How AI in car dealerships is reshaping back-office operations

The dealership back office has often flown under the radar: essential but rarely seen as a driver of innovation. For years, it’s been weighed down by manual tasks, outdated systems and paper-based workflows. But that’s starting to change. Emerging technologies like AI in car dealerships, along with machine learning and robotic process automation, are helping dealerships reimagine their back-office operations as strategic assets that boost efficiency, generate insight and support growth.

On this month’s episode of Up to Speed, Mike Mader, principal with Baker Tilly’s dealership advisory service team, discusses the ways in which AI can transform the back office with Senior Product Marketing Manager at Yooz, Alastair Moore.

Unlocking latent value

Modern financial automation tools are helping dealerships uncover the hidden potential of their back offices. By automating accounts payable (AP) and receivable processes, AI can extract, validate and post invoice data, match purchase orders, flag anomalies and even predict optimal payment times based on cash flow and vendor terms. These capabilities not only reduce errors and processing time but also provide real-time visibility into financial operations.

Beyond AP, AI is improving contract management, compliance, general ledger reconciliation and forecasting. These enhancements help dealerships move from reactive financial management to proactive, data-informed decision-making.

Efficiency and scalability

One of the most immediate benefits of AI in car dealerships is greater efficiency. Dealerships using AI-powered platforms report significant reductions in invoice processing times, from 10 to 12 minutes per invoice to as little as 15 seconds. These time savings are especially valuable for operations managing thousands of invoices each month.