Introduction Nothing is more fundamental in Accounts Payable then the 3-way match process.  While many also leverage a 2-way match process using Pay-on-Receipt or Evaluated Receipts Settlement, many transactions continue to be processed by matching the invoice with the receipt and the purchase order. When price and/or quantity discrepancies are not resolved in a timely […]

Introduction For Accounts Payable departments, transactions that are require little to no human intervention are the most efficient and require the least amount of resources.  While processing invoices without an associated purchase order is also straight-forward, the reality is that by not having a purchase order there are many possible problems, including a greater risk […]

Introduction Every process within the scope of Global Business Services has hundreds of detail process steps and procedures that often evolve over time, without close inspection to see if each process is truly optimized.  One example of a detailed process with design variations between companies is the process followed in Accounts Payable (P2P) for when […]

Introduction Process mining technology extracts data from your systems to give you comprehensive, real-time visibility into how your processes actually run.  With accurate and comprehensive visibility inefficiencies are quickly identified so that process improvement plans can be implemented, based on real data without needing to rely on gut feel or guesses, so that project outcomes […]

Introduction For vendors and suppliers to get paid, there typically is a process for submitting invoice information that details what was purchased and where to remit payment, plus other details like an invoice number, purchase order number, and payment terms, to facilitate the invoice being approved and processed.  Transactions without invoices are also likely at […]

Introduction Even with the advanced ERP systems that most large companies utilize for Accounts Payable processing, the challenge of duplicate payments and fraud control, in general, continues to be an issue for many AP organizations.  Considering the tremendous number of invoices being processed and the corresponding amount of supplier payments being made at most companies, […]

Introduction Once considered the primary method for vendors to communicate with Accounts Payable, providing phone support for vendor inquiries has fallen out of favor as other methods have become both more efficient and less costly.  Even with the most sophisticated phone systems where basic requests for payment status can be answered by a chatbot, providing […]

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 […]