Finance & Accounting

Do You Have a "Lost and Found" Department for Locating Invoices?

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:20:34 GMT

How much time do you spend in accounts payable responding to supplier calls about invoice status? In his presentation at Ariba Live, Jeff Phillips of UPS mentioned that invoices would often disappear into the "big black hole of our ERP system." No one knew what was going on.

Today, UPS takes a smart invoicing approach, extending its ERP system with Ariba to collaborate with suppliers of all sizes for invoice processing. Suppliers don't call UPS about invoice status; they can see for themselves via a self-service portal. But that's not all. To hear about the other benefits of smart invoicing, for UPS and its suppliers, check out this video.

Can Companies Increase CAPEX and still Increase Cash Balances?

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:34:01 GMT

What do you call it when companies Increase their outflows for CAPEX while at the same time INCREASING their free cash flow margins? An interesting article by CFO.com today calls it one of the first truly positive signs since the recession began.

When the recession began, companies began hoarding cash as a buffer against further uncertainties and downturns. One of the most common methods of increasing free cash flow in a recessionary economy (and thus building up cash) was to significantly reduce CAPEX (Capital Expenditures) investments, thus reducing significant outflows below even their reductions in revenues. This had the desired outcome of increasing cash on the balance sheet of many companies, as every quarterly Fed report continues to show record levels of cash in U.S. non-financial companies, with the same pattern holding true in Europe as well.

But companies can not hold off CAPEX investments forever as entropy is an immutable law of nature and buildings wear down and equipment wears out. And logically, in a stagnant economy, an increase in CAPEX investments would lead to a corresponding decrease in free cash flow and/or free cash flow margin (free cash flow as a percentage of revenue). However, "Free cash margin for firms with a market capitalization greater than $50 million rose to 4.54% for the 12 months ended December 2011, up 0.13% from 4.41% in September 2011." While at the same time "In the 12 months ended December 2011, ...capital expenditures rose to 3.41%, up from 3.29% recorded in September"

According to Chuck Mulford, professor of accounting at Georgia Tech and director of the university’s Financial Analysis Lab, "This is the first reporting period since before the recession that we’ve seen increased spending on capital expenditures and increases in inventory [while] no longer seeing a decline in free cash flow margin. We’re seeing an uptick. We haven’t seen that now in years."

Bottom line: this is a hopeful sign that businesses are investing again and growing their businesses...but it is also a sign that the levels of balance sheet cash built up is not going anywhere soon.

We saw it with Apple last month as they announced a dividend payout that will have no appreciable effect on their cash pile, and we see it now with companies increasing investment, but seeing free cash flow margin increase in a commensurate manner. Companies are going to continue to hold significant cash for quite some time and with short term interest rates tanked, they are going to continue to face the challenge of keeping that cash safe while still earning yield for shareholders.

Many companies are doing exactly that with Dynamic Discounting Check out here and here to learn more about it.

How Can You Improve Invoice Processing? Hear from the Experts.

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:55:08 GMT

Ariba Live featured presentations from finance leaders at world-class organizations discussing how electronic invoicing with Ariba is helping to eliminate paper, invoice exceptions and supplier inquiries; lower processing costs; and manage cash better.

If you missed these presentations, you can hear interviews with these experts and others at: www.ariba.com/smartinvoicing.

If you would like to simply browse through all presentations that are available, you can find them here: Ariba LIVE 2012

For other post-session Ariba Live interviews captured on video, you can visit our YouTube channel, where you will find the interviews, clips from main stage, and more. We will be updating and adding even more videos over the next two weeks.

If you attended Ariba Live, I'd love to hear from you. Let me know what sessions or programs you found most valuable, and what you would like to see in next year's event, to be held May 6-9 in Washington, D.C.

Can Accounts Payable be a Profit Center?

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:26:34 GMT

Almost from time immemorial, accounts payable has been buried in organizational back offices as a pure cost center. A necessary evil, but not one offering a lot of strategic value. However, that is changing as more and more companies see the strategic role AP should play in working capital initiatives and cash flow visibility.

But beyond that, some best in class AP organizations are transforming themselves from pure cost centers into actual profit centers! Check out this video of ONEOK's T.D. Eureste talking about he is doing just that!

Get Smart About Invoice Processing: What You May Have Missed at Ariba Live

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:25:57 GMT

Hard to believe a week has passed since Ariba Live. The interest from everyone - buyers, suppliers, partners and others - about business commerce collaboration was evident throughout the conference.

