[Editor’s Note: Ardent Partners recently published its annual AP-themed report, The State of ePayables 2019: Driving Value in the Age of Intelligence. Today’s article is part of an on-going series focused on the report’s key findings. If you would like to get the full report, it is available for download here (registration required).]
Over the last decade, Accounts Payable (“AP”) has become a much more strategic function within many enterprises. While progress has been made, many more AP departments still need to make the transition from only being viewed as a tactical unit. Today, access to timely and accurate financial data and reporting is helping AP leaders better impact performance and achieve greater prominence. With more robust data and better visibility into the overall AP process, AP teams are in a better position for success than ever before. In Ardent Partners’ 2019 State of ePayables market research survey, we asked AP and Finance professionals for the top 3 areas where AP departments are using data and intelligence to make an impact. Below are the top responses:
Forecasting, budgeting, and planning (64%): The ability to drive full visibility into enterprise spend is an attribute that not only unleashes AP’s visionary expertise, but can propel AP and finance leaders to new and strategic grounds. With better visibility into invoice and payment data, AP can turn that data into intelligence and provide it to their functional partners and the C-suite to be utilized for critical planning, budgeting, and forecasting. The AP function is well positioned to support these activities through automation and invoice-based intelligence.
Cash flow analysis (61%): The ability to capture real-time invoice and payment data allows for a more accurate analysis of a company’s cash flow. Greater visibility into the B2B payment scheduling and execution processes means that a group like Treasury can provide real oversight in how and when this money is paid. Treasury, by the very nature of its focus on cash management, can be both a direct and immediate beneficiary of advanced AP invoice and payment capabilities and a potentially powerful stakeholder and ally.
Fraud and compliance management (58%): Based on Ardent Partners research, 77% of AP leaders agreed that managing fraud and compliance is a critical capability that their organization needs to develop or possess. Data and intelligence make it more successful. Accounts Payable sits in an ideal position to identify and manage invoice and/or payment fraud, and can be a perfect ally for compliance teams in identifying potential areas of concern and escalating issues internally. Utilizing data and intelligence to know and understand different transaction patterns is another source of value for AP.
Conclusion
There is a wealth of financial and business data warehoused within AP. Unfortunately, much of it remains untapped, and, in as much, not doing the organization any good. If AP teams can extract this invoice and operational data, they can turn it into intelligence that can be utilized throughout the entire organization. Taking a data-driven approach is one of the best ways to accelerate P2P performance and drive more business value. As more responsibility falls under the AP operation, the function has the opportunity to broaden its influence, make a larger impact, and transform perception of AP from tactical to strategic.
Related Research:
Download the State of ePayables 2019: Driving Value in the Age of Intelligence Report
The State of ePayables 2019: Intelligence in Action
The “Smart” Way: The Future of ePayables
The State of ePayables 2019: Tactical Automation vs. Strategic Automation
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