Procure-to-pay (P2P) is the process of requesting, purchasing, receiving, paying for and accounting for goods and services within an organisation.
Organisations often face many challenges in their procure-to-pay (P2P) process especially due to a fragmented procurement system. Such outdated P2P solutions are not only expensive, inflexible, and inefficient but also come with problems. Below are some of these problems and how a financial management system (FMS) can help you solve them.
Lack of visibility
Lack of procurement visibility is a major problem in a traditional procurement setting, in which it is often difficult to track the process or see the status of the procurement until invoices arrive.
A good financial management system should support a purchase-to-pay process that allows visibility and transparency so people can see where the items are in the delivery process. Such automated systems should also be able to integrate procurement with accounts payable with the objective of creating efficiencies in cost and time, streamlining the process, and ensuring accuracy.
Also, there should be spend visibility where there is accurate, reliable and easy-to-access information of how much is spent, on what and with whom.
Siloed systems and processes
Disconnected systems and siloed processes can cause a frustrating procurement process. When platforms and departments don’t work with each other, the P2P process becomes problematic.
Data sharing plays a significant role in P2P efficiency. Sourcing, procurement, and accounts payable can be unified instead of working in silos.
Lack of automation
Common P2P challenges such as non-contracted spend and ad-hoc purchases only lead to problems like unauthorised purchases and purchasing from unapproved suppliers.
Such cases are commonplace where spend preapproval doesn’t fit the timeline. But by implementing a system that is automated, organisations can structure timelines to move faster.
For instance, approval workflows can cut down the P2P process timeline from days to minutes, electronic purchase requisitions can become POs in seconds, and e-invoicing can be instantaneous.
Also apart from saving time and reducing friction, P2P automation will let you focus your procurement resources on delivering strategies that can truly make a difference.
P2P in SunSystems
The purchasing module for SunSystems facilitates the effective management of suppliers and the procurement of goods and services, allowing you to create, maintain, and analyse purchasing activities within your organisation.
It streamlines the entire lifecycle of the procurement process including the purchasing of services and materials. It automates the workflows and approvals associated with the expense and can route items through the approval process based on the value, the cost centre, project, employee that is raising the request or other user-definable criteria.