With such a broad agenda, it was difficult for attendees to fit into their schedules all the sessions they wanted to attend. For those of you who may have missed the smart invoicing session, here is a link to the presentation. Geoff Brown from Liberty Mutual and Jeff Phillips from UPS discussed their invoice processing challenges, and the results they achieved by taking a smart invoicing approach.

For a complete list of Ariba Live presentations, click here.

The Invoice Has Arrived, Now What? Find Out Next Week at Ariba Live.

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:02:02 GMT

Are you looking to move beyond scanning and optical character recognition (OCR) and eliminate paper invoices altogether? Provide your suppliers with a self-service portal that eliminates phone calls to AP? Capture all available early payment discounts, and generate new, dynamic discounts from suppliers that never offered them before?

These are just a few of the issues that will be discussed at Ariba Live, April 10-12,in Las Vegas. Join corporate finance leaders from GlaxoSmithKline, Liberty Mutual, UPS, The Walt Disney Company, ONEOK, and other world-class organizations as they discuss strategies and best practices for automating accounts payable. Network with your peers. Discuss business trends with industry analysts. Learn about the technology, community, and capabilities that are making business commerce as easy as consumer commerce.

For more information, or to register, visit www.aribalive.com

Ariba Live -- Disney on Manage Cash Expert Panel!

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:56:43 GMT

Ariba Live 2012 features one of our best lineups ever of customer speakers and industry experts, so much so that we have created a number of panels to accomodate them all! One of the most intriguing will be panel on Unleashing the Power of the Networked Enterprise on Thursday April 12th at 3:15pm. In this panel, Andre Hale, Director of Accounts Payable at Disney will be sharing Mickey's journey from cinematic star to world class networked enterprise and how that has and will continue to be a big part of Disney's strategy as a world class organization. Without giving away the session, here's some things you will learn from Andre's presentation:

How operational excellence leads Disney to competitive advantage
How Disney's AP group drives added value to the overall organization through Vendor Master Management and Cash Optimization
How Disney is able to realize Millions of dollars in savings through reduced interest expense, reduced exposure to unclaimed property, and dynamic discounts.

Details are below...make sure to mark your calendar!

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Manage Cash Expert Panel: Beyond the Transaction | Unleashing the Power of the Networked Enterprise

Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 3:15pm

There is a new divide in the world of global business commerce: those organizations that have achieved strategic advantage with inter-enterprise connectivity and collaboration, and those that have not. This session will include an examination of how trading partner connectivity is impacting corporate finance, accounts payable and accounts receivable; a discussion of how you can ensure compliance in a global e-invoicing rollout; and the results of Disney’s supplier automation and discount capture program. You will leave with actionable insight into how your organization can streamline invoice processing and compliance (e.g., VAT/taxes), expand discount capture, and improve working capital.

Speakers:

PayStream Advisors: Henry Ijams, Managing Director
The Walt Disney Corporation: Andre Hale, Director, Accounts Payable
TrustWeaver: Christiaan Van Der Valk, CEO

...an awful lot of liquidity in search of investable ideas.

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:50:02 GMT

Great pair of articles today on CNBC and FT.com.

CNBC reports corporate cash as being up around 3.7 Trillion....which is an awfully high and questionable number, but the questions the article raises are good ones nonetheless: What are corporates going to do with this casha dn when are they going to start drawing it down significantly. The answer seems to be that long term expenditures (capex, hiring, M&A, etc.) will continue to be cautious & pragmatic for some time. The FT.com article then points out that "From a flows perspective, capital expenditures are being surpassed by internally generated cash flows at a quarterly annualized rate of ~$200 billion. Thus, companies are still adding significantly to their $1.9 trillion cash mountain."

So, with capital outlays continuing at a measured pace which is surpassed by cash flows, FT.Com rightly states: "Whatever happens, that is still an awful lot of liquidity in search of investable ideas"

Until such a time as companies release most or all of that cash into long term, capex-type investments, what are companies to do to earn their investors a return on all that cash? Check out this blog for an idea how that cash can invest some of that liquidity to earn risk free, double digit annualized returns. Or, better yet, get your pass to AribaLIVE and come hear how 3 Ariba customers are doing exactly that while also reducing risk in their supply chains!

PS -- IF you register for AribaLIVE using the promo code: LIVECFO, you will receive $800 off the regular price for AribaLIVE!

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Dynamic Discounting: New Opportunities for No-Risk, High-Yield Cash Returns

Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 1:30pm

AP and Treasury leaders are quickly learning that a well-structured discount program can deliver short-term cash returns of 12 percent, 18 percent, and 24 percent or higher, with no risk. Attend this session to learn how to effectively maintain or extend DPO and maximize early payment discounts. Hear how your peers in finance have successfully deployed these strategies to maximize discount capture, optimize payment terms, dynamically capture discount savings, and provide valuable liquidity to key suppliers while maintaining control over their cash flow.

