Organizations can no longer afford the traditional loose buying processes that prevail in many departments. The high number of informal transactions by email, phone, fax and credit card open the door to uncontrolled buying. Today’s organizations need much better visibility into the flow of purchase orders and invoices, the supplier base and any negotiated discounts.
Most can also benefit from streamlining slow, paper-bound processes in Procurement and A/P as well as from optimizing the supplier base.
Yet with such significant benefits to be gained, why are so many companies reluctant to drive for Procurement process standardization and contract adherence?
Today’s shared service centre (SSC) is better positioned than a retained IT function to partner with both Finance and Procurement and help the organization reach end-to-end vision of the P2P process. In fact, by implementing shared and integrated tools for these two key functions, SSCs can quickly deliver both strategic and operational benefits. Eventually it all comes down to justifying any new SSC with a business case that is compelling to all key stakeholders, including top management, Finance and Procurement.
Although there are challenges to overcome, no CFO can afford to overlook the strategic benefits of having an SSC supporting Procurement. Disseminating best practices in purchase to pay across a diverse organization will help guarantee more accurate and uniform financial data and more insightful analysis.
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