Downloads:Procurement Research

The Accounts Payable Bicycle: Five Reasons Why Riding is Better Than Walking!

There's no question that bicycles represent a giant evolutionary leap from human locomotion. But they also provide a great metaphor for the opportunity that accounts payable (AP) organizations have to move away from manual processes to automated ones – with even greater efficiency and speed returns than a two-wheeler can provide. In this white paper, we provide a number of benefits that AP organizations can realize from automation and digitization. These examples can help not only make the case for high-value technology investments to drive AP efficiency improvements, but also to build AP finance and procurement value in the eyes of constituents and stakeholders. Download this paper to take off the training wheels – it's better to learn to ride properly from the start – and explore five benefits of putting AP on two wheels.

Every Picture Tells a Story. What Story Does Your Accounts Receivable Data Tell You?

他们说每一个照片讲述一个故事。所以,如果你take a picture of your accounts receivable (A/R) function through the camera lens of A/R data, what will it tell you about your transactional order-to-cash processes? And what light will it shed on your approaches to cash collection, customer engagement and risk and compliance management — or your overall ability to influence business performance? When it comes to painting a picture of business health, unedited photographs rarely distort the truth, and that’s true for A/R data, too. The good news is that the more unflattering the picture, the more opportunity you have in front of you to provide better visibility to the business, improve cash flow and reduce risk. Now it’s time to grab your camera as we take you on a quick journey with how-to steps to improve overall A/R performance, starting first with explaining the role of A/R in overall business terms (i.e., why it matters!)

Use Cases of E-Signatures and Digital Signatures in Procurement and the Supply Chain

E-signatures and digital signatures are a rapidly growing sub-segment of the procurement and broader enterprise technology market. The numbers are truly off the charts. According to industry research, the segment experienced 48% growth in 2011, and an average of 53% annual growth in 2012 and 2013. Forrester estimates there will be 700 million e-signature transactions by 2017. There is no doubt that the growth will continue in this market at breakneck pace for at least the next few years. But where do e-signatures and digital signatures fit into e-procurement, beyond simply replacing handwritten signatures on the contract paper? This Spend Matters PRO research brief provides examples and use cases where these solutions can play a critical role supporting end-to-end source-to-pay (S2P) and related procurement processes.