What is Request to Pay?
Request to Pay (R2P), sometimes also called Purchase or Procure to Pay (P2P), is a process that encompasses the steps a company takes from an employee generating a request to purchase goods works or services, all the way through to making payment.
It starts with requisitioning items, gaining appropiate management approval(s), and sending the demand message to the supplier via a Purchase Order. It concludes when the supplier sends in an invoice, which can be checked and approved, and ultimately paid.
The R2P process aims to streamline procurement and payment workflows, ensure financial oversight, provide audit, transparancy, reporting and control over expenses.
R2P is a critical business process that many organisations neglect, and is foundational to delivering procurement savings.
R2P Systems
There are many R2P systems available in the market. Choosing the system which is right for you can be a complex task as there are many different factors to consider. Some of the key factors are:
Budget. R2P systems can vary significantly in cost, from those that are relatively low cost upwards. However, there are some excellent systems available at the more afordable end of the range.
Integrations. Typically, organisations will want the R2P system to intregate with the finance system, and perhaps other systems as well. A key factor to consider is which integrations are required and being satisfied that the R2P solution selected is able to successfully integrate.
System architecture, or determining which actions will be performed in which system.
Functionality. Carefully consider the R2P system’s required functionality in terms of modules, volumes and complexity.
How different systems are priced. Are systems priced per module. entity, number of users, number of invoices or a combination of methods? Which makes most sense?
Selecting the system of choice is the first step, however it’s far from the end of the story.
Software deployments which fail, or deliver only a fraction of the expected benefits predominately do so becuase of human rather than technical factors. Insufficient team resources. Poor software fit to requirements, or inaccurate requirements. An incomplete picture of scope and how the software fits to business processes. Lack of investment in change management, end user training. Insufficient data cleanse and system testing.
Request to Pay is a business critical system. Deploying a system which has not been correctly integrated, configured, tested and rolled out to users will impact ability to raise POs and to pay invoices.
Whether you need assistance in selecting a solution, or effectively configuring and deploying a R2P system, we can help. Get in contact today to discuss your requirements.