How to Automate Purchase Requisitions

1. Identify the elements or processes that each department needs in order to consider the transaction a success
   
   For example:
   > The purchasing department has written purchasing policies that dictate the level of authorization needed for an approved purchase.
   > The Health and Safety department needs to be on the approval list for items that involve their department.
   > AP’s requirement is that there is a valid PO and a valid Receipt for the item that is being invoiced.
   ———–
2. Have built in control that won’t require monitoring

   ———–
   Controls that are monitored automatically will greatly reduce the chance of human error. A good example of this is authorization signatures.

   If a person needs to identify signatures, they would need a sample of each signer’s signature and a list of their authorization amount. These samples and lists would need to change any time a person starts with the organization, gets promoted, or leaves the company.
   ———–

3. Determine what reporting you want on the back end

   ———
   As an example:
   > A controller that is monitoring their division spending needs to be able to filter out all other activity and retain the ability to drill down into any transaction that is in question.
   > A maintenance manager may need to get reports based on a specific vendor to determine what is being ordered and brought into their plant.
   > The AP manager could benefit by using reports to drive metrics on the performance of their team – not to mention the tedious reporting that is necessary to post any month-end or year-end accruals. If you know the requirements for what needs to be accrued, you can ensure that the accrual process is fast, efficient and accurate.
   ———–

4. Ensure you provide the highest percentage of straight-through processing when the invoice arrives

   ———–
   If you think of it this way, that any invoice that arrives in advance of or without supporting documentation is an invoice that will need to be manually processed.

   Even with the support of automation, someone will have to have ‘eyes’ on that invoice within its lifecycle. If you take a look in advance and make sure the necessary documentation is available, the invoice can be processed and sent straight through without human intervention.

Would you like to find out more about how automating your purchase requisition process? See our whitepaper Automating Your Purchase Requisition Workflow >