How can it be that it is still so hard to collaborate across functions? To find ways to ensure those great strategies are realized, savings met, automation enabled and cash optimization ensured.
Welcome to not only re-view the recent session enabled by Basware but also send in questions and answer the poll questions! How does Your situation compare with peers attending the live session? Find out!
You can >>go here to find the on demand session.
Q&A reflections
During the Q&A session we brought up the question, why is it hard to unify metrics and what stops organizations from having a more seamless integration between procurement and AP solutions.
One reflections was: “I see that the management are not giving guidance or “rules of engagement” and letting the AP and PO department “fight” over how it should be. Procurement want to systematize the way we work with our suppliers and the AP department and many users feel it it just “easier” to just pick up the phone or send an email to place the order. Without any clear strategy and guidance from management the organization will have a tough time to apply the “No PO, no pay” policy”
Another reflection was: “In my opinion, the reason for not having common metrics on spend and savings etc is that by nature, both finance and procurement viewing the data from different angles and seeing the data at different level of details. Other things are important for Finance and again others for Procurement.”
Competences coming together
Tuula Tuonen, Sushmitha Koka and Jason Vincelette at Basware shared the benefits and potential conflicts of working with an end-to end purchase to pay (P2P) process. How your organization can take steps towards maximizing process efficiency. We will also looked at P2P automation. How it can be the factor that aligns procurement and finance departments together.
EBG | Play On demand
To re-view, send in questions and compare your experiences with those attending live, go here.
Finance and procurement collaboration
Out of the many respondents, a clear majority do not scale their finance and procurement collaboration higher than a medium “3”. Having poll questions always open as many questions as it answers – one obvious here being why collaboration is not better than this.. The discussion at the end of the session might give some answers!
Collaboration increase initiatives
This poll question also open up many additional questions. Have the respondents experiences in shared metrics and seamless integration? (Given the responses during the previous question we think not) and hence choose it? In any case there are two clear “winners” here. The obvious advice would be to focus on creating and following up on shared metrics. (How do you define a saving, how do you work with POs and goods receipt, how do you work with days payable outstanding, how do you follow up on value creation etc.) Also evaluate and consider how seamlessly your procurement and AP department can exchange data, follow up on supplier performance and cash flow etc.
About Basware
Basware offers the largest open business network in the world and is the global leader in providing networked source-to-pay solutions, e-invoicing and innovative financing services. Our technology empowers organizations with 100% spend visibility by enabling the capture of all financial data across procurement, finance, accounts payable and accounts receivable functions. Basware is a global company doing business in more than 100 countries and is traded on the Helsinki exchange (BAS1V: HE). Find out more at basware.com.
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