White Papers

Invoice Automation: Clarifying the Confusion	If you walk through the finance department of most any mid- or large-sized company, look for stacks of paper rising halfway to the ceiling. Then peer into a cubicle around the stacks. You’ll see a hardworking employee manually entering data into a computer, stuffing intra-office envelopes, taking phone calls from vendors, filing, punching keys on a calculator, and — when time permits — swigging coffee from an urn-sized mug for fuel to get through the day. Welcome to Accounts Payable: the final frontier for automation in Finance. (Read more here.)

Enhancing Your Financial System	The first finanical systems were simple ledgers for tracking debits and credits and producing basic financial reports. Over time, they grew to include systems for accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, cash receipts, purchasing and other business functions. (Read more here.)

Getting Purchasing & AP in Sync	Accounts Payable and Purchasing: best friends or worst enemies? That question may paint an extreme picture of the relationship between the two departments, but there’s little doubt that those who lean toward the “best friends” category add more value to their companies than those leaning toward being “worst enemies.” (Read more here.)

What is Purchase-to-Pay?	Over the last few years, there’s been a fundamental shift underway with regard to how organizations manage their spending. Simple purchasing systems are being replaced by “best-of breed”systems that capture 100% of purchasing, non-PO invoice and expense reimbursement data in a single database. (Read more here.)

Purchasing and Sarbanes-Oxley	I’ve worked in the purchasing arena for more than a decade and have seen the innards of hundreds of companies’ operations. Two things have always amazed me: First, the lack of process around indirect purchasing in otherwise highly institutionalized companies. Second, the lack of executive interest in improving the purchasing process. (Yes, the latter is usually responsible for the former.) (Read the entire paper here.)

Riding the Third Wave of e-Procurement	So far, e-Procurement is a winner, successfully driving down the cost of goods and reducing the management costs associated with goods acquisition. But to hit a home run, companies must begin to focus on the third wave of improvement opportunity: materials management. (Read the entire paper here.)

Eliminate Maverick Purchasing	For large organizations, even a 5 to 15 percent reduction in maverick purchasing can lead to millions of dollars in savings, as every dollar saved has a direct impact on the organization’s bottom line. Recognizing that maverick purchasing is occurring and implementing policies and procedures to control the spending is not a simple 1-2-3 process. (Read the entire paper here.)

Managing Professional Services Costs	As organizations increasingly outsource mainstream functions to consultants and contingent workforce providers, the dollars spent on outside services continue to grow and have a greater impact on firm profitability. (Read the entire paper here.)