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Finance & Accounting

4 Posts authored by: Amy Wagman

At Ariba LIVE this year, Jeff Halper, Director of Procurement from Maxim Healthcare, spoke on how Maxim was able to transform a very manual purchase to pay process into a completely automated system.  For an overview of how they did it, check out his interview:

 

 

 

His session and interview were very popular, so we are having a follow-up webinar on September 16th where he will discuss how Maxim's AP was able to:

  • Improve purchasing controls and PO-invoice match rates
  • Apply validation, process, and exception-based workflow for all invoices
  • Simplify the coding of invoices
  • Develop programs for converting suppliers from paper to an electronic process

 

To register for the webinar, go to:

http://www.ariba.com/resourcelibrary/views/resource_library_asset_brief.cfm?asset_id=761

I recently returned from our annual Ariba LIVE conference had the opportunity to sit in the Working Capital 20/20 session with Mary Driscoll, senior research fellow at APQC.  Mary is responsible for identifying and disseminating best practices and metrics used to improve the effectiveness of the office of the CFO at APQC; she was also founding senior editor at CFO magazine and is the author of Cash Management—Corporate Strategies for Profit, published by John Wiley & Sons - so if there is anyone who knows how the CFOs thinks - it's Mary Driscoll. 

 

At LIVE, Mary discussed some of her research findings for a report due out this summer.  Her research includes survey responses from 355 senior finance executives at large U.S.- based organizations, and on-the-record comments from CFOs and other senior finance executives.  Mary found that the key topics that were on the mind of the finance professionals are:

  • Need for cash flow intelligence
  • Concerns about supplier and customer stability
  • Desire for process automation and innovation
  • Strong liquidity management

 

  • Mary will be presenting more of her research in a webinar this Thursday - June 17th.  I highly recommend you check it out - here is where you can register:
    • http://www.ariba.com/resourcelibrary/views/resource_library_asset_brief.cfm?asset_id=706 

     

    Last week, James Tucker - Director of Product Marketing for Ariba's Financial and Network Solutions - held a webinar on "The New Normal in Payables Outsourcing" to discuss the latest trends in outsourcing AP.  Since finance organizations are under pressure to find areas to cut costs, outsourcing the manual AP processes is a logical first step.  However, only 34% of surveyed executives reported they gained any important benefits and 49% would like to start their outsourcing project over.* 

     

    What is the cause for the dissatisfaction of their outsourcing project?

     

    As James discusses in the webinar, executive’s propensity to focus on cost cutting and reducing head count and without emphasizing the need for overall optimization is the key problem – unrealized potential and lost opportunity to innovate.  Successful programs have focused on not only cost reduction, but a solution and partnership that is flexible, innovative

     

    For the entire webinar and to learn more about the best practices in payables outsourcing - go to:  http://www.ariba.com/resourcelibrary/views/resource_library_asset_brief.cfm?asset_id=672

     

    *“Outsourcing Programs Hampered by Poor Planning and Narrow Focus on Cost Savings” – Deloitte, February 2008

    Launching an AP Automation initiative can be a daunting task.  From analyzing business processes, building the business case, and investigating providers, the process can be overwhelming, but there is a powerful resource most people forget to tap into -- their suppliers.   

    OfficeMax’s Director of eCommerce Multichannel Business Relations, Joni Anderson recently participated in our webinar series on Smart e-Invoicing and provided some great insight on electronic integrations as a supplier.  As a leading provider in office products, furniture and technology, OfficeMax processes 82% of their orders electronically through their website and 3rd party integrations like supplier networks.  With over 600 connections, OfficeMax has seen it all when it comes to electronic integrations. 

    The most compelling example of Smart eInvoicing Joni shared was the example of a customer before and after their eInvoicing integration.  Before, the OfficeMax AR representative was on the phone with their customer’s AP representative from 2 to 4 hours a day, trying to reconcile payments (over half of which over 90 days past due). After their customer implemented their eInvoicing solution with OfficeMax, the AR representative was able to manage the account though a supplier network, giving her visibility into the invoice status and problems, and reducing the amount of time on the phone to 30 minutes a week, giving the clerk more time to work on other accounts.  Plus, they were able to reconcile all of the overdue payments in a short period of time.

    Joni also offered great advice on how to work with your suppliers and leverage their experience with e-integrations.  Check out the recorded webinar at: http://www.ariba.com/resourcelibrary/views/resource_library_asset_brief.cfm?asset_id=664

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