Introduction With companies increasingly moving to Shared Services or Global Business Services to provide Accounts Payable services, and with Purchasing activities (both indirect and direct) typically split between either centralized or decentralized organizations that are almost never part of Shared Services, coordinating an end-to-end design for Purchase-to-Pay can be a significant challenge.  Fortunately, software providers […]

Introduction While many companies have a well-designed process for handling invoices associated with purchase orders (POs), the non-Purchase Order (non-PO) related invoices can often be much more challenging and the cause of many exceptions.  These invoices often arrive at the location making the purchase, complicating the process for approval and invoice submission for processing at […]

Introduction We’re all familiar with the statement that “what’s measured improves”.  Internal and external customers for the Accounts Payable process are willing and able to provide detailed information about problems that exist from their perspective, but many companies don’t have good methods or techniques in place to track these issues and related corrective actions.  Including […]

Introduction Shared Services work processes, like Accounts Payable (P2P) have hundreds of detailed work steps and many required policy differences depending on the type of supplier, negotiated terms, industry standards, and legal or regulatory requirements.   As companies work to implement the most efficient processes possible, understanding the details of how other peer companies handle similar […]

Introduction By definition, dramatically changing or reengineering a process requires looking at the entire process from end-to-end, and not focusing only on parts of a process that reside within a functional area or within a department.  The challenge often comes from the difficulty with getting a significantly high enough level of sponsorship and funding to […]

Introduction Simplifying and streamlining Accounts Payable processes is best accomplished with multiple approaches that are closely coordinated and prioritized.  For example, while getting electronic invoices from suppliers might be achievable for a large percentage of your production-related invoice volume, you may need to add portal solutions that support supplier invoice submissions as an approach to […]

Introduction The concept of self-service technology for Shared Service processes has been around for decades, with the greatest penetration for Employee Services applications for the creation, updating, and distribution of employee-related information, with other efforts related to call center support, including supporting vendors for basic requests to answer question regarding payment status and payment timing […]

Introduction A few weeks ago, Shared Services organizations were comparing approaches for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this week Peeriosity will facilitate a panel discussion with Peeriosity members on a Peeriosity PeercastTM featuring leading member companies sharing ideas and answering questions about Shared Services delivery with the emergence of COVID-19.  This “for members only” […]

Introduction To create an efficient and low-cost process for Accounts Payable, standardization and new technology tools can only get you so far.  The biggest factors tend to be the quality of the inputs to the process, including clean processes and procedures for goods and materials purchased by teams of professional purchasing agents, to efficient processes […]

Introduction A key part of any Accounts Payable control structure is the ability to minimize duplicate payments.  Even with all the integrated controls of the major ERP systems, companies continue to find it necessary to supplement ERP functionality with other technology solutions and outside audit recovery firms.  Company Experience During a recent Peeriosity PeercastTM, a […]