If your Accounts Payable team in SAP is pulling data manually for Statement Reconciliations and only reconciling the top 10% of suppliers then it is impossible to certify that every single risk has been eliminated, which in turn makes your department open for fraud due to a lack of control.

Bringing all risk and control-related activity into one integrated and automated SAP system, such as BEST, eliminates the manual effort and associated risks and also results in greater alignment of your business with a streamlined process. It provides direct access to detailed real-time auditable information which greatly reduces time spent preparing and following up on requests.

Since auditable information and electronic approvals are now tracked digitally your teams are now able to focus on more value-added activities such as ensuring that you are taking early settlement discounts, managing exceptions and looking at process improvements.

This can improve your Accounts Payable department in these 5 ways:

1. BEST provides technology which streamlines your process and enables everyone in the team to work from a common, centralised, and real-time environment directly in SAP.
2. Reduce costs by taking early settlement discounts and credit notes. This further enables discovery of undiscovered inaccuracies and potential fraud.
3. Create efficiencies – Supplier Statement Reconciliation automation ensures that exceptions are addressed, and reviews aren’t left to chance due lack of time at month end.
4. Document each step in the reconciliation process. Consider a system that can clearly document each step in the process, document who performed each step, at what time and lastly who reviewed and approved the reconciliation.
5. Management reporting – Moving away from spreadsheets outside of SAP toward real-time reporting and analytics which provides better visibility for every Procure to Pay (P2P) Manager, Business Process Owner (BPO) and Accounts payable stakeholder.

These days, with all the risks, errors and fraud, it is clear that Accounts Payable Teams should keep a firm eye and control on the money that runs out of their business. This control will in return assist with cash flow and improve your relationship with suppliers.

If you are interested in hearing more about the control functionality within BEST or BEST’s Automated Statement Recon Solution in SAP, please get in touch.