Cohen stressed the importance of evaluating metrics that provide insight into current challenges and trends, as well as visions for the future, in order to understand the state of the profession and develop smarter, next generation systems. Of note, the report revealed that AP teams view eliminating invoice exceptions and manual processes as high priorities on their wish list.
"We look at metrics to understand how we're doing and what's possible," said Cohen. "How do we really measure ourselves today and see what we're doing, and also set goals for tomorrow? It was illuminating to see that AP is starting to view themselves as part of a larger ecosystem, with a willingness to think more strategically and an understanding that they can provide valuable information and insight across their organizations."
Discussion topics focused on priorities indicated in the report, including:
- The overall impact of COVID-19 on businesses and AP
- How COVID-19 highlighted the urgency for AP leaders to automate
- The traits of AP processes in best-in-class organizations
- Top challenges and trends for AP in 2021
- The importance of moving AP from a tactical to a strategic function
- How AP will evolve over the next few years
In particular, the results showed not only a shift toward automation of the accounts payable process, but also that the shift is accelerating. According to Haq, that aligns with what he saw from businesses that approached Transcepta about adopting automation, with companies eager to move quickly in order to combat the challenges they are facing.
"In their gut, customers know that manual processes, paper-based processes, are not good for any of the stakeholders, and they want to move away from it," said Haq. "The pandemic only accelerated the need to automate accounts payable."
Both the webinar and the full Ardent Partners report available as an e-book can be accessed here.
ABOUT ARDENT PARTNERS
Ardent Partners is a research and advisory firm focused on defining and advancing the supply management strategies, processes, and technologies that drive business value and accelerate organizational transformation within the enterprise.
Ardent Partners actively covers the supply management solutions marketplace and produces research to help business decision makers understand the technology landscape and identify the best-fit solution(s) for their specific needs. We believe our team's first-hand experience evaluating, developing, packaging, deploying, and using supply management solutions on behalf of enterprises in the Global 2000 and public sector makes us eminently qualified to advise our clients to make smart decisions in this area. For more information, visit www.ardentpartners.com.
ABOUT TRANSCEPTA
Transcepta offers an intelligent procure-to-pay (P2P) platform that enables accounts payable (AP) and procurement teams to achieve 100 percent straight-through invoice processing across their supply chains, without scanning or OCR imaging. Using artificial intelligence, the platform eliminates invoice exceptions, uncovers potential supply chain disruptions, and transforms the way enterprise organizations manage and collaborate with suppliers. Since 2005, the world's most respected companies and organizations have partnered with Transcepta for e-procurement and AP automation to make informed, data-driven decisions, and drive increased profits.
