systems companies use to pay them.

Business Has Changed. Payouts Haven’t.

More than four in five business leaders (81%) say creator, partner, or affiliate networks are important or critical to their revenue model. Yet nearly half (47%) report delaying or scaling back strategic initiatives during the past year because their payout infrastructure could not support them. Product and service launches (51%) and expansion into new markets (47%) were among the initiatives most commonly affected.

The research also found that operational challenges are beginning to impact the relationships businesses depend on for growth. More than one-quarter (26%) of respondents said they lost contributors over the past 12 months because of payout-related issues, including independent contractors, suppliers, creators, affiliates, and partners. At the same time, 77% believe operational friction contributes to turnover among top talent within their own organizations.

Despite these challenges, only one-third (33%) of organizations currently view payout infrastructure as a strategic asset. Instead, many continue to manage payouts primarily as an operational function, even as 82% acknowledge outdated infrastructure is already slowing cash flow or business growth.

The Growth Gap is Widening

Looking ahead, the pressure is expected to increase. Three-quarters (75%) of organizations expect global transaction volumes to grow over the next two years, while 87% say they have already experienced a point where their finance and payout infrastructure could not scale effectively. Finance teams also report spending approximately 22% of their weekly capacity on audit preparation and compliance reporting, with another 22% of monthly payouts requiring manual intervention.

Organizations that have embraced more mature finance automation are seeing measurable benefits. Respondents with mature AI integrated into finance operations were significantly more likely to say their operational infrastructure enables growth and substantially less likely to report high levels of manual payout intervention.

From Back Office to Business Advantage

“The way businesses grow has changed,” said Rob Israch, President of Tipalti. “Revenue increasingly depends on global ecosystems of partners, creators, affiliates, suppliers, and contractors. Yet many organizations are still relying on legacy systems designed for a much simpler era, long before today’s digital economy. Our research shows that treating payouts as a strategic growth lever, not simply a back-office process, helps businesses move faster, strengthen partner relationships, and scale with confidence.”

The report also highlights growing awareness of the broader business impact of the payee experience. Nearly all respondents (93%) agree that an unreliable payee experience can negatively affect both revenue and brand reputation, reinforcing the importance of delivering fast, localized, and reliable payouts as organizations expand globally.

The full Payout Infrastructure Gap Report is available here.

Research Methodology

The Payout Infrastructure Gap Report was conducted in partnership with Kickstand and is based on the Friction-Free Frontier survey conducted between April 24 and May 6, 2026. A total of 714 leaders in finance, operations, and technology roles—including CEOs, founders, CFOs, finance directors, and other senior decision-makers—at organizations with at least 10 employees were surveyed across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The study was conducted at a 95% confidence level with a ±3.7% margin of error.

About Tipalti

Tipalti is the AI-powered platform for finance automation, elevating how finance teams operate in the global economy. We empower our customers to scale faster and smarter by removing the complexities of doing global business and accelerating their finance operations efficiency. Our platform provides a comprehensive suite of finance automation solutions designed for mid-market businesses across accounts payable, global payouts, procurement, employee expenses, corporate cards, supplier management, tax compliance, and treasury. Tipalti partners with leading financial institutions such as Citi, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, and Visa, enabling over 6,500 global companies to efficiently and securely pay millions of suppliers and payees across 200+ countries and territories, in 120 currencies. For more information, visit tipalti.com.

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