With several innovative cloud-based software solutions designed specifically for the Purchase-to-Pay process now available, companies have the opportunity to leverage advanced functionality without a large IT investment or a complex implementation project.  Such providers as Ariba, Coupa, and Taulia are growing rapidly as companies continue to migrate to these extremely powerful and flexible solutions, and […]

The pervasive use of local manual checks for everything from employee recognition awards to urgent vendor payments has been the nemesis of Accounts Payable organizations for decades.  Difficult to control and manage, and costly to administer, the hope was that with the introduction of improved processes and efficient centralized payment systems, the need for local […]

Dealing with the many complex issues surrounding the procurement of services is a challenge that every company faces to one degree or another.  Often, the solutions implemented in this area of Procure-to-Pay are workarounds that may accomplish the task at hand, but are filled with manual processing and less than ideal controls.  Even with the […]

Decades ago, when Accounts Payable processors manually completed the three-way match of a paper invoice, purchase order, and receiving document, it was considered a courtesy for a supplier to provide a monthly statement of account activity, detailing outstanding invoices and credits.  With the move towards automation and reduction in processing errors and mismatches, paper statements […]

As a part of government compliance requirements in the United States, reporting for Form W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) and Certification) and Form 1099 (Miscellaneous Income) crosses multiple functions, including Master Data, Purchasing, Accounts Payable, Tax, and General Accounting.  With so many functions involved in the process, there is often no clear owner […]

Shared Services organizations can, and should, play a critical role in managing and maximizing working capital. While collaborating with Procurement on vendor terms and Treasury on cash management is a common practice, one obvious solution that is often overlooked is the manner in which the invoice due date is calculated. Recently, Peeriosity’s iPollingTM functionality was […]

Achieving success in Accounts Payable is all about eliminating process exceptions.  Perfection happens when invoice details match exactly with purchase order and receipt details, without any intervention or rework required.  The metric used to measure the rate at which this error-free event happens is called the First Pass Match Rate, and the goal of every […]

Continuous process improvement, reengineering, challenging the status quo, and delighting the customer are concepts that the world’s best companies both embrace and pursue vigorously.  For the Purchase-to-Pay process, and specifically for Accounts Payable, navigating the achievement of these objectives is complicated when it comes to the right approach for resolving invoices with obvious errors, including […]

Every Purchase-to-Pay organization is likely familiar with working with the Treasury Department to set the appropriate discount terms with suppliers for early payment –  with a rigid set of rules for when discounts can be taken, and the constant pressure to collect paper invoices, complete the matching process, and enter invoice details to ready invoices […]

The word “petty” is defined as something that is relatively worthless or unimportant, with a secondary definition of a person who gets caught up in the small details.  The word “cash” however, takes on a whole other meaning, with an emphasis at most companies on proper business use, tracking, and detailed record keeping.  While some […]