Introduction. Table of Contents

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2 Introduction To stay competitive, you know how important it is to find new ways to streamline and save on your company s operations. Learning how leading companies handle commercial payments can give you deeper insights into where and how you can improve. Help you understand how to run your Procure-to-Pay processes more efficiently. Enhance visibility into corporate spend. Gain better control and compliance. And ultimately, help enable you to add more profit to your bottom line. Visa commissioned Deloitte Consulting to conduct 90 in-depth interviews in with more than 60 global/multinational, mid-size and large corporations as well as federal and local government agencies across the world. In 2010, Visa commissioned Deloitte Consulting to update each of the following 28 Travel and Corporate Card Best Practices from the comprehensive study to include current trends, updated case studies, and additional key findings. See the section entitled Study Methodology for additional detail. The Visa Global Procure-to-Pay and Commercial Card Best Practices Study describes how these organizations implement and optimize their Procure-to-Pay processes and commercial card programs. The study gives you access to best practices for a variety of topics: Maximizing the benefits of purchasing and corporate card programs. Streamlining travel and entertainment management. Taking advantage of the latest innovative best practices. And automating the entire Procure-to-Pay process. Each best practice is divided into three useful sections a recommendation overview, a benefits outline and steps for implementation so you can quickly find the information you need. For more information on the Visa Global Procure-to-Pay and Commercial Card Best Practices Study, contact your commercial banker. Table of Contents Develop a Procure-to-Pay End-to-End Automation Strategy Study Methodology Note: Survey results, research and practice recommendations are intended for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for marketing, legal, technical, tax, financial or other advice. When implementing any new strategy or practice, you should consult with your legal counsel to determine what laws and regulations may apply to your specific circumstances. Visa is not responsible for your use of the information, including errors of any kind, or any assumptions or conclusions you might draw from its use. Much of the information contained in this document applies internationally, but a certain amount of information applies only to certain countries or regions. Although Visa tries to mark all country- and region-specific information with a country indication, it does not warrant or represent that all information without indication applies internationally. You should check the applicability of any information in this document to you or your organization.

3 Develop a Procure-to-Pay End-to-End Automation Strategy Technology is an integral component of a company s Procure-to-Pay strategy. Best practice companies develop technology strategies that detail how technology implementations and enhancements can enable end-to-end automation of the company s Procure-to-Pay operation. Technology strategies can include the following key components: Vision for the current and future Procure-to-Pay platform, including integration with new technologies, automation, and potential outsourcing opportunities Short and long-term Procure-to-Pay technology initiatives with alignment to specific Procure-to-Pay goals Identification of benefits to be achieved through the technology initiatives Framework for selection of technology partners and suppliers Best practice companies with multinational operations develop technology strategies that encourage both end-to-end automation as well as standardization of technologies across regions. When developing a technology strategy, leading organizations typically address each process of the Procure-to-Pay function. Examples of solutions and approaches to automating these processes include: Companies evaluate the Procure-to-Pay process to identify both the automation opportunities within each process as well as the integration opportunities across the overall process such as commercial card integration with an e-procurement system. Study participants indicated that the implementation of a commercial card program was a crucial component of their long-term technology automation strategy. Often, the success of these programs was used to develop business cases for further technology 1

