{"id":4276,"date":"2020-06-15T20:58:48","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T20:58:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=4276"},"modified":"2022-08-23T19:01:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T19:01:26","slug":"implementing-a-global-accounts-payable-help-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2020\/06\/implementing-a-global-accounts-payable-help-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"Implementing a Global Accounts Payable Help Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Simplifying and streamlining Accounts Payable processes is best accomplished with multiple approaches that are closely coordinated and prioritized.\u00a0 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 eliminate an incremental percentage of transactions that would otherwise be paper-based.\u00a0 The same is true for payment status requests, with a portal solution<\/a> effective for many of these inquires, and with the addition of chat-bots in combination with a help desk staffed with a skilled team who can respond to a wide range of internal and external inquiries in whatever language is required, providing a more complete solution.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Company Experience<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A recent PeercastTM<\/sup> in our Accounts Payable (P2P) research area featured a global company with over $10B in annual revenue discussing their approach to implementing an Accounts Payable Help Desk<\/a>. Prior to 2016 help desk support was outsourced with over 30,000 cases per month.\u00a0 In 2016 a self-service project resulted in a supplier portal to respond to invoice status requests, which reduced inquiry volume by 60%.\u00a0 As this transition took place the help desk support was pulled back in-house, and additional process and technology changes were made, including implementing a chatbot using a purchased solution from Pypestream.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

iPollingTM<\/sup> Results Review<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Peeriosity\u2019s iPollingTM<\/sup> was used to provide insights into how Peeriosity member companies were implementing a help desk and the relationship that effort has with a strategy to also implement a vendor portal.\u00a0 Poll results indicate that 39% have implemented a help desk and they also have a vendor portal.\u00a0 \u00a0An additional 15% indicate they have a help desk but do not have a vendor portal.\u00a0 Of the remaining 46%, there are 15% haven\u2019t reached a decision, 8% haven\u2019t considered the idea, and 23% had a help desk in the past, but no longer consider it necessary because of their vendor portal strategy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"global<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The second polling question asked about the biggest challenge with having an Accounts Payable help desk, and while the accuracy of responses and vendors wanting to have a dedicated point of contact were the top two, for 36% it was difficult to pick a single response, with a number of challenges that exist.\u00a0 Here are the details:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"biggest<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A few of the comments from members include:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n