Ebook

Creating a
strategic
Procure-to-Pay
process for
successful
automation
Table of
content
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
What is Procure-to-Pay? ....................................................................................................................... 5
Procure-to-Pay Automation: ............................................................................................................... 7
Key metrics to track the success of Procure-to-Pay automation ........................................ 11
A Strategic roadmap for Procure-to-Pay process Automation ............................................ 14
The criteria to qualify a procurement process for automation ............................................ 15
Important criteria to consider when evaluating a P2P automation vendor..................... 16
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 18
Overview
The Procure-to-Pay cycle (P2P) is a complex process of acquiring the goods
and services a business needs for key business activities. The variety of goods
and services makes it mandatory for each enterprise to track and operate this
complex process accurately. In a way, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the
urgency of opting for automation. As many have reported, the enterprises that
suffered the least during the pandemic were the ones that had already
committed to digitization. Procure-to-pay automation allows enterprises to
transition from siloed business units to well-established and efficient
operations, upgrading IT to withstand unprecedented circumstances. In
addition to this, 81% of businesses are prioritizing process automation to
reach their financial saving goals.
What is
Procure-to-Pay?
Procure-to-Pay can be defined as a sequential approach to acquiring goods and services
involving various operational and accounting steps. These include requisition, purchasing,
receiving, paying for, and accounting for the relevant items. The specific steps may vary
depending on the process your business follows, as well as size and industry.

To learn more about the essentials of Procure-to-Pay in detail, please visit:

https://www.symtrax.com/whitepapers/the-essentials-off-procure-to-pay/
Procure-to-Pay
Automation:
It is essential for businesses to ascertain that all P2P processes perform optimally for better
time management and efficiency. Methodical, prompt operations ensure better financial
disbursements, punctual production cycles, and a more coherent workforce. These
advancements can only be attained by automating complex processes, such as:

Purchase requisition validation:

Manually taking approvals and reviews from a hierarchy for purchase requisition can
be a time-consuming task. With automation, you can reap myriad benefits, such as
faster processing time, cost-savings, and visibility.

Quotation management:
After requisition approval, quotations are taken from multiple vendors. This process
involves scrutinizing multiple quotations along with the various shipping terms and
conditions.

When automated, the benefits of this process are quadrupled. These include
intelligently choosing the best quotation and sending it for approval from the
concerned authorities, as well as digitally onboarding suppliers with flexible business
rules.

Purchase order:
Manually processing huge volumes of purchase orders can be highly susceptible to
errors. This is because minute details are required for the purchase order and can
often cause issues with AP, warehouses, and other departments if inaccuracies go
unnoticed.

Some of these scenarios are commonly seen in enterprises that generate purchase
orders manually:

• During manual purchase order generation, the product code assigned in the
quotation may be entered, leading to either ordering a wrong product or a
mismatch error, as every enterprise creates their own code system.
• In some cases, it may be possible to miss filling in some of the critical entities.
a. In some cases, the purchase order will not be generated
successfully and it will only be realized when the GRN is entered. When
a purchase order is processed, it is crucial to accurately correspond
information in the purchase order with the existing requirements. That
adds further time to the purchase order process.
With automation, purchase orders are instantly created within the ERP, eliminating
the need for data entry. The centralized software applies digital signatures to
purchase orders in either real-time or batch mode for processing large quantities of
orders per month or as businesses need.

This adds a layer of security, ensuring document integrity and enforcing internal and
external compliance. In addition, the solution intelligently attaches the appropriate
terms and conditions document to the order form for compliance with internal
policies. Advance automation tools give you the option to directly send purchase
orders to the vendor’s ecosystem with EDI-capabilities.

Goods Received Notes

Warehouse departments are almost always bustling with larger consignments,
generally to accelerate the speed of production. This raises a need to create and
update Goods Received Notes (GRNs) regularly in the system to simulate the next
line of action. Processing a GRN manually is an arduous and high error-prone task.
To ensure that inventory management is functioning best, automation is a must. GRN
automation makes the entire process seamless, from data creation to notifying
concerned personnel and carrying forward pending operations, all while saving time
and making the process error-free.

Automation lets you perform a mandatory validation check to ensure precise data
creation. A GRN can be created, exchanged, and submitted to a customer’s ERP via
unified business document platform, wherein data exchange takes place entirely in a
digital ecosystem.

Read our blog post “How GRN automation can help streamline your supply chain
process” to know more about how GRN automation can help you streamline your
supply chain process.
Purchase invoice approval:
The Accounts Payable department plays a pivotal role in any business, as it all
contributes to the the company’s balance sheet. Their efficiency has a direct impact
on fraud prevention and trading partner relationships. To avoid unforeseen losses,
AP teams must follow processes diligently before clearing vendor payments, .

However, managing large volumes of invoices manually is often time-consuming and

can incur losses. This is due to the large quantity of data being repositioned and
handled. According to a study, the global Accounts Payable Automation Market size
is expected to grow from USD 1.9 billion in 2019 to USD 3.1 billion by 2024, at a
Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.0% during the forecast period.

