Archive for December 2021

A strong accounts payable system is fundamental to maintaining a healthy supply chain. When AP processes are neglected, they endanger the supply chain, undermine supplier relationships, jeopardize supply quality and continuity, and put customers at risk. Given the risks, it’s imperative that IT professionals approach AP automation with stringent requirements regarding integration with the ERP…

Building a business case for an AP automation solution can be complicated. The typical business case outlines the goals and objectives for the project, the costs associated with implementation and ongoing production, and the savings that are expected both initially and in the long term. Oftentimes, an ROI assessment is performed to understand the project’s…

In recent conversations with several prospects, we learned that they are implementing (or just implemented) an “out-of-the-box AP automation solution.” Actually, the vendors involved represented their AP automation solution as being “out-of-the-box.” However, the reality of their implementation turned out quite different. By the end of the first week, the customers learned that extensive customization…

Never automate a bad process. This is the opportunity to get it right. Design the process from the ground up using industry best practices. It rarely makes sense to extensively customize an off-the- shelf AP automation solution. Key requirement: Select solutions that are highly configurable. The best solutions provide the ability to selectively turn functionality…

Technology is getting smarter—integrating itself into ERP platforms without needing people to intervene. Instead of “being the app,” your people will be focused on “using the app” to give business leaders the information they need to make smarter, faster decisions.Technology is getting smarter—integrating itself into ERP platforms without needing people to intervene. Instead of “being…

AP automation solutions are integrated with your ERP system. Data from dozens of ERP master files are mapped between the two systems, including the chart of accounts, sub- ledger, address book, supplier master, company master, business unit master, purchase order header and detail, PO receipts and user-defined codes. Data are also pushed back to the…

People will do more human work, including exception-based and insight driven activities—work that is investigative in nature—as organizations realize the potential of automation and blockchain. Gone are the days of copying and pasting special values from a contract, invoice, or other document into an ERP system. Leading finance organizations are designing automation tools to do…