“Space: the final frontier...

While it may not be the final frontier in cost reductions, a recent Aberdeen Group research study, E-Payables Benchmark 2009: Accounts Payable Rising (by Andrew Bartolini, Aberdeen Group, September 2009), sees accounts payable (A/P) as the next frontier in cost reductions. In this report, Aberdeen discusses the next step many companies are taking in their cost reduction efforts: trimming expenses related to their A/P department.

The companies surveyed for the report are categorized from best-in class to those considered laggards in performance scores. What differentiates best-in-class companies from the rest are two significant factors: lower invoice processing costs and faster invoice processing cycle times than their peers, saving significant time and cost per invoice. Just by looking at these two indicators, you can see how improving invoice processing can save your company money and increase productivity.

Closing the Gap
So my question is, how can A/P departments close this gap? The typical A/P department supports all aspects of a company’s cash management objectives—from capturing early payment, to extending days payable outstanding (DPO), to volume discounts and providing contract support for orders and payments. Easier said than done, right?

As a user of the System i platform, you already have the structure in place. Here’s your opportunity to adjust your operations and optimize your A/P department by utilizing the ERP’s capabilities in purchasing, receiving, and payment processing to avoid creating duplicate controls (Excel files or Access database anyone?) and ensure the proper audit trails are in place (especially important for public companies concerned with SOX). But wait, there’s more….

Go Paperless, Save Green
Wouldn’t you like to take steps to conserve our resources and save a buck or two along the way? By implementing a document management system, you can reduce or eliminate paper usage. Paper invoices usually cost more and take longer to process and, chances are, 90% of the invoices you process every day are either faxed in or emailed and then printed. Don’t forget that duplicate copies are created along the way, too, and that paper approvals take days to get processed. Beginning to understand why your invoice processing operation may cost more than you thought?

The goal of document management is to help you eliminate paper and filing cabinets and speed up business processes via electronic workflow. These functions are all integrated into the ERP system so you never have to leave your ERP screen to look up purchase orders, receivers, or invoices and payments. The cost savings are hard to ignore, and reporting shorter invoice processing times and reduced invoice processing costs to your CFO just might be the news he was hoping for.

View this on-demand webinar to learn more about document management solutions.

Guest post by Ken Anderson, Business Development Manager, IntelliChief


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Using a complete document management solution allows organizations to rid themselves of paper, improve document compliance, save time, and minimize waste in storage and forms obsolescence while streamlining their business processes.

To address this business issue for our customers using Infor ERP BPCS, ERP LX, ERP System21, ERP PRMS, and ERP XA, we have partnered with Quadrant Software to provide you with the document management tools to meet your business needs.

In its article, “Infor Taps Quadrant for Document Management Deal,” IT Jungle provides an overview of the Infor-Quadrant Software partnership and the solution’s benefits, and reaffirms Infor’s commitment to the System i platform and its System i customers.