Benchmarking Electronic Payment and Process Automation

Payments efficiency continues to be a primary focus as many companies continue to look at cost reductions to drive profits. Therefore, maximizing cash flows continues to get the attention it has always deserved by senior executives. Treasury and finance practitioners may be able to capitalize on this opportunity by taking an enterprise approach to payments efficiency encompassing A/R to A/P and all associated processes.

A recent compelling study by the Aberdeen Group "Global Payments: Maximizing Cash Flow with Electronic Payments and Process Automation" offers some valuable insights regarding benchmarking the efficiency of your current processes and in identifying potential opportunities for improvement for your company.

A few of the more interesting results are: firms that are categorized as "best-in-class" in terms of payment efficiency take 4.6 days to process a single transaction being defined as the payment and settlement of an invoice after approval; these firms that have initiated specific programs to increase payments efficiency have been able to achieve a 15 % decrease in A/R processing cost and a 14.3% decrease in A/P costs year over year: and the major hurdles most firms face in executing on payments initiatives are internal barriers in terms of resources and an inherent aversion to change, and aversion to changes in payments practices and processes by business partners.

Any insights in overcoming these obstacles would be appreciated as would specific success stories and advice from those who have used an enterprise approach to driving payments efficiency.

If you would like access to a free copy of the executive survey summary you may do so at  http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=6594.