4 automation and integration within the Procure-to-Pay process as well as commercial card program expansion. For example, one multinational organization established a long-term goal of automation wherever possible. The organization identified the various technology solutions available and worked with key business unit stakeholders to understand how the technology could be used to the company s advantage. After evaluating all the solutions, short and long-term technology initiatives were developed. The short-term initiatives focused on achieving a basic level of process automation through the deployment of a commercial card program in conjunction with an automated Expense Reporting system. The company s long-term strategy focused on the integration of technology solutions through integration of the commercial card program with its e-procurement system as well as global standardization of its ERP systems. Leading organizations often ensure that feedback from key stakeholders is incorporated in the development of their technology strategy. A large multinational manufacturing company with a long-term goal of end-to-end automation used employee feedback to help define its short and long-term technology strategies. The company tracked user satisfaction with technology solutions using an annual survey. The feedback helped it to focus its short-term technology strategy on improving the user interfaces of its procurement tools in order to increase employee usage. The company also worked closely with business unit leadership to understand their business and technological needs. These discussions helped align the long-term technology strategy of business process automation with the complex needs of the different business units. "Support from both global leadership and country leadership was critical to cutting through regional resistance to a more standardized technology solution." Global Travel Manager, Multinational Manufacturing Company Best practice organizations prioritize their initiatives and ensure maximum alignment with their goals. In addition, these organizations typically work closely with key stakeholders in senior management, IT, Procurement, and Accounts Payable to ensure the initiatives have the appropriate level of support and resource commitments within the organization. Using this approach not only encourages the effective and efficient execution of technology initiatives, but it also provides additional direction for the creation of technology business cases. For further information regarding the end-to-end automation of the Procure-to-Pay process, please refer to Visa spractical Guide to Commercial Card Integration with e-procurement and ERP Applications and Visa scommercial Card Integration with Expense Reporting Applications. The Practical Guide to Commercial Card Integration with e-procurement and ERP Applications explains how to integrate commercial card programs with enterprise applications and covers the following topics: Procure-to-Pay market trends, why, when, and how to integrate, ongoing integration management activities, integration case studies, company and issuer checklists, and recommended integration practices. Visa s Commercial Card Integration with Expense Reporting Applications discusses Procure-to-Pay Market Trends, Reasons for Integration, How to Integrate, Ongoing 2

5 Integration Management Activities, Integration Case Studies, Company and Issuer Checklists, and Recommended Integration Practices. Options for Best Practice Adoption Organizations can choose to develop a short-term technology strategy to solve its most urgent requirements or create a strategy that not only addresses the immediate opportunities but also looks at longer term needs. Options for Adoption Option I Develop short-term Procure-to-Pay technology strategy Option II Develop short and long-term technology strategy Benefits Focuses technology strategy on initiatives that solve the most immediate business needs Improves ability to budget and align resources in the near-term Ensures near-term actions in-line with longer-term technology needs / vision Assists with long-term budget and resource planning Key Considerations Risk of making decisions that provide benefit in the short-term but are additive / detract from the longer-term vision Requires high level of effort of technology and non-technology resources to agree on long-term technology vision and needs Benefits Study participants indicate that developing a technology strategy that both encourages automation and aligns with the overall Procure-to-Pay strategy has multiple benefits. Category Cost Savings and Process Efficiency Benefit Obtained Effective planning and user support increase the efficiency of technology implementations and maximize the effective use of resources. Supplier Management Short and long-term strategies provide guidelines for the selection of technology suppliers, including capabilities and service level expectations. User Satisfaction Short and long-term strategies that align with a company s Procure-to-Pay strategy tend to also align with end-user needs, increasing their support of technology initiatives. Implementation Steps There are a series of actions steps which are necessary to an effective technology 3

6 strategy for the Procure-to-Pay process. # Description of Action Step 1 Review company Procure-to-Pay strategy 2 Analyze business processes and current technological capabilities relative to the strategy to identify opportunities for improvement 3 Create and review technology strategy with key business stakeholders to obtain support and prioritize initiatives 4 Communicate strategy to user-community 4

7 Study Methodology The objective of the Visa Procure-to-Pay and Commercial Card Best Practices Study was to better understand the changes in the segment and to gain a comprehensive understanding of best practices across the Procure-to-Pay process and within the commercial card program. Visa commissioned Deloitte Consulting to conduct 90 in-depth interviews in the summer of 2007 with more than 60 global/multinational, mid-size and large corporations as well as federal and local government agencies across the world. In 2010, Visa commissioned Deloitte Consulting to update each of the following 28 Travel and Corporate Card Best Practices from the comprehensive study to include current trends, updated case studies, and additional key findings. The evaluation of the Procure-to-Pay process included sourcing, order placement, payment and settlement, reconciliation, control and audit, and reporting activities. For the commercial card management process, the assessment focused on practices related to the purchasing and corporate card program strategy, management, and reporting. Interviewees included Regional Controllers, Chief Procurement Officers, Directors of Strategic Sourcing, Procurement Managers, Accounts Payable Managers, Global/Regional/Local Commercial Card Program Managers and Travel Managers. Study participants had a range of commercial card programs in place including purchasing card, corporate card and commercial one card programs with each of the top three card providers: Visa, MasterCard and/or American Express. 5 STUDY METHODOLOGY