5 critical considerations when transforming ap · ips for the past 25 years, ips founder greg...

October 15-17, 2019 | Westin Kierland Resort | Scottsdale/Phoenix, AZ

5 Critical Considerations

When Transforming AP

Greg BartelsIPS

Mark BrousseauBrousseau & Associates


Today’s Speakers

Mark BrousseauBrousseau & Associates

Greg BartelsIPS

For the past 25 years, IPS Founder Greg Bartels has lead business transformation from manual processes to digital. Greg developed his career with NCR, Unisys, and Information Management Technologies.

Mark Brousseau is a noted analyst, speaker, writer and marketer, with more than 26 years of experience in advising leading providers of financial operations solutions and services.


AP Departments are Transforming

59.4%

24.0%

61.1%

20.0%

45.7%

13.1%

Automation

Innovation

Process Standardization

Finance Talent

Compliance and Security

No Investments

Source: Institute of Finance and Management


Why Transform AP?

20%

22%

27%

30%

40%

47%

48%

Improve visibility into invoice and payment data

Improve collaboration w/ procurement

Improve connectivity/collaboration w/ suppliers

Reduce processing costs

Implement AP automation

Eliminate paper and reduce manual tasks

Improve AP reporting/analytics

Source: Ardent Partners


The Pitfalls of a Poor Transformation Project

Poor ROI Missed opportunities for efficiency/ engagement

Strained stakeholder

relationships/ loss of trust

Stagnation or obsolescence


HOW?


#1 KNOW WHERE YOU STAND5 Critical Considerations When Transforming AP


Why Analyze Your Current Operations?

• See where your department stands against its goals

• Set a baseline for staff performance

• Shine a spotlight on areas that need additional focus

• Determine the practices that are most valuable

• Collect data for building a business case for automation


Top AP Pressures

24%

33%

40%

49%

51%

62%

Lack of visibility into payment/invoice data

Getting the budget to invest in automation

Too much paper

Lack of respect/status within the organization

Invoice/payment approvals take too long

High percentage of exceptions



Top Sources of Exceptions82%

48%45%

33%30%

27%24%

Discrepencybetween POand invoice

Supplier error Lack of PO Bottleneck ininvoice

approvalprocess

Incorrect PO Failure todeliver

goods/services

Coding error



Document Your Workflows


The Problem with Slow Workflows

Backlog of past-due invoices

Strained vendor relationships

Poor cash flow visibility

Missed early pay discounts


Determine the Scope of Your Project

ReceivePaper

Fax

E-mail

PDF

EDI/XML

PO flip

eInvoice

ProcessBusiness rules

Validation

Matching

Workflow

Approval

Alerts

Disputes

PayCheck, ACH, wire

Commercial cards

Payment networks

Supplier discounts

Supply chain finance


ePayables Framework


Best-in-Class Processes

92%

88%

81%

81%

79%

77%

76%

62%

66%

52%

51%

34%

44%

50%

Electronic payments

Two-way and three-way matching

Straight-through processing

Ability to measure key metrics

Ability to provide remittance data to suppliers

Automated matching

Standardized AP processes

All others Best-in-class



#2 TAKE THE RIGHT APPROACH5 Critical Considerations When Transforming AP


The AP Transformation Continuum


Best-in-Class Technology Utilization

82%

80%

63%

72%

69%

63%

49%

53%

65%

64%

54%

42%

36%

28%

27%

21%

Document imaging/scanning

Automated workflow

Automated data capture

ePayments

eInvoicing

Complete P2P solution

Business or payment network

Self-service supplier portal

All others Best-in-class



Automation Approaches

Purchasing-centric

solutions

OCR solutions

Document management

solutions

Online portals

Robotic process

automation


The Right Approach

Self-service supplier portal

Digital mailroom

Intelligent data capture

Digital workflow

Business intelligence &

analytics

Supplier management

End-to-end AP transformation

Robotic Process Automation · Artificial Intelligence · Machine Learning · Natural Language Processing · Mobile · Payments


