Join us on Thursday, June 27 at 2pm ET, for a complimentary webinar presentation on our latest market research report “The State of ePayables 2019 Webinar” (click to register), sponsored by Certify.
Ardent Partners recently published its State of ePayables 2019 Report, and one of the major themes we saw from this annual market research study was that, over the last three years, finance executives state that there has been an increased focus on the role of the modern-day Accounts Payable (“AP”) function. This has resulted in a more broad-based understanding of the function and its ability to impact value, savings, and intelligence. This is a departure from the past where the AP group was relegated to the unglamorous back office, managing a long-term cycle of tactical, manual-processes and an abundance of paper, “destined” to remain a function that would never see its “day in the sun.”
Over the past decade, AP’s tide has been turning. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, most businesses came to the realization that “doing more with less” meant that even the most tactical of units had opportunities for sizable performance improvement via an increase in precision and efficiency. And, as those initial improvements were identified and pursued, other, secondary, yet more strategic opportunities to create enterprise value began to emerge. In essence, many of the very back-office and operational pieces of the average businesses had the power to fuel new productivity gains in comparison with bigger, more strategic components of the greater organization.
Click Here to Register for the New Webinar – June 26th @ 2 PM ET
A successful digital transformation of the AP function requires many elements, including sponsorship, effort, collaboration, vision, expertise, and a supporting technology infrastructure. Superior program design also remains a critical element in the speed and impact of the initiative. But more than anything, it requires the entire organization to embrace change and go “all in.” The AP function has benefited from this newer digital approach where transformations now look to address the full AP process. When done successfully, a more significant and long-term impact on AP operations and results can occur. And, as digital transformations continue to hit all parts of the enterprise, greater opportunities to create value are unlocked. Here again, AP benefits from the larger business trend with more business and finance executives realizing that they can drive more strategic value from their AP unit. This realization translates into greater awareness of and respect for the function.
To learn more about the State of Accounts Payables and AP automation, please join Ardent’s Research Director, Bob Cohen, on a new webinar tomorrow, July 27th at 2 PM ET. Bob will be discussing the results of the Report and when is the right time for you and your team to move forward with a transformation initiative. We hope you will join him! Details below.
