When Is An Invoice Approval NOT an Approval?
Possibly when the approval is ALWAYS “approved”.
As part of the implementation of SAP Invoice Management by Open Text, we conduct a blue print session to ensure all business requirements are met rather than just automating the current process. During the blue print sessions, the subject of non purchase order invoice approval is often an interesting discussion. Companies that have implemented SAP find that utilization of purchase orders and the associated release strategy has required them to implement a rule driven approval process. They often take advantage to simplify the rules at this point.
But for invoices without a purchase order, it is common to have a complex approval matrix that has developed over time. The matrix is often kept in spreadsheets and with manual interpretation by the Accounts Payable department. The matrix design evolves with input from various sources to fulfill various needs...some of which are not approvals at all.
The use of purchase orders helps with managing budgets, conversely purchasing without a PO can lead to unfavorable departmental budget variances. Departments forget what they have spent only to be surprised when cost reports and budgets are reviewed. One very common method to overcome this loss of visibility is to require all non PO invoices to be approved by departmental management. In this scenario, the invoice is almost always approved. The reality is they are not approving the invoice, rather it serves as an early notification of their spend.
A case can be made that these “always approve” approvals should be eliminated from the approval matrix. Should the Accounts Payable process be slowed for these non approvals…assuming without a pressing reason to be timely in approvals they often sit in the queue of the approver for long periods of time.
Obviously, these individuals need to be aware of their spend to effectively manage their departments but I suggest this information be passed in the form of a report and not an approval.
So next time someone request they be added to the approval…ask the simple question…would you ever not approve?
See SAP EcoHub for More on AP Optimization
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Accounts Payable and Economic Stimulus
It is difficult to go a day without seeing or hearing something about stimulating the economy. The basic tenet of the effort is to get more money flowing in the economy.
Most often this is thought of related to spending, i.e. “buying” or “procuring.” Too often, we do not consider the second part of the procure-to-pay (P2P) equation and that is “paying”. It is well documented that in many situations it is advantageous for a company to extend the Days Payable Outstanding (DPO) in order to increase working capital. While in the short run that is completely logical, one must consider the full economic supply chain.
Late payments to one supplier compounds into late payments to downstream suppliers. In order to compensate, the suppliers must raise prices, eliminate discounts or go out of business in many cases. This narrowing of the available selection of suppliers inevitably causes a trend toward higher prices from the remaining suppliers… hence the law of supply and demand.
Fiscal responsibility to the corporate stakeholders goes beyond the current economic crisis. Corporations and Government that realize the importance of their Accounts Payable (AP) departments have invested in the necessary tools to optimize and automate the payment process.
One example where commitment to AP process optimization has been realized can be found in the England. Government officials pledged to pay suppliers within 10 days. While the typical AP issues have prevented this from becoming the norm, it does demonstrate the governments understanding of how AP impacts the economy.
SAP provides the granularity of information required to fully manage complete P2P transactions. Implementation of SAP Invoice Management brings the power of the individual transactions into a tightly controlled process while providing a comprehensive view into the process from invoice receipt whether electronic or paper (via optical character recognition (OCR)) through to exception resolution.
As companies and government order goods and services, it is essential that payment for these goods and services be managed as a process to keep the stimulus flowing, rather than coming to a stop with the first purchase. Financial management must provide immediate and full visibility and control of the AP process to fully participate in the stimulus so that it ultimately provides the benefit we expect.
So…is AP an undeniable significant component of economic stimulus initiatives around the world? I for one say YES!
See SAP EcoHub for More on AP Optimization
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Fraud Prevention in the Accounts Payable Process
The following statement is taken from the 2008 ACFE Report to the Nation…”According to research conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), U.S. organizations lose an estimated 7 percent of annual revenues to fraud. Based on the projected U.S. Gross Domestic Product for 2008, this percentage indicates a staggering estimate of losses around $994 billion among organizations, despite increased emphasis on anti-fraud controls and recent legislation to combat fraud.”
The study states that approximately 23% of the fraud cases they reviewed were related to invoices with a medium loss of $100,000 per case. Billing (invoice) was the most common type of fraud.
It is interesting that in their findings; the most common way of detecting fraud was receiving a “tip” (46%) where as internal control only accounted for 23%.
One could conclude that as economic times become more difficult, fraud might increase. Even it this were not true the current trend in fraud, cries out for increases in internal controls, especially related to invoicing. It is not enough to assume the Accounts Payable Analyst just know that it is ok to pay an invoice. Automated business rules must provide the continual detection mechanism and automated workflow must ensure the proper personnel are involved in resolution. For invoices without a purchase order with internal control ensures that the proper personnel are involved in approval and their spend limits are automatically verified. Removal of human touch points removes both the temptation for fraud as well as removing the unknowing participation such as approval of an invoice without having the benefit of the invoice image to review.
