What is Procure-to-Pay?

Procure to Pay is an end to end business process that covers the entire procurement process, including sourcing and contract management, supplier collaboration, quoting, requisition, and invoice processing, and integrated purchasing intelligence.

Procure-to-pay is critical to improving purchasing performance and efficiency but, most importantly, it is absolutely essential for driving bottom-line savings. The hard work expended to capture savings
during the sourcing process is lost if there is no process to ensure compliance at the point of purchase. The Aberdeen Group found that companies that implemented a formal procure-to-pay program
achieved between five and 20 percent (as a percent of spend being managed) savings plus numerous process and performance benefits. Additionally, Aberdeen noted that companies that have deployed
end-to-end Procure to Pay solutions are significantly outperforming their peers. Obstacles such as inconsistent purchasing processes or hard-to-use ERP systems prevent most companies from fixing the leakage that inevitably occurs. These problems most often occur because:

Users buy goods and services via the easiest means possible, and are often confused by what items are okay to buy, through what systems, under what budget, and with whose approval.

Supplier communication regarding POs and invoicing is not electronic nor is it closed-loop.

The Procurement and Payables organizations are not solving this problem together. Automating procurement yet neglecting the needs for your AP department is a losing proposition.