Speakers:

Dollar Tree: Tim Bennett, Director of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement
Mediafly: John Evarts, CFO
ONEOK: T.D. Eureste, Dirctor Treasury and Finance
Republic Services: Ariba Platform Supervisor

Ariba Live Teaser -- ONEOK Rapid Ramp to Discount Value!

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:53:40 GMT

Still not convinced to attend Ariba Live 2012? Or maybe you are attending, but you're still not sure about what to do at 1:30 pm on Thursday 4/12? Then let me take another shot at convincing you with another sneak peek into the awesome dynamic discounting panel discussion taking place this year at live!

T.D. Eureste, Directory of Treasury and Finance at ONEOK, will share how they have leveraged Ariba's Rapid Ramp discount deployment services to quickly achieve savings in the firs 3 months of their project, and the lessons they have learned so far in the journey. Some highlights you will hear about:

How ONEOK was able to centralize and automate their eInvoice process and change AP from a cost center into a profit center.
Their strategy to reach out to hundreds of suppliers in the first months and how they achieved that
How ONEOK utilized Ariba's Services to save hundreds of thousands of dollars even before their eInvoice go-live date!

Trust me, you don't want to miss this panel of practitioners sharing their hard fought wisdom that you can use to achieve similar results. I'll see you there...

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Dynamic Discounting: New Opportunities for No-Risk, High-Yield Cash Returns

Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 1:30pm

Speakers:

Dollar Tree: Tim Bennett, Director of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement
Mediafly: John Evarts, CFO
ONEOK: T.D. Eureste, Dirctor Treasury and Finance
Republic Services: Ariba Platform Supervisor

Don't Touch That Invoice! Learn About Smart Invoicing and More at Ariba Live

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:23:52 GMT

For top performing organizations such as GlaxoSmithKline, Liberty Mutual, UPS, The Walt Disney Company, Flint Hills Resources, and ONEOK, accounts payable is a strategic business function that is helping to manage cash better.

How did these organizations transform their AP function for business advantage?

You can hear their stories at Ariba Live, April 10-12 in Las Vegas. This is the premier event for corporate finance professionals looking to streamline accounts payable operations and optimize their working capital.

Here are some of the topics that will be featured in session presentations at Ariba Live:

How Smart Invoicing Enables Straight-Through Processing for All Your Suppliers
Winning Supplier Enablement Strategies
The Big Payoff: Top Payables Performance Metrics... and How To Achieve Them
Dynamic Discounting: New Opportunities for No-Risk, High Yield Cash Returns
The Collaboration Imperative: Extending Back Office Systems to Automate All Spend

For more information, or to register, visit www.aribalive.com

Ariba Live Teaser -- Dollar Tree: Adding value to P2P Initiative with Dynamic Discounting

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:02:34 GMT

Here's another peek into some of the great content awaiting you at Ariba Live! Tim Bennett, Director of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement will share some insight into Dollar Tree's Collaborative Commerce journey from Sourcing to Invoice Automation to full P2P with an emphasis on how the dynamic discount value proposition fueled the ROI in their business case and supercharged their P2P initiative. Some things you'll learn:

How Dollar Tree was able to pay for their entire P2P investment in under 1 year with savings from Dynamic Discounting!
How they achieved 92% of targeted suppliers transacting within the first 12 months of their project
How Dollar Tree is achieving significant double-digit returns on the cash they deploy for discounting while providing a win for their suppliers too

Make sure you circle this session as you make your plans for Ariba Live! In addition, Dollar Tree's Chief Operating Officer, Gary Philbin will be a keynote speaker on Mainstage just before this breakout session. You won;t want to miss his presentation on Dollar Tree's overall approach to Collaborative Commerce.

I hope to see you there!

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Dynamic Discounting: New Opportunities for No-Risk, High-Yield Cash Returns

Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 1:30pm

Speakers:

Dollar Tree: Tim Bennett, Director of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement
Mediafly: John Evarts, CFO
ONEOK: T.D. Eureste, Dirctor Treasury and Finance
Republic Services: Ariba Platform Supervisor

Ariba Live Teaser -- Republic Services Dynamic Discounting Journey

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:13:14 GMT

Without giving away the really good stuff that will be shared in our Working Capital customer panel on Thursday April 12 at Aribalive, I wanted to whet your appetite by giving you a glimpse of some of the valuable lessons you'l learn from some of our customers' experience. One of the panelists in this session will be Erin Chumbley of Republic Services who has guided their journey over the last couple of years and will share how they have:

Achieved 500% yr/yr Growth of vendors participating in Accelerated Payment Program
Earned savings earned at a rate of over $2 Million per $1 Billion of targeted spend
Created a durable process to enable ongoing savings capture
Developed a strong AP/Procurement partnership to drive bottom line savings to Republic.

