How Leading Dealerships Across North America Are Turning Finance into a Growth Engine

Why dealership groups can’t afford to wait 

The most successful dealership groups in North America have realised something powerful: finance isn’t just about reporting the numbers - it’s about driving them.

As margins tighten and competition heats up, the dealerships winning today aren’t just selling more cars - they’re running smarter, faster, and leaner. They’re rethinking how money moves through their business - from vendor payments to cash flow visibility - and transforming finance into a true growth engine

For years, dealership finance has been treated as the back-office function that simply keeps the lights on. But that mindset is shifting fast. The groups scaling across multiple locations know that modernising finance means unlocking speed, accuracy, and control at scale - the same qualities that make a great sales operation hum.

This is the new frontier of dealership growth - where financial transformation fuels the entire organisation.

1. Creating visibility across every rooftop 

Every dealership group knows the pain: different stores, different processes, and different systems. Invoices, POs, and payments come from everywhere - parts suppliers, service vendors, OEM programs, utilities.

Without central oversight, costs get buried, approvals lag, and decision-making slows.

What leading dealerships are doing:

They’re breaking the silos.

They’re connecting every location into a single financial view - so CFOs and controllers can see, in real time, where the money’s going and why.

That kind of visibility gives dealer groups something they’ve rarely had before: control and confidence.

2. Automate invoice processing - no more manual drag

Time to ask: how much of your AP team’s time is spent on manual data entry, chasing signatures, mis-matching POs, reconciling line items? Probably more than you’d like.

What to do:

• Use software or AI tools that automatically capture invoice details (vendor, date, amount, line items).
• Match invoices against purchase orders and service records automatically - even when formats vary.
• Route approvals digitally. Send alert to the right person when something needs review.

Result: fewer errors, faster approvals, fewer missed discounts, fewer late fees.

3. Free up head-count and redirect focus

Here’s where the transformation kicks in: once you’ve got visibility and automation in place, your finance team stops being just a cost centre and becomes a business enabler.

What to do:

• Quantify how much time AP processing is taking currently (hours per month per location).
• After automation, track time saved, error reduction, vendor relationships improved.
• Re-deploy freed-up staff into value-added areas: vendor strategy, parts inventory oversight, service cost control.

That means your back office actually supports the front line - more cars sold, stronger margins, tighter operations.

4. Build scalable processes for growth 

When you acquire or open a new location, you don’t want the back office chaos to grow with it. You want it to scale smoothly.

What to do:

• Standardise invoice intake, coding, approval workflow across all sites.
• Use cloud-based AP automation so new locations plug into the same system.
• Use consistent vendor terms and payment processes.

That way, when you expand, your finance operations don’t become your bottleneck.

5. Use the data to make real business decisions 

Once you’re running on automation and visibility, you’ve got something powerful: data. Lots of it. But data without action is just noise.

What to do:

• Look at vendor spend data across locations - who’s consistent, who’s not.
• Identify late-pay vendors, terms you’re missing, early payment discount opportunities.
• Use the insights to negotiate better terms, streamline service-department vendor lists, reduce risk.
• Your finance team becomes strategic, not reactive.

Final word

Financial transformation isn’t about flashy software or trendy buzzwords. It’s about practical change. Running multiple dealership sites means complexity - but complexity doesn’t have to slow you down.

By automating AP, you’re not just ticking off a back-office project. You’re building the financial foundation that lets your sales floor run leaner, faster and smarter.

Want to see how this looks in action? Grab one of your busiest vendor invoices and put it to the test with automation. The back-office win could turn into a front-line advantage.

Ready to shift gears? 

Dealerships that modernize finance don’t just stay compliant — they gain the control, speed, and visibility to grow with confidence. See how automation can future-proof your finance operations. Book a demo today.

Authored by Oliver Fearnley-Brown
Oliver Fearnley-Brown partners with finance leaders to modernize Accounts Payable, replacing outdated manual workflows with efficient, technology-driven automation. With a strong background in financial operations and digital transformation, Oliver helps organizations enhance control, reduce processing costs, and improve visibility across their AP function. His expertise supports teams in overcoming common challenges such as invoice errors, payment delays, and compliance risks - empowering finance departments to operate with greater accuracy and confidence.