Global Opportunities and Failures in AP Exposed in New Report

Within the increasingly integrated Procure-to-Pay process, Accounts Payable is well recognized for the enormous opportunities it presents to drive efficiencies. In a brand-new report, APEX Analytix shares the results of a comprehensive survey it carried out within the global finance community earlier this year. The report, titled 2015 Financial Leaders Benchmarking Report provides useful insights, benchmarks and analysis from Accounts Payable, Procure-to-Pay, and Shared Services. The report clearly redefines best-in-class AP operations as characterized by high levels of touchless invoice processing, electronic invoice submissions and payments, and use of supplier portals. Within supplier portals, what is notably on the rise, in fact, is a self-serve capability that allows suppliers to manage basic transactions and updates through these portals. More than half of top-performing organizations are today operating supplier portals. Some of the more interesting functionalities emerging include scoring mechanisms reflecting the likelihood of a supplier to take a discount, integrated discount marketing, and bi-directional discount promotions [buyer to supplier, and supplier to buyer]. [inlinead] "Clearly, the direction of supplier portals is following closely the convenience we, as consumers, find in banking portals and business to consumer shopping sites" the report states. However with nearly 50% of supplier portals not permitting invoices to be submitted, more than half not permitting supplier registration, and over 80% not supporting dynamic discounting and such, what's clear is that not all portals are created equal. But while the report highlights the correlation between automation targeting "touchless" and upper quartile performance, in truth, it also shows that there are still more "bad" performers then "good" performers. The danger with touchless is that if not partnered with a strong controls mechanism, companies expose themselves to increased rates of noncompliance. In other words, automating mistakes just makes it easier to make more mistakes [like overpayments]. However what's really interesting in this report is the huge list of opportunities exposed that still remain largely untapped. These include a failure to address payment control practices, sub-optimal organizational structure and leadership, overlooking supplier discounts, a proliferation of payment terms and conditions, failed compliance, and unacceptable and unmanaged levels of risk. Download the report here or below for all the details, including tips on getting more out of your cash management practices and benchmarking risk management. With an average of 5% of annual revenue loss to fraud each year, AP represents not just on obvious risk opportunity that needs to be staunched, but also the last defense in pushing back.

Global Opportunities and Failures in AP Exposed in New Report

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