One would only need to ask the prior employees of corporations driven to bankruptcy through fraud if it is better to have process control that prevents fraud as compared to having someone finally tipping off the authorities after the fraud has occurred.
See SAP EcoHub for More on AP Optimization
The study states that approximately 23% of the fraud cases they reviewed were related to invoices with a medium loss of $100,000 per case. Billing (invoice) was the most common type of fraud.
It is interesting that in their findings; the most common way of detecting fraud was receiving a “tip” (46%) where as internal control only accounted for 23%.
One could conclude that as economic times become more difficult, fraud might increase. Even it this were not true the current trend in fraud, cries out for increases in internal controls, especially related to invoicing. It is not enough to assume the Accounts Payable Analyst just know that it is ok to pay an invoice. Automated business rules must provide the continual detection mechanism and automated workflow must ensure the proper personnel are involved in resolution. For invoices without a purchase order with internal control ensures that the proper personnel are involved in approval and their spend limits are automatically verified. Removal of human touch points removes both the temptation for fraud as well as removing the unknowing participation such as approval of an invoice without having the benefit of the invoice image to review.
One would only need to ask the prior employees of corporations driven to bankruptcy through fraud if it is better to have process control that prevents fraud as compared to having someone finally tipping off the authorities after the fraud has occurred.
See SAP EcoHub for More on AP Optimization
Monday, June 1, 2009
AP Multitasking
One significant advantage of SAP Invoice Management by Open Text automation is that it reduces or eliminates calls from vendors inquiring about when invoices will be paid. In a manual process, the AP Analyst often receives several calls per day while they are entering and posting invoices.
In reading a recent article on multitasking I was reminded that being interrupted during a routine task such as entering and posting invoices results in significant time loss and leads to errors.
The article point out that workplace studies found it can take up to 15 minutes to return to a deep state of concentration after a distraction. It also mentioned that when our working memory is presented with a new problem, within 15 seconds it will become difficult to recall the prior issue. This is not unlike the stories we hear about how using a cell phone is a major distraction from driving our cars.
If you apply this logic to the world of an Accounts Payable Analyst, you can quickly see how receiving one “where is my money” phone call from a vendor can have a dramatic impact on the number of invoices normally processed around the time of the call.
By ensuring the vendors are paid timely and accurately, the distracting phone calls are reduced if not eliminated. Fewer distractions results in more efficient processing of invoices
See SAP EcoHub for more on AP Optimization
In reading a recent article on multitasking I was reminded that being interrupted during a routine task such as entering and posting invoices results in significant time loss and leads to errors.
The article point out that workplace studies found it can take up to 15 minutes to return to a deep state of concentration after a distraction. It also mentioned that when our working memory is presented with a new problem, within 15 seconds it will become difficult to recall the prior issue. This is not unlike the stories we hear about how using a cell phone is a major distraction from driving our cars.
If you apply this logic to the world of an Accounts Payable Analyst, you can quickly see how receiving one “where is my money” phone call from a vendor can have a dramatic impact on the number of invoices normally processed around the time of the call.
By ensuring the vendors are paid timely and accurately, the distracting phone calls are reduced if not eliminated. Fewer distractions results in more efficient processing of invoices
See SAP EcoHub for more on AP Optimization
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Cost of Saving Paper Invoices
In a typical business scenario without utilization of document archiving, the original paper invoice is filed for safe keeping. The invoice is subject to retrieval several times over its life span. Since almost every corporate policy will not allow the original invoice to leave the safe confines of Accounting, a copy is made when required. One problem is that often the person requesting the copy then files the copy for their direct access. They may be retrieving the copy on behalf of one or more persons and they may also make and store their personal copy. If you ask each person why they are keeping copies they will tell you they want quick access.
Some of the more common request includes:
o Operations – there may be specifications or details on the invoice that they need related to how to handle, use or store what was purchased. It may be for services and they want a record of when and what vendor performed the services.
o Purchasing – if there was a problem with the invoice, they may want a copy so they can write comments and then keep with paper copy of purchase order.
o Cost Accounting – they may need information related to inventory balance, inventory valuation or to support accruals.
o Tax Department – they often retain copies to support sales tax calculations or to aid in disputes on what is taxable.
o Internal Audit Department – they require invoices for numerous audits.
o External Auditors – as with the Internal Audit Department, external auditors require supporting documentation related to specific audits.
