Welcome to the first entry in a four-part series that previews Ardent Partners’ upcoming ePayments Rising research study. The pending research report, which is due to publish this fall, highlights the evolving perception of electronic payment methods, their benefits and overall value, and how the rise in ePayment approaches actively contributes to the attainment of a veritable “next level” of greater financial operations.
In the greater scheme of corporate operations, there are often a series of back-office functions that never share the limelight with more strategic initiatives and roles. As many CFOs and financial management executives can attest, the world of accounts payable, accounts receivable, and other “hidden” functions aren’t ordinarily considered “sexy” by today’s lightning-paced business world. After all, there are other initiatives that are indeed more glamorous than the world of financial operations.
A decade (or more) ago, and many CFOs would certainly agree with the paragraph above. Units in place to simply process invoices and schedule payments (often via check) were not included in any strategic corporate imperative, certainly because those processes in place to handle financial operations were not considered to be purveyors of true strategic value.
Ardent’s upcoming ePayments Rising research report seeks to track the evolution of electronic payment methods and link them to the progression of financial management over the past few years. As previously detailed in the ePayables 2014: The Quest research study, the strategic evolution of accounts payable actively drives value to the greater organization via enhanced spend and cash visibility, the advantage of early payment discounts, and greater processing efficiencies via AP automation.
The world of payments, the final phase in Ardent’s ePayables Framework, has never been more crucial than it is in today’s business environment. Consider that:
- Only 32% of companies can effectively capture early payment discounts from their suppliers.
- On average, 72% of all payments are still made with paper-based methods (i.e., checks), while 28% are settled via electronic approaches (ACH, business networks, wire transfer, etc.).
- It costs the typical organization nearly $14 to process a single payment.
- Less than 30% of enterprises have the capability to process invoices “straight through” (without human interaction / intervention), and;
- That the average enterprise actively leaves millions of dollars on the table by failing to implement aggressive early-payment discount capture processes and technology.
Considering the aspects highlighted above, the stage is set for enterprises across the globe to grab the reigns of their financial operations, embrace the evolution of electronic payment methods, and attain the veritable “next level” of success.
Stay tuned for the next entry in this preview series, which will discuss why ePayments are “rising” and the various barriers that enterprises face in regards to implementing these approaches.
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