As always, we’ve covered a lot of ground in the past few weeks on Payables Place. February drew to a close with a detailed look at the reasons to use a corporate travel card, as well as a two-part look at the true value of scan-and-capture invoicing. There were also some thoughts on how to approach a procure-to-pay process, as well as who really gains when the accounts payable workflow is automated. Read on to get the full impact of everything we’ve written about lately.
Two Approaches to Building a P2P Process
There are, in general, two pathways an enterprise can take to building a holistic procure-to-pay workflow. There’s probably more than that, but broadly speaking there are two departments where a P2P project tends to start. These two departments are Accounts Payable and Procurement, and, in the article we ran on February 16, Andrew Bartolini and I took a dive into what it means to come at P2P from either direction. Take a read at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/02/two-approaches-building-p2p-process/.
Why Use a Corporate Travel Card?
Business travel remains a significantly complex spend category for enterprises to manage. As a result, any method an enterprise can use to simplify administering this spend category is probably a good idea. That’s where the corporate travel card enters the picture, and is why this oldest of credit cards is the subject of my February 18th article explaining why enterprises should consider using one. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a small organization or a multi-national—using a corporate travel card is something to consider. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/02/why-use-a-corporate-travel-card/.
Why Metrics Matter in Accounts Payable
Metrics matter to every department across the enterprise; there’s little point in looking to improve operations if you’re unable to capture performance data, after all. This is no different in the AP department, as my February 20th article shows. In fact, “While AP automation can be a critical step towards improving performance, it is the level of access and visibility into key performance indicators (KPIs) and the analytical capabilities to understand and act upon that data that enables intelligence and allows for continuous improvement.” Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/02/why-metrics-matter-in-accounts-payable/.
Who Benefits from AP Automation?
When it comes to an accounts payable automation project, the clear beneficiary is the AP team itself. After all, AP automation streamlines the invoice approval process tremendously, which consequently removes extensive data entry from the AP team’s day-to-day list of duties. This, however, doesn’t mean that AP is the only function that gains an advantage from AP automation. Which functions stand to benefit from such a project are, in fact, the subject Andrew Bartolini and I tackle in our February 23rd article. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/02/who-benefits-from-ap-automation/.
The Value of Scan and Capture: How Does It Work?
This first article in a series on scan-and-capture invoicing expounds on the underlying principles behind document capture technology, including the different methods used to accurately capture invoicing data. Scan-and-capture invoicing by and large tends to be one of two things—a stepping stone on the way to full eInvoicing or an end-game by itself—depending of course on the enterprise implementing the solution. Read my full look at the underlying principles behind scan and capture at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/02/the-value-of-scan-and-capture-how-does-it-work/.
The Value of Scan and Capture: Problems and Solutions
The second part of our look at the value of scan-and-capture solutions examines the problems that document capture solves in the enterprise, including the significant amount of paper in the invoicing process, and picks out a few solution providers that offer capture suites to help handle this problem. The short version? Scan and capture eliminates paper from the invoice process, which allows AP to become more strategic instead of tactical. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/02/the-value-of-scan-and-capture-problems-and-solutions/.
Better Working Capital Optimization Through Technology
For our first article in March, I took a look at how technology implementations in the AP team can actually assist with working capital optimization. This is a running theme through much of Ardent Partners’ research into accounts payable over the past few years. The simple truth is that a more-automated invoice workflow allows for greater visibility into the enterprise’s cash situation, which results in Treasury being able to better optimize working capital. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/03/better-working-capital-optimization-through-technology/.
Working Capital Optimization: AP’s Technology Considerations
Lastly, just this past Wednesday, I took a look at what AP has to consider on the technology front when it comes to helping the enterprise optimize its working capital. Without taking too deep a look into it here, there are a few different financial capabilities that AP teams can get in their technology implementations so Treasury can better optimize working capital. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/03/working-capital-optimization-aps-technology-considerations/.
Check out these related articles for more:
Nvoicepay, Yooz, and How Social Media Fits into P2P: What You May Have Missed
Mobility, AP Automation in the SMB, and More: What You May Have Missed
Business Travel, ePayments, and the Best of 2014: What You Missed
Business Travel Galore and Explaining Early Payment Discounts: What You May Have Missed
