Finance and Accounting

Why business must outsource procure-to-pay process?

Procurement technology is taking centre stage in the digital transformation of businesses. The primary goal is to streamline the entire procurement lifecycle as well as improving efficiency. This may be a daunting task as the whole procurement lifecycle deals with every aspect of the business. A procure-to-pay process can make this goal achievable as it facilitates internal communication and links different stages of the procurement lifecycle.

The significance of procure-to-pay function

But what exactly is procure-to-pay? In the most literal sense, it is a process where you make a requisition, place an order, and make payment once you receive the order. In practice, the procure-to-pay process is an automated system that streamlines the procurement lifecycle by integrating procurement and accounts payable, ensuring accuracy, and improving efficiency in terms of cost and time.

One of the significant benefits of implementing a procure-to-pay solution is a streamlined procurement process, which, in turn, results in higher levels of productivity and cost savings. e-Invoicing with procure-to-pay solutions can save up to 80% of invoice processing costs and time, leading to huge savings in high-volume procurement departments. It also provides you with 100% visibility throughout the procurement lifecycle for better expectation management, access to accurate data for better decision-making, and a higher negotiating power. You can also ensure higher satisfaction levels among employees and suppliers, leading to better supplier relationships.

The procure-to-pay outsourcing process

The basic procure-to-pay process can be categorised into seven steps:

• Purchase requisition
• Purchase order
• Receipt of goods or services
• e-Invoicing
• Invoice matching
• Approval workflow
• Payments

Businesses may add or eliminate a few steps from this process to match their business goals. However, businesses that fail to automate this process are highly vulnerable to errors as the entire procure-to-pay process depends on paper resources and manual processing. This can also lead to a lack of visibility in the process and potentially lead to disputes and delayed payments.

Why outsource the procure-to-pay process?

Outsourcing the procure-to-pay process allows your business to reduce repetitive tasks, minimise paperwork, ensure compliance, save time, and improve the overall purchasing experience. Here are some of the reasons why you should outsource your procure-to-pay process:

Automation:

Manual procure-to-pay processes are complex and inefficient. This, combined with high volumes of paperwork and a complex approval process, can waste time and incur costs to the business due to manual errors and process delays. Outsourcing the procure-to-pay process for automated solutions can not only reduce operational costs but also improve efficiency and accuracy.

Flexibility:

Users of the procure-to-pay solutions — vendors, suppliers, and employees — expect flexibility and mobility as the procurement volume keeps increasing. Outsourcing the procure-to-pay process can offer you access to solutions that are not device specific and can offer an ‘anytime, anywhere‘ access to reduce turnaround time and enhance the procurement experience.

User-friendly process:

As businesses move towards digital transformation,* they focus more on developing intuitive and responsive processes and solutions, moving away from complex and ambiguous procurement processes. Customisation features of procure-to-pay solutions enable user-friendly processes and offer a better procurement experience.

Cost-effective:

Outsourcing the procure-to-pay process can allow your business to save costs by eliminating non-value-add activities and optimising processes. Moreover, eliminating the iterative processes can also help further cut costs while maintaining a higher level of control over the system.

How can Infosys BPM help?

Infosys BPM covers every aspect of the accounts payable process, from processing invoices and vendor queries and master data management to on-time payments and enhancing vendor satisfaction. Leverage the next-generation AP platform that allows you to automate the entire procure-to-pay process with AI-driven solutions and drive excellence with Infosys BPM Procure-to-pay outsourcing services.

*For organisations on the digital transformation journey, agility is key in responding to a rapidly changing technology and business landscape. Now more than ever, it is crucial to deliver and exceed organisational expectations with a robust digital mindset backed by innovation. Enabling businesses to sense, learn, respond, and evolve like living organisms will be imperative for business excellence. A comprehensive yet modular suite of services is doing precisely that. Equipping organisations with intuitive decision-making automatically at scale, actionable insights based on real-time solutions, anytime/anywhere experience, and in-depth data visibility across functions leading to hyper-productivity, Live Enterprise is building connected organisations that are innovating collaboratively for the future.