It is not uncommon that in addition to the original, one invoice may be stored 5 – 10 times. If the invoice is multiple pages the time and space required for storage increases significantly.
Any of these copies may be accessed several times during its life span.
To summarize…we have the cost of the actual storage space, the cost of reproduction equipment, the labor cost to file and retrieve. This cost is now compounded when you consider the cost of ensuring proper record retention. When the original invoice is destroyed proper retention management must ensure all of these copies are destroyed.
As the economy drives corporations to search for all possible means to improve bottom line profitability, they have found Accounts Payable a significant area for opportunity. One of the many values derived from optimizing and automating Accounts Payable is that digitizing the invoice through scanning and document management removes the need to make copy on copy. All references by all groups will be through the SAP solution linked to the applicable invoice image.
See SAP EcoHub for more on AP Optimization:
Some of the more common request includes:
o Operations – there may be specifications or details on the invoice that they need related to how to handle, use or store what was purchased. It may be for services and they want a record of when and what vendor performed the services.
o Purchasing – if there was a problem with the invoice, they may want a copy so they can write comments and then keep with paper copy of purchase order.
o Cost Accounting – they may need information related to inventory balance, inventory valuation or to support accruals.
o Tax Department – they often retain copies to support sales tax calculations or to aid in disputes on what is taxable.
o Internal Audit Department – they require invoices for numerous audits.
o External Auditors – as with the Internal Audit Department, external auditors require supporting documentation related to specific audits.
It is not uncommon that in addition to the original, one invoice may be stored 5 – 10 times. If the invoice is multiple pages the time and space required for storage increases significantly.
Any of these copies may be accessed several times during its life span.
To summarize…we have the cost of the actual storage space, the cost of reproduction equipment, the labor cost to file and retrieve. This cost is now compounded when you consider the cost of ensuring proper record retention. When the original invoice is destroyed proper retention management must ensure all of these copies are destroyed.
As the economy drives corporations to search for all possible means to improve bottom line profitability, they have found Accounts Payable a significant area for opportunity. One of the many values derived from optimizing and automating Accounts Payable is that digitizing the invoice through scanning and document management removes the need to make copy on copy. All references by all groups will be through the SAP solution linked to the applicable invoice image.
See SAP EcoHub for more on AP Optimization:
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Best Practice for Invoice Receipt
Question: To ensure best practice invoice processing, should we expect to receive EDI, E Invoice Networks or Paper Invoices?
Answer: YES
For most large corporations, a best practice scenario includes the ability to receive invoices from all sources.
EDI is a common form of invoice receipt for major suppliers delivering high number of invoices for selected goods and / or services. While this technology has been in place for several years it is a proven technology.
E Invoicing Networks or Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) has been around for several years with some success but recent economic downturn has driven a renewed interest in this as a cost reduction effort. The critical success factor of getting suppliers to subscribe to the networks has significantly improved.
Paper still remains as the primary source for invoice receipt. The utilization of OCR to extract the meta data from the paper invoices has shown dramatic increases as corporations strive for straight through processing similar to that provide by EDI. Most large corporations are have either upgrading their imaging solutions or for those that have not implemented image many ore planning on implementing within the next year.
One important consideration, regardless of the source, invoice meta data often contains exceptions. Where practical, images of the invoice should be linked to the SAP invoice process to facilitate best practice resolution.
With SAP Invoice Management, varying source meta data is not an issue. Visibility of the image during processing and linkage to the invoice document is standard.
So…what is the best source of meta data…ALL!
See SAP EcoHub for more on SAP AP Optimization:
Answer: YES
For most large corporations, a best practice scenario includes the ability to receive invoices from all sources.
EDI is a common form of invoice receipt for major suppliers delivering high number of invoices for selected goods and / or services. While this technology has been in place for several years it is a proven technology.
E Invoicing Networks or Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) has been around for several years with some success but recent economic downturn has driven a renewed interest in this as a cost reduction effort. The critical success factor of getting suppliers to subscribe to the networks has significantly improved.
Paper still remains as the primary source for invoice receipt. The utilization of OCR to extract the meta data from the paper invoices has shown dramatic increases as corporations strive for straight through processing similar to that provide by EDI. Most large corporations are have either upgrading their imaging solutions or for those that have not implemented image many ore planning on implementing within the next year.
One important consideration, regardless of the source, invoice meta data often contains exceptions. Where practical, images of the invoice should be linked to the SAP invoice process to facilitate best practice resolution.
With SAP Invoice Management, varying source meta data is not an issue. Visibility of the image during processing and linkage to the invoice document is standard.
So…what is the best source of meta data…ALL!
