4-Day Workweek

AP teams live on service levels, vendor response, and month-end deadlines. Can a 4-day workweek fit that reality?

Could Accounts Payable Teams Make a 4-Day Workweek Work?

In this article

1. Why AP leaders are looking at a 4-day week
2. Where AP is different, risk and control
3. Coverage models that can work
4. Month-end close, practical playbook
5. Automation that closes the gap
6. What pilots and studies say
7. Open questions for the AP community

1) Why AP leaders are looking at a 4-day week

Across multiple pilots, companies reported improved well-being, lower burnout, and stable or better revenue after switching to a 4-day model. In the UK's coordinated pilot, ninety two percent of participating companies kept the policy, with stress and burnout falling, and revenue holding or improving.

2) Where AP is different, risk and control

AP is a service hub, not a back-office island. Vendor inquiries, urgent payment runs, check and ACH cycles, fraud controls, and approval routing all require predictable availability. Any redesign must preserve SLAs, segregation of duties, and audit trails, while keeping reconciliation and close timelines intact. Guidance from HR and operations groups highlights policy clarity and coverage rules as success factors, which is highly relevant to AP.

3) Coverage models that can work

• Staggered teams (Team A Mon to Thu, Team B Tue to Fri), creates five day vendor coverage with individual four day weeks.
• Core day model (all hands Tue to Thu, rotating Mon or Fri), preserves collaboration while maintaining external support.
• Compressed hours (four 10 hour days), useful for AP groups with daily processing cycles that cannot shrink.
• Follow the sun coverage for global AP teams, pairing regions to reduce overtime at month end.

4) Month-end close, practical playbook

Goal: maintain DPO targets, aging discipline, and close calendar while protecting staff well-being and focus time.

1. Front-load approvals during core days, auto-remind approvers, enable mobile approvals for executives.
2. Green lane processing for critical vendors and statutory payments, publish cutoff dates a week in advance.
3. Split responsibilities by role, with clear ownership for accrual prep versus journal posting.
4. Daily 15 minute huddles during the close window to surface blockers quickly.
5. Exception dashboards to track duplicates, holds, missing POs, and SLA risks.

5) Automation that closes the gap

Shorter workweeks work best when routine tasks are automated. Key enablers include invoice digitization, automated three way match, vendor self service portals, automatic reminder workflows for approvers, and exception routing rules. HR and operations sources emphasize that policy clarity and process design must come before structural schedule changes, which aligns closely with AP workflow design.

6) What the pilots and studies say

• UK 4-Day Week pilot, sixty one companies, most kept the policy, stress and burnout down, revenue stable or improved.
• Iceland national trials, productivity held or improved, service levels stable, well-being significantly improved.
• Microsoft Japan experiment, productivity up roughly forty percent, electricity and printing costs down.
• Implementation cautions, coverage rules, eligibility standards, overtime controls, and performance baselines must be set before launch.

7) Open questions for the AP community

• How would vendor response time SLAs be maintained on shortened staffing days?
• Which close tasks would you shift earlier, and what would you automate first?
• Would you publish a vendor-facing service calendar?
• Which metrics would you report to leadership if you ran a pilot?

Join the conversation

If your AP or finance team has piloted a 4-day schedule, share your model and lessons learned in the comments or reach out to be featured in a short Q and A. Real examples will help the community separate hype from what actually works in invoice throughput, vendor service, and close execution quality.

References and further reading

1. UK four day week pilot results, continuation rates, stress and burnout reductions, revenue impact.
2. University of Cambridge summary of UK findings, sick day and retention improvements.
3. Iceland shorter workweek trials, productivity and service maintained or improved.
4. Microsoft Japan experiment, reported productivity and cost effects.
5. SHRM guidance on implementing four day policies and what employers should know.
6. Context on sector participation and pilot organization.
7. Additional implementation considerations for alternative work schedules.

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Robert Ruhno Director Accounts Payable Professionals Group

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