{"id":4296,"date":"2020-09-29T17:58:31","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T17:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=4296"},"modified":"2022-08-23T18:48:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T18:48:06","slug":"improving-the-end-to-end-purchase-to-pay-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2020\/09\/improving-the-end-to-end-purchase-to-pay-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving the End-to-End Purchase to Pay Process"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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

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.\u00a0 The challenge often comes from the difficulty of getting a significantly high enough level of sponsorship and funding to support the creation of a change project that crosses multiple functional areas.\u00a0 This is particularly true with the Purchase to Pay process, where often the drivers for the change, and the supporting project resources, are from the Finance or Accounting<\/a> parts of the process, without overall ownership from a global Purchase to Pay process owner.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Even though sponsorship issues and crossing functional boundaries can be an issue for all companies, having a Global Business Services orientation as a starting point can be a big enabler, even for companies who don\u2019t include all sourcing activities as a part of GBS.\u00a0 For many, significant opportunities exist to drive improvements based on a clear understanding of Purchase to Pay as an end-to-end process, with direct improvements to many of the processes and sub-processes that are within the scope of your GBS organization.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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

A recent Peeriosity PeercastTM<\/sup> featured a large global company with over $20B in annual revenue discussing their experience with driving improvement across the end-to-end Purchase to Pay process.\u00a0 A first step was to create a clear definition of work activities, starting with 14 different processes ranging from processes for Sourcing and Contracting, Requisition and Procurement, Receiving, Payment, and Process Management, with each of the 14 processes further defined at a sub-process level.\u00a0 Next, all processes and sub-processes that touched Global Business Services in some way were targeted for process analysis and improvement, working in close coordination between all process owners.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At a tactical level, examples of transformation efforts included increasing electronic invoicing to 75%, increasing electronic payments from 35% to 80%, and a range of vendor management initiatives including implementing new vendor self-service tools, and a better definition of single-use and repeat vendor cleanup processes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For details, Peeriosity members are encouraged to sign into the member\u2019s area to view the complete presentation and listen to the recorded Peercast.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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

The results from a recent Peeriosity poll created using the iPollingTM<\/sup> technology provide a good background regarding the Purchase to Pay end-to-end process at Peeriosity member companies.\u00a0 The first question in the poll looked at the overall status of the Purchase to Pay process with respect to quality, efficiency, and cost.\u00a0 The results were overwhelmingly positive, with 42% indicating they considered themselves to be \u201camong the best\u201d, with an additional 42% indicating that they were \u201cgood and getting better\u201d.\u00a0 Only 16% indicated that they had significant challenges and were \u201cworking to improve\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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

The second poll question asked about the most significant opportunity to drive improvements in the Purchase to Pay process.\u00a0 Process Automation was cited by 32% of Peeriosity members, with 21% reporting that increased standardization was the greatest opportunity, and an additional 21% suggesting that changes to the organizational structure or responsibilities would create the greatest impact.\u00a0 Of the remaining selections, 11% cited improving communications with customers and partners<\/a> as being the most significant opportunity.\u00a0 Here are the details:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/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