See SAP EcoHub for more on SAP AP Optimization:
Friday, March 27, 2009
Cash is King!
More than any time in recent history has the statement “cash is king” more certain! Every day we read of corporations that can’t meet payrolls or pay bills. Even the state of California recently informed their vendors they will be paying late. The inability to pay the bills rolls through out the business chain.
Corporations determine the price for their goods and services based on a model that ensures they have sufficient cash to meet payrolls, replenish inventories and grow their business. In order to shorten the conversion to cash cycle they often offer a discount to customers if they pay early, often 10 days or less.
When payments are rendered at the latest date possible, this generates the least flexibility in the vendor business model. Worse yet, if the payment is at the last moment or even later and the early payment discount is still taken, then the vendor cash flow model is jeopardized.
Given the critical importance to generate adequate cash flow, corporations are now looking beyond the traditional avenues of increasing sales or decreasing cost. Many companies are seeing declines in sales and have already initiated labor reductions.
Companies have found improvements in the non labor spend process to be one of if not the most rewarding scenario.
While it is common to focus on labor reductions in the Accounts Payable process through automation, management of payment terms often generates the greatest reward.
Assume the following scenario:
Sales of $5,000,000,000 with 30% of revenue going to pay for non labor goods and services. If the automation is tempered with process optimization, payment within payment terms is now consistent. The corporation is now enabled to negotiate discounts they previously did not request since they knew meeting short payment cycles were impossible. The payment term to request is typically based on cash management principals that ensure the terms are sufficient so they more than offset interest rates incurred for short term financing. Following this scenario, if this corporation can negotiate 2% payment terms for an additional 5% of the $1,500,000,000 spend they can reduce cash paid to vendors by $1,500,000 per year. This goes straight to the bottom line profit as an increase. Assuming a 10% profit margin on sales, this would in turn offset a decline in sales of $15,000,000. When the economy does turn around these significant savings don’t vanish such as savings from labor reductions. With labor reductions, once business improves, rehires eliminate the prior labor reductions.
The above scenario is based on $5B sales revenue. It is an easy reach to estimate that Open Text current clients would elevate this number 100 times generating profit in excess of $150,000,000 just related to capture of payment terms. Add to this additional savings derived from implementation of optimal automated Accounts Payable processing related to capture not of new discounts but capture of 100% of current payment term discounts, the elimination of duplicate payments and the traditional labor savings…cash really does become KING!
See SAP EcoHub for more on SAP AP Optimization:
Corporations determine the price for their goods and services based on a model that ensures they have sufficient cash to meet payrolls, replenish inventories and grow their business. In order to shorten the conversion to cash cycle they often offer a discount to customers if they pay early, often 10 days or less.
When payments are rendered at the latest date possible, this generates the least flexibility in the vendor business model. Worse yet, if the payment is at the last moment or even later and the early payment discount is still taken, then the vendor cash flow model is jeopardized.
Given the critical importance to generate adequate cash flow, corporations are now looking beyond the traditional avenues of increasing sales or decreasing cost. Many companies are seeing declines in sales and have already initiated labor reductions.
Companies have found improvements in the non labor spend process to be one of if not the most rewarding scenario.
While it is common to focus on labor reductions in the Accounts Payable process through automation, management of payment terms often generates the greatest reward.
Assume the following scenario:
Sales of $5,000,000,000 with 30% of revenue going to pay for non labor goods and services. If the automation is tempered with process optimization, payment within payment terms is now consistent. The corporation is now enabled to negotiate discounts they previously did not request since they knew meeting short payment cycles were impossible. The payment term to request is typically based on cash management principals that ensure the terms are sufficient so they more than offset interest rates incurred for short term financing. Following this scenario, if this corporation can negotiate 2% payment terms for an additional 5% of the $1,500,000,000 spend they can reduce cash paid to vendors by $1,500,000 per year. This goes straight to the bottom line profit as an increase. Assuming a 10% profit margin on sales, this would in turn offset a decline in sales of $15,000,000. When the economy does turn around these significant savings don’t vanish such as savings from labor reductions. With labor reductions, once business improves, rehires eliminate the prior labor reductions.
The above scenario is based on $5B sales revenue. It is an easy reach to estimate that Open Text current clients would elevate this number 100 times generating profit in excess of $150,000,000 just related to capture of payment terms. Add to this additional savings derived from implementation of optimal automated Accounts Payable processing related to capture not of new discounts but capture of 100% of current payment term discounts, the elimination of duplicate payments and the traditional labor savings…cash really does become KING!
See SAP EcoHub for more on SAP AP Optimization:
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