Comments on: Monday Morning Query – Should Procurement Own AP?

By: Andrew Bartolini

Andrew Bartolini — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:20:30 +0000

All –

Some really great comments – thank you!

One comment on the above – As with most of these MM-Queries, I am not necessarily advocating a position, really just hoping to foster a discussion.

Somewhat coincidentally, I just finished a call with a CPO in the financial services industry that owned AP when he started at his company but has since given it up due to potential conflict of interest reasons.

By: Jayshree Ravi

Jayshree Ravi — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:15:42 +0000

In this day and age, there need not be a hard and fast answer to this. What is important is the process, its integration with the various aspects and the measurement of performance and compliance. Whether is the same org or not is then a moot point.

By: Kathleen A Murray

Kathleen A Murray — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:31:39 +0000

Outsourcing aspects of procurement and AP also can work. Regardless of same org, or not, P2P process requires coordination and cooperation. Put it together in 1994/95 at Aetna Inc…and never looked back except for the positives achieved!

By: Steve Iannarone

Steve Iannarone — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:44:28 +0000

I feel that there is a clear requirement for separation of duties between Procurement and A/P. Controls are compromised when A/P is included in Procurement, because the overall ownership puts payment disbursement into the hands of the negotiators. This sets the stage for ease of fraud and corruption in the process. Being proactive with controls can eliminate fraud, while audit is a tool to catch and firefight it. P2P can be a single process with multiple responsibility owners…it does not have to reside in a single silo.

By: Debbie Manos-McHenry

Debbie Manos-McHenry — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:41:17 +0000

Much debate on this topic. I have managed AP with sourcing for 15 years – my preference is to have AP within sourcing.
Pro’s — driving efficiency in procure-to-pay cycle, collaborating with sourcing on policy compliance, linking expense reports and associated policy with travel strategy, centralizing system operations and strategy for eProcurement and payables systems.
Con’s — a distraction from strategy, accounting controls, reconciliations, balancing, etc. are more core to an accounting function than sourcing.

By: Anand Gangopadhyay

Anand Gangopadhyay — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:35:26 +0000

I agree with Andrew on this – Procurement should own A/P from a more end-to-end process (S2P) standpoint to render it more effective than simply efficient.