Between the reasons to implement scan-and-capture invoicing and a discussion of trends in accounts payable (AP), there has been substantial ground covered at Payables Place these past few weeks. If you happened to miss any of the great analysis pieces covered since early April, collected below are all the articles that are sure to educate on the changes affecting AP, in addition to a great case study on how automating accounts payable can make a huge difference. Read on for more.
3 Reasons to Implement Scan-and–Capture Invoicing
Unlike electronic invoicing using technologies such as EDI or web forms, scan-and-capture invoicing moves buying organizations into managing invoices electronically without forcing suppliers to submit invoices in an entirely new way. That is just one of several reasons to implement a scan-and-capture solution, which can be seen as the first step on the road to true eInvoicing or as an end-game in itself depending on organizational goals. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/3-reasons-to-implement-scan-and-capture-invoicing/ for more.
AP’s Top Trends for 2015: A Stronger AP/Procurement Partnership
The second part in the series on accounts payable trends in 2015 discusses the stronger AP/procurement partnership that will arise in the year ahead. High-performing organizations recognize that it is critical for procurement and accounts payable to have a strong partnership, particularly as these two functions are part of the procure-to-pay (P2P) workflow. A strong, efficient P2P workflow can, for that matter, result in improved enterprise results overall. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/aps-top-trends-for-2015-a-stronger-approcurement-partnership/ for more.
AP’s Top Trends for 2015: A Greater Involvement in Working Capital Optimization
Over the course of the past several years, the accounts payable team has become of more and more strategic importance in many organizations. Part of this is because there is new recognition of how an efficient invoice-approval workflow can drive cost and process savings for the enterprise. For that matter, an efficient AP process can also have an impact on the enterprise’s working capital strategies, as a more efficient AP workflow can afford the treasury department improved visibility so they can make better decisions on which invoices to pay when. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/aps-top-trends-for-2015-a-greater-involvement-in-working-capital-optimization/ for more.
Concur Fusion and Business Network Evolution
Christopher Dwyer attended Concur Fusion 2015 in San Francisco the first week of April, and his article discussing the event details Concur CEO Steve Singh’s vision for how his company will fit into the SAP ecosystem since the global enterprise software company acquired Concur in Fall 2014. The Fusion conference did not leave behind its historical focus on business travel and expense management, but Chris does note in his article that Singh used the discussion of those categories as tent poles to explain how Concur fits into SAP. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/concur-fusion-and-business-network-evolution/ for more details.
AP’s Top Trends for 2015: The Changing Skillsets of Accounts Payable
The accounts payable team has changed significantly over the past few years, as our series on AP’s trends has shown. Between ePayments slowly moving toward default status, the strengthening ties between procurement and AP, and even the greater involvement of accounts payable in working capital optimization, the AP function is almost completely altered from what it has historically operated as. Because of these shifts, and the trends affecting the department even now, the skillsets required to be successful in an AP team are changing. This final entry in the AP trends series details those changing skillsets, and how enterprises should start to plan for the future. Read the article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/aps-top-trends-for-2015-the-changing-skillsets-of-accounts-payable/ for more.
AribaLIVE Case Study: Efficiency, Visibility, and Compliance … Oh My: Automate AP for Organizational Growth
Automating the AP workflow is a key value driver for many organizations. On April 8, at AribaLIVE, Wiley’s Alice Hillary shared the publishing company’s journey toward automating the accounts payable process. Wiley started off with a non-standard process, which included AP staffers physically walking invoices around to approvers who may not have even been authorized for that particular invoice or that particular amount. Hillary relayed the story at AribaLIVE of how Wiley took that challenge and turned the system into a highly efficient workflow that drove significant business results. Read the full article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/aribalive-case-study-efficiency-visibility-and-compliance-oh-my-automate-ap-for-organizational-growth/ for more.
Webinar Recap: Trendspotting — AP’s Top Trends for 2015…and Beyond
Ardent Partners analysts Chris Dwyer and Andrew Bartolini presented on an April 16 webinar, sponsored by Concur, which focused on the accounts payable trends for 2015 and beyond. The webinar touched on several key trends that are affecting the AP department, not least of which includes the rising importance of business networks and the rising strategic importance of the AP team in the face of the move toward more agile operations. For a more detailed recounting of the webinar, in case you happened to miss it, check out the article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/webinar-recap-trendspotting-aps-top-trends-for-2015and-beyond/.
The Persistent Paper Problem in Accounts Payable (and How to Attack it)
For much of its history, the AP process has remained staunchly paper-based and processed those invoices through a high-touch, mostly manual workflow. This has changed in recent years, as more and more enterprises realize the value to be had in automating the invoice-approval process. Despite this recognition, however, there is still a high volume of paper remaining in the accounts payable workflow; in fact, according to Ardent data, an average of 70% of invoices received by AP teams are still paper-based. This April 27 article discusses the persistent paper problem in AP, as well as providing some key advice for how to solve it. Read more at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/the-persistent-paper-problem-in-accounts-payable-and-how-to-attack-it/.
AP Predictions for 2015: ePayments Will Become the Default
Change is one of the few constants in the business world; marketplaces will constantly shift, and new technologies will arise that replace older ones. Business-to-business (B2B) payments are no different, which is why Ardent’s AP predictions series kicks off with a piece discussing why electronic payments (ePayments) will soon supplant paper checks as the default payment method for B2B transactions. That this has not yet occurred is a function less of the technology not existing, and more a case of supplier resistance—a barrier that has started to shift. To learn more, read the article at https://payablesplace.ardentpartners.com/2015/04/ap-predictions-for-2015-epayments-will-become-the-default/.
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