We’ve all heard the saying, “You’ve got to spend money to make money.” And honestly, it’s quite true — but only if you’re doing it right. Even though business leaders know that cash flow is the lifeblood of an organization, only 59% of businesses claim they have the right technology in place to meet current cost management goals. For 2019, the “Age of Intelligence,” that number seems shockingly low.
Managing spend with manual processes and legacy systems not only makes executing routine transactions difficult, but it can also lead to other various challenges throughout the purchase-to-pay (P2P) cycle.
So how does P2P automation bolster spend management, you ask? In simple terms, it eliminates the greatest source of spend-related inefficiencies that can harm your financial health — outdated manual processes. So let’s explore three of the biggest challenges of managing spend and how an automated P2P solution can directly address them.
CHALLENGE #1: Maverick Spending & Compliance
When purchases are made from non-approved suppliers or stray from corporate policy, the consequences on your bottom line can be severe. Similarly, businesses who don’t adhere to government and industry invoicing requirements can face hefty legal and financial penalties.
P2P solutions cut down on maverick spending and ensure compliance by providing:
- VENDOR CATALOGS with pre-approved vendor products to prevent rogue spending
- ONLINE REQUISITION FORMS that eliminate paper & the need for filing approval forms
- PRE-APPROVED PURCHASE ORDERS (POs) for making payments on time & capturing more early-payment discounts
- STANDARDIZED APPROVAL WORKFLOWS that decrease approval times & ensure correct level of authorization is applied
- GUARANTEED INVOICING COMPLIANCE with ever-changing government & industry requirements
CHALLENGE #2: Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)
Weak supplier relationships can have costly impacts on a company. And when they’re managed manually, the more complications you’re bound to encounter when interacting with suppliers.
Automated P2P solutions can help derive maximum value from SRM with capabilities like:
- AUTOMATED WORKFLOW & ELECTRONIC ARCHIVING for faster payment cycles with less processing errors
- PACKAGED KPIS & DASHBOARDS that provide traceability into every invoice & enhanced forecasting
- SELF-SERVICE SUPPLIER PORTAL that leads to better communication & time saved on collection calls
- MOBILE INVOICE APPROVAL for quickly approving invoices on the go
CHALLENGE #3: Visibility, Reporting & Analytics
Without an end-to-end automated P2P workflow, having real-time data is difficult (if not impossible) and makes visibility into spend-related activities incredibly limited.
With P2P automation, complete spend transparency is possible through:
- AUTOMATED WORKFLOWS that enable full reporting on requisitions, items purchased, orders processed & payments made
- CONTRACT REPOSITORY where contracts are stored to facilitate visibility & compliance
- REAL-TIME KPIS & CUSTOMIZABLE DASHBOARDS that let you track the most impactful spend-related & productivity metrics
- TRACKING & E-COLLABORATION FUNCTIONS that provide readily-available information for easy reporting & self-service supplier portals that enhance visibility for suppliers
It doesn’t matter if you’re a large global enterprise or a small-scale operation — spend management is a vital process effecting all functions of a business, and It’s in dire need of modernization. Interested in learning more about P2P automation and its transformative benefits?