AP invoice automation lets organizations automate invoice data entry with enhanced
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and intelligently sends the invoice for approval
in case the software encounters unintelligible data. With complete AP workflow
automation, businesses can focus on analytical tasks, eliminating time spent on low
value activities.

A Deloitte survey of 1,900 companies found that use of an AI optimizes internal

business operations by 41% and Automating tasks, enabled employees to become
more creative by 31%
Key metrics to
track the success
of Procure-to-Pay
automation
In the above sections, we have described the need to overhaul manual procurement
processes. But to ensure anew processes are adopted successfully, business need to
set appropriate KPIs. Below are some easy-to-gauge key parameters:

Visibility across departments: With each department handling several documents

at once and working alongside other departments, visibility and access via real time
status monitoring plays a vital role in faster processing. Using a real-time Procure-to-
Pay solution , your enterprise can:

a) Track each transaction at every step of the procurement process.

b) Minimize the risk of human error as the automation solution flags issues, such as
duplicate requests and invoices without corresponding purchase orders.
c) Trace authorizations generated for every transaction.
d) Access information from remote locations.
e) Avoid document and payment duplication.
f) Track delays in authorization, and identify possible reasons behind them and at
what level they occurred.
g) Assign documents to alternate members in case the intended authority is absent.

P2P automation provides the ability to identify potential bottlenecks and design new
process routes to manage exceptions, such as budget surge proposals. It also allows
you to identify buying pattern data.

Ensuring compliance: Compliance, whether internal or mandated by the

government, ensures uniformity while reducing errors. It is an important aspect of
any process as it helps overcome the constant risk of omitting an important piece of
information.

Reducing an enterprise's exposure to risk is an indirect but crucial aspect of ROI

enhancement. Procurement solutions can include not only AP automation but also the
customizable workflow option and contract management: this assures enterprises that the
data collected is accurate, the vendors are meeting their obligations, and every cent spent is
returned with as much value as possible.

Transparency and collaborative functions: Digitized workflows in P2P

automation ensure collaboration between various departments with 100%
transparency throughout the entire process. Thus, vendors and suppliers can benefit
from a shared relationship.
The following image summarizes the metrics discussed above to analyze the
automated P2P process.
A Strategic
roadmap for
Procure-to-Pay
process
Automation
As we have already discussed, the P2P cycle is often complex, with multiple steps
involving multiple departments. As such, businesses need to meticulously plan their
approach to automation. This helps gain clarity over each entity and ensure
smoother adoption. When planned one process at a time, automation can be swift-
moving and efficient. According to a 2020 McKinsey Global Survey of businesses
across various industries, approximately 66% of respondents have fully automated at
least one business process, instead of adopting technology across all the processes.

The criteria to qualify a procurement

process for automation
When strategizing automation for any process, a few criteria should be considered. These are
based on how many benefits can be attained after automation. The process can be identified
when it meets the following criteria:

1. The process should have predefined steps involved

2. The process should be repetitive
3. Standard processes should remain unchanged for an extended period
Important criteria
to consider when
evaluating a P2P
automation
vendor
The search for P2P solutions can be difficult, especially when a particular enterprise
has never implemented one before solution. Adopting automation in phases and
gradually moving towards advancement is the recipe for successful procurement
cycle automation. Identifying the tools that best fit your business operations can be
exhausting. . Some of the most important features to look for are:

− Seamless integration: The right P2P automation solution should enable its users to
adapt to their workflow and business requirements without disturbing existing ERP
or other systems. It also needs to provide a suitable environment for vendors and
other third-party members to work in conjunction with them.
b. - Provide a multifunctional platform: The automation tool must
accommodate any scope of work while aiming to optimize each process of
the P2P cycle.
− Provide accessibility to data: The automation solution must provide the correct data
to the corresponding authority/department, helping them process and analyze data.
− Have built-in reporting capabilities: This provides users with strategic insights and
control over real-time savings and expenditure management.
− Quick implementation: The automation tool must provide fast, hassle-free
implementation to ensure uninterrupted continuity.
Conclusion

With today’s demand for seamless services, businesses have an emphatic need for
high-functional internal processes. The way to achieve this is to take a step toward
complete digitization and process automation. Companies have been shown to reap
profits by relying on automation solutions to perform repetitive and mundane
processes, as this could accelerate productivity and allow them to focus on important
tasks. This not only ensures efficiency but a content and productive workforce.

About Symtrax
Symtrax is a worldwide software company helping organizations enhance document
management processes with cloud-ready solutions in mind. Our ever-expanding
range of connectors establishes compatibility easily, and our Compleo Hybrid
software can address a wide range of challenges through its specialized modules. To
learn more, visit our site or contact us at salesapac@symtrax.com

About the Author

Vijeta Shetty — Documentation and Communication Manager
Vijeta Shetty is the Manager of Documentation and Communication and has over 15 years
of experience working with Symtrax software.