Developed in collaboration with Hotel Management magazine, hospitality operations platform BirchStreet Systems has released a new survey report revealing how embedded payments are redefining hotel accounts payable processes.
Entitled Hotel AP in 2025, the report draws on feedback from hotel finance leaders to identify key challenges and emerging priorities in the industry. Surveyed executives across ownership, operations and C-suite levels pointed to growing pressure from rising costs, fraud risks and tight deadlines. As a result, the report points out that many hotels are rethinking legacy systems and manual workflows, focusing on solutions that improve data accuracy, reduce costs and enhance efficiency through automation.
“The traditional way of managing AP is no longer sustainable in an industry where efficiency, cost control and security are critical,” Phil Beck, GM, payments at BirchStreet Systems, said in a statement. “This report offers a clear roadmap for hotels to modernize payment processes and redirect focus toward guest experience and profitability.”
The findings show that control remains a top concern with 64.5 percent of AP leaders keeping payments in-house for greater oversight. Cost efficiency also continues to drive decision-making, as hotel finance teams prioritize rebate capture and reduced processing costs among their top goals for 2025.
Automation remains a major area for improvement, with 37.5 percent of respondents citing lack of automation as a key challenge and highlighting the need for more streamlined, digitized processes. Security concerns are also a top priority with 65 percent of B2B fraud occurring via checks, hotels are increasingly shifting toward digital payment methods to safeguard sensitive financial and guest data.