New research from Tipalti, an AI-powered finance automation platform, reveals that as businesses increasingly depend on distributed networks to drive growth, many are being constrained by payout infrastructure that has failed to keep pace with the scale and complexity of the modern global economy.

Tipalti's Payout Infrastructure Gap Report, published today, surveyed over 700 finance, operations, and technology leaders across North America, the UK, and Europe to assess how organizations manage the infrastructure underpinning global payouts. The findings expose a widening gap between the strategic value placed on external contributor networks and the systems used to compensate them.

Business Models Have Evolved, but Payout Systems Have Not

More than four in five business leaders (81%) consider creator, partner, or affiliate networks important or critical to their revenue model. However, nearly half (47%) report having delayed or scaled back strategic initiatives over the past year because their payout infrastructure could not support them. The initiatives most commonly affected included product and service launches (51%) and expansion into new markets (47%).

The research also found that operational difficulties are beginning to strain the relationships businesses rely on for growth. Over one-quarter of respondents (26%) reported losing contributors — including independent contractors, suppliers, creators, affiliates, and partners — during the past 12 months due to payout-related issues. Meanwhile, 77% believe that operational friction contributes to turnover among top talent within their own organizations.

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 Many continue to treat payouts primarily as an operational function, even though 82% acknowledge that outdated infrastructure is already slowing cash flow or business growth.

The Growth Gap Continues to Widen

Looking ahead, the pressure on these systems is expected to intensify. Three-quarters (75%) of organizations anticipate that global transaction volumes will increase over the next two years, while 87% say they have already reached a point where their finance and payout infrastructure could not scale effectively. Finance teams report devoting approximately 22% of their weekly capacity to audit preparation and compliance reporting, with an additional 22% of monthly payouts requiring manual intervention.

The compliance burden reflected in the findings aligns with the broader reality of cross-border payments, where organizations must navigate varying tax reporting requirements, anti-money laundering regulations, currency conversion, and localized payout methods across each jurisdiction in which they operate — complexity that legacy systems built for domestic or simpler payee structures were not designed to handle.

Organizations that have adopted more mature finance automation are experiencing measurable benefits. Respondents with mature AI integrated into their finance operations were significantly more likely to report that their operational infrastructure enables growth and were substantially less likely to experience 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 underscores growing awareness of the broader business consequences of the payee experience. Nearly all respondents (93%) agree that an unreliable payee experience can negatively affect both revenue and brand reputation, reinforcing the need for fast, localized, and reliable payouts as organizations expand globally.

Source: GlobalFinTechSeries