There is no single universal model of what constitutes procure-to-pay, but a good working model of the purchasing “lifecycle” starts with catalog management before moving on to purchase requests, contracts, request-for-quotes (RFQ), purchase orders (PO), receipt, e-invoicing, accounts payable (AP), and payments.

A digital automated requisition-to-PO-to-supplier workflow provides an audited and validated process that eliminates any errors caused by manual inputs. With automated PO creation, you always know what format the POs are in, that they’re completed correctly, and exactly where they are in the approval process in real-time.

By embedding the contract creation process directly integrated as part of the procure-to-pay continuum, you greatly simplify the managing of purchases against approved catalogs, pricing, volume, delivery terms, and other contract details. This enables you to better track spend against budgets as well as control maverick (off-contract) spend. What’s more, with certain contract types, you can configure permissions that allow users to ignore approval workflows for requisitions and POs; for instance, if you have repeat or recurring orders on a regular basis.

While most procurement teams have some sort of formalized supplier management structure in place, P2P technology can also play a critical role by simplifying how suppliers can upload and manage catalogs, submit RFQ bids, update certifications and, very important to them, streamline the PO/invoicing/payments process. Anything that makes it easier for suppliers to sell to your organization is considered good supplier relationship management.

Automating with e-invoicing significantly reduces operational costs and increases efficiency while making the entire invoicing process faster, more accurate, and fully compliant. Eliminating manual errors also gives you vastly increased invoicing capability and flexibility by simplifying invoice matching and the identification of matching mode details — how the supplier invoice has been matched and how the invoice has been created. In essence, automation takes any guesswork and delays out of the cycle so the whole process is accelerated, freeing people up to add strategic value or focus on resolving exceptions.