What To Expect From A Source-To-Pay Solution
PROCUREMENT INDUSTRY
Procuring necessary goods and services requires process that is transparent, efficient, and cost-effective. source-to-pay solution integrates the entire procurement process, from sourcing and vendor selection to contract management and payment. As digital solutions replace manual workflows, finance executives need to understand the capabilities that source-to-pay solution offers and how to implement it in the organization.
In todays competitive business environment, finance executives must increasingly manage procurement in way that maximizes value, mirrors corporate objectives, and mitigates associated risks. Source-to-pay solutions are steadily becoming the tools of choice to achieve these goals.
By harnessing the power of analytics and automation, source-to-pay solutions streamline purchasing operations, drive better user experiences, and optimize supply chain data. Below, we discuss in detail the comprehensiveness, visibility, and cost efficiencies afforded by source-to-pay solution and what finance executives should expect from such tool.
A Comprehensive Procurement Process
“Off the shelf” solutions may provide you with an isolated solution to certain process such as contracting or procurement. However, comprehensive source-to-pay solution stretches much further than few isolated features. Typically, the functionality of source-to-pay solution includes:
? Sourcing: Ability to source vendors and material, as well as track pricing comparison between materials.
? Supplier Management: Calibrating supplier performance and quality while also determining risk levels and improving compliance to contractual and legislative requirements.
? Contract Management: Digital storage, tracking, and collaboration of contracts.
? Spend Analysis: Ability to monitor current spend, create budget projections, and customize reporting.
? e-Procurement: Self-service online ordering and invoice reviews without the need of manual intervention.
? e-Payment: Automation of financial transactions with suppliers.
? Analytical Insights: Implementation of artificial intelligence to turn data into timely insights.
Enhanced Visibility
Source-to-pay solutions not only eliminate manual processes and increase organizational interconnectivity, but enhance visibility as well. Such solutions offer visibility into every stage of the procurement process, from planning in the sourcing phase all the way through to post-payments for supplier financial risk analysis. Automated data makes it easier for executives to quickly access, view, and take action on critical financial information. And analytics make use of such data to forecast the future of certain spending areas such as services, materials, or outsourcing.
Provided these solutions are deployed properly, they offer executives view into departments or suppliers within the organization, tying individual or multiple spend items to purchasing categories and making it easier to measure performance and action compliance when needed.
Cost Efficiency and Scalability
Perhaps most importantly, an effective source-to-pay solution should create measurable cost efficiencies to the organization. By simplifying the procurement process and eliminating manual tasks, businesses can reduce time spent on manually entering data. Source-to-pay solutions also typically warn of duplicate orders, shipments, and payments.
The data collected from automated workflow and analytical capabilities can create cost efficiency in the sense that helping to identify when and where money is wasted and how to reduce costs going forward.
Aside from cost savings, scalability is also key benefit of source-to-pay solutions. As businesses change and expand, source-to-pay solutions can easily adapt to growing demands in purchasing operations and migrate data quickly.
Conclusion
Source-to-pay solutions are becoming the go-to tools for finance executives whose goal is to manage procurement in way that maximizes value while mitigating risks. Such solutions provide comprehensive purchasing operations, enhanced visibility, and cost efficiencies. In todays competitive business world, source-to-pay solution is the key to taking businesses to the next level.
