Today occupies an interesting place in modern culture. Boxing Day, as today is called in many nations of the former British Empire, is a secular holiday when servants and tradespeople would receive what’s called a “Christmas box” from their bosses or employers. No one quite knows the origin of the holiday’s name, but the tradition itself dates back to Medieval Europe. Boxing Day also falls on the same day as the Feast of St. Stephen, a Roman Catholic feast day which includes leaving gifts for the poor and working class. Boxing Day is celebrated in a variety of European nations, as well as in Hong Kong and several African countries such as South Africa (where it’s called the “Day of Goodwill”) and Kenya.
That little cultural lesson over, let’s turn to what happened on Payables Place in the last two weeks. Chris Dwyer took a detailed look at travel and expense management for the bulk of the past two weeks, while I examined what makes early payment discounts such an attractive investment for enterprises. Read on below to make sure you’re caught up!
Where Can Travel and Expense Management Go? (Part I)
There’s much more than meets the eye when it comes to travel and expense management, Chris Dwyer writes in this December 15 article. Business travel comprises a significant amount of enterprise spend, so it makes sense for AP/finance teams to work on properly managing this particular category of business expenses. In this first of two articles, Chris takes a look at where travel and expense management may end up in the next few years—and what tools enterprises can use to manage this category of spend. Read the full article at http://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2014/12/can-travel-expense-management-go-part/.
Where Can Travel and Expense Go? (Part II)
In the second part of his series on travel and expense in the next few years, Dwyer examines how enterprises must re-evaluate existing business travel programs and enlist next-generation strategies to continue to make the best use of that expense category. “Corporate travel policy compliance is still a top concern among contemporary organizations as business travel budgets begin to rise to pre-economic-downturn levels,” Dwyer writes, “Every year brings about more business travel, and it’s critical for executives to have the necessary capabilities for monitoring, measuring, tracking, and, most importantly, enforcing policy compliance.” Read the full article at http://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2014/12/can-travel-and-expense-go-part-ii/.
An Early Payment Discount Example to Sink Your Teeth Into
Early payment discounts are a classic risk-free investment for enterprises both large and small. On December 19, I took a detailed look at the annualized rate of return that accounts payable and treasury teams can expect when they begin capturing more early payment discounts. Suffice to say, the numbers are impressive—a 36.73% annualized rate compared with a maximum of 1.05% APY in a money market account. Read the full article at http://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2014/12/early-payment-discount-example-sink-teeth/.
What Does “Big Data” Mean for the CFO?
The concept of “Big Data” has permeated numerous functions throughout the business. Finance is no different, as Chris Dwyer explains in his December 22 article on what the concept means to the CFO’s office. For the CFO, big data is a way to understand procurement’s impact and—among other things—gain a full view into the entire organization. Read the full article at http://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2014/12/big-data-mean-cfo/.
The Future of Travel and Expense Management: The Visibility Quotient
Chris Dwyer takes a look at the importance of visibility in this first article—published December 24—of a new series on where the travel and expense management space will end up in 2015. The long and short of it is that travel and expense remain critical, and having visibility into business travel data can only help the enterprise in the long term. Read the full article at http://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2014/12/future-travel-expense-management-visibility-quotient/.
Check out Payables Place’s sister site, CPO Rising, for leading-edge thinking on supply management, contingent labor, and more procurement topics. Read more at www.cporising.com.