The Benefits of an End-to-End Approach to AP Transformation

Combination of advanced technology and SMEs

99.95% accuracy

guarantee

24 to 48-hour turnaround

Optional rush processing

General ledger coding

ERP integration


#3 CHOOSE THE RIGHT PARTNER5 Critical Considerations When Transforming AP


5 Is reputable and established

4 Provides proven strategies for easing adoption and employee training

3 Simplifies and automates financial flows

2 Layers services on top of technology

1 Offers key features and functionality

5 Things to Look for in a Partner


Layering Services on top of Technology

Procurement Electronic payment processing


Score Prospective Partners

Consider criteria such as:

– Total cost of ownership

– Data capture performance

– Workflow configurability

– ERP compatibility

– Frequency of upgrades and bug fixes

– Security and compliance features


Evaluate Each Partner’s Technology Roadmap

33%

23%

19%

14%

11%

7%

4%

48%

59%

30%

36%

37%

48%

15%

Mobile applications for AP

Agile reporting dashboards

Digital payments

Robotic process automation

Machine learning

Artificial intelligence

Blockchain

Adoption of Advanced Technologies

Plan to use w/in 24 months Currently using



#4 PROACTIVELY MANAGE CHANGE5 Critical Considerations When Transforming AP


Change Management Considerations

TRANSFORMATION!

Post-Implementation

Strategy

Implementation


Strategy

Who will lead our automation efforts – business or IT?

How will we tap into the knowledge of process experts?

Have we identified critical pain points and needs?

How will automation address process “unknowns?”


Implementation

Should we optimize our processes before automating?

What type of automation approach will we use?

How will automation impact security and compliance?

How will we test our new automated solutions?”


Develop an Implementation Plan


Post-Implementation

How will we handle process changes?

How will we manage staff communications?

How will we train staff?

How will we measure/report progress?”


Change Management Roadmap

Select the right processes to

automate

Choose the right tools

Take an end-to-end

approach

Test the technology

Get senior management

on board

Proactively manage change

Be clear with impacted staff

Look for ‘easy’ wins

Realign staff resources


Taking AP to the ‘Next Level’

33%

36%

42%

49%

49%

More innovative payment platforms

Expanding payment management

Executive support for total AP transformation

Elimination of tactical tasks

Enhanced collaboration w/ key stakeholders



#5 LEVERAGE YOUR DATA5 Critical Considerations When Transforming AP


The Importance of AP Data

Critical; we rely on data/intelligence to

drive projects, improve

performance and achieve goals

33%

Important; we frequently use

data/intelligence in our programs

55%

Not important; data/intelligence is

not leveraged by our team for major tasks

12%



AP’s Data is Valuable to the Enterprise

Exceptionally valuable19%

Very valuable36%

Somewhat valuable24%

Little value21%

The Current Perception of AP



WRAP-UP5 Critical Considerations When Transforming AP


2009 AP Benchmarks

Metrics Average

Cost to process a single invoice (all-inclusive cost) $10.08

Time to process a single invoice 8.3 days

Invoice exception rate 22.6%

Suppliers that submit invoices electronically 24.9%

Invoices processed “straight through” 24.2%

Invoices linked to a Purchase Order (PO) 50.3%



Transformative Benefits

Metrics Best-in-class All others

Cost to process a single invoice (all-inclusive cost) $2.18 $12.60

Time to process a single invoice 2.9 days 10.8 days

Invoice exception rate 10.1% 23.3%

Percentage of invoices processed “straight through” 65.3% 19.2%

Percentage of suppliers that submit invoices electronically 49% 16%

Percentage of invoices linked to a Purchase Order (PO) 79.2% 31.7%



The Game Plan

Solve tactical and manual-based issues

Develop and build an “intelligent” function

Engage more stakeholders, gain

greater investment, support better

business outcomes


Thank You!

Greg Bartels

IPS

201-694-6928

[email protected]

@gregbartelsIPS

Mark Brousseau

Brousseau & Associates

410-262-5078

[email protected]

@markbrousseau

5 critical considerations when transforming ap · ips for the past 25 years, ips founder greg...

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