Make sure you circle this session as you make your plans for Ariba Live! You are attending, right? If you haven't yet signed up then for goodness sake do so, as the customer line-up this year is outstanding and will result in rich learning for you and your team.

Stay tuned for more highlights in the coming days of what to expect at Live....

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Dynamic Discounting: New Opportunities for No-Risk, High-Yield Cash Returns

Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 1:30pm

Speakers:

Dollar Tree
Mediafly
ONEOK
Republic Services

Viva AP? Then Viva Las Vegas, April 10-12. Learn From, and Collaborate With, Finance Experts

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:58:45 GMT

Join us at Ariba Live, April 10-12, Caesars Palace, and learn about smart invoicing, dynamic discounting, supplier enablement, payables performance measurement, and more, from finance leaders at Flint Hills Resources, Dollar Tree, UPS, Liberty Mutual, Republic Services, and GlaxoSmithKline to name a few.

If you are responsible for improving accounts payable performance, or would like to be, this is the one event you should attend this year.

To learn more, or to register, visit www.aribalive.com

Ariba Live -- 3 Buyers and 1 Supplier Share Dynamic Discounting Successes!

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:44:28 GMT

Are you going to Ariba Live in Vegas this year? If you are, don;t forget to mark this session on Thursday 4/12 at 1:30 as a must-attend session! Ariba Discount Pro customers Dollar Tree, Republic Services and ONEOK will share their Dynamic Discounting journeys and lessons learned on a panel also with Mediafly, a supplier who used accelerated payment opportunities to help grow their business. These companies have driven bottom line savings while providing strong value to their suppliers. Come to the session and learn how you can do the same!

If you have any questions about the session, don;t hesitate to give me a call. Also, follow me on Twitter (@dhofler) to receive regular updates on how companies are embracing the networked economy and driving their business forward.

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Dynamic Discounting: New Opportunities for No-Risk, High-Yield Cash Returns

Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 1:30pm

Speakers:

Dollar Tree
Mediafly
ONEOK
Republic Services

SMB's face credit shortfall, putting growth at risk!

dont-reply@exchange.ariba.com — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 22:35:38 GMT

Great article here on FT.com highlighting the precarious position suppliers find themselves in trying to fund recovery growth without access to working capital and credit from traditional sources.

The article reports on a task force setup in the UK to "look at small and medium-sized businesses’ access to the credit necessary for innovation and growth that will lead to economic recovery." And while it is UK-specific, the dynamics it reveals are common challenges faced by many smaller suppliers as they try to grow out of the recession and support the growth demands of their customers. Here's the money quotes:

"There is “compelling evidence“ that the supply and demand problems in bank lending will become more acute as businesses grow more confident and the need to fund working capital rises, but banks continue to deleverage their balance sheets.
By the end of 2016 “the finance gap could be in the range of £84bn to £191bn – the amount potentially required to meet comfortably the working capital and growth needs of the UK non-financial business sector"
"Mr Breedon highlighted that small companies are often sketchily aware of alternative sources of funding to banks and have limited confidence or financial expertise to assess schemes. However, he said companies should be encouraged to look at other innovative financing schemes."
The task force report "argues that more pressure should be put on big companies, many of which have built cash piles to record highs in the past year or so, to pay their small suppliers promptly or even ahead of deadline. Meanwhile, enterprises can be encouraged to invoice customers more efficiently."
"Access to capital to help UK SMEs survive and grow in the challenging economic times is crucial"

With an economic recovery beginning to take hold in the UK (as in the US), suppliers need to be able to grow and expand to meet increased demand from their customers. But with traditional sources of credit and liquidity continuing to be dry wells, alternative sources need to be found. Many large, cash rich companies are funding the liquidity need by utilizing Dynamic Discounting tools to give suppliers access to their cash in exchange for a discount. And many smart smaller businesses are taking advantage of this for exactly the reasons stated in the article...so they can grow, expand and increase their revenues!

One Ariba Network supplier is doing exactly this...and finding the access to accelerated cash flow to be extremely important. Check out Mediafly's story here to learn how.