Procure-to-Pay Solutions
An In-Depth Guide
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What are Procure-to-Pay solutions?
Procure-to-pay (P2P) solutions are advanced software systems designed to streamline and automate the entire procurement process. They make operations more efficient by digitizing and optimizing key activities, such as requisition creation, purchase orders, invoice processing and payments. These P2P solutions may also integrate features like spend analytics and supplier management or include them as part of a comprehensive module within the P2P process
For more information on what each of these specific subsets are, please refer to these landing pages:
For more information on adjacent covered areas, please refer to these landing pages:
- Intake and Orchestration
- Expense Management
- Vendor Management Services
What kinds of organizations should consider a Procure-to-Pay solution
P2P solutions offer significant benefits to various organizations, especially those facing challenges in their requisitioning, ordering, receiving, invoicing and payment processes. Here are some types of organizations that should consider adopting a P2P solution:
- Multinational corporations: Companies operating in multiple countries benefit from how P2P solutions can handle diverse procurement processes, adhere to various regulatory requirements and manage global supply chains efficiently.
- Large enterprises: Organizations with complex procurement needs and high transaction volumes benefit from how P2P solutions streamline operations, ensure compliance and manage extensive supplier networks.
- Middle market organizations: Companies with expanding procurement needs and growing transaction volumes benefit from how P2P solutions streamline processes, improve vendor relationships and gain better control over spending, ensuring effective budget management and scalability as they face increasingly complex procurement challenges.
Here are example from specific industries:
- Retailers with numerous locations and suppliers can use P2P solutions to standardize procurement processes, manage inventory efficiently and control spending across all stores.
- Manufacturing firms need P2P solutions to manage complex supply chains, control costs and ensure timely procurement of raw materials and components.
- Hospitals and healthcare organizations use P2P solutions to manage procurement of medical supplies, equipment and services and ensure compliance and efficiency.
- Schools and universities can use P2P solutions to manage procurement for supplies, services and equipment, ensuring effective budget management and compliance with procurement policies.
- Consulting, legal and other professional services firms can benefit from P2P solutions to manage procurement processes, control costs and streamline invoice processing.
- Hotels, resorts and travel agencies can use P2P solutions to manage procurement for operational supplies, improve vendor management and control costs.
How technology supports Procure-to-Pay — Top 5 capabilities
These ‘Top 5’ critical digital capabilities stem from the Spend Matters TechMatch workbench — derived from a larger number of requirements scored in the SolutionMap solution benchmark.
The Top 5 capabilities are the highest-weighted critical capabilities that are central to the displayed solution market benchmark. They have been developed by the Spend Matters analyst team and refined by procurement users in tech-selection projects using our market-proven SolutionMap benchmarking dataset and associated TechMatch decision-making tool.
1. Catalog modeling
The management of catalog and content that models and supports all category requirements (e.g., item catalogs, service catalogs, smart forms, inventoried items, etc.) in order to get more spend under deeper/better management.
Average performing vendors have basic capabilities that include limited catalog creation support, partial support for catalog level of data detail and template-based forms for non-catalog items and services. Top performing vendors have more options to create catalogs (from sourcing events or contracts), the ability to use external content as part of its catalogs (API integrations, multiple punch-outs, etc.), limitless level of data detail for catalogs to incorporate guidance (including advanced data quality, mapping and validations) and multiple purchasing models, such as shopping lists, bundles and kits.
Top performers tend to have catalog content that includes volume/promotional pricing, real-time price checks, multi-currency, multilingual, custom/specialty attributes for industry specific, inventory data (also embedded into shopping lists) and more. They also have advanced access configuration to content/catalogs, e.g., roles, product views, business units, countries and even by business rules for guidance purposes.
2. Guided buying
The ability to maximize the next-generation guided-buying user experience to go beyond the typical Amazon-like shopping experience.
Average performing vendors have core support for search shopping content, e.g., keywords, faceted search and punch-outs. They have pre-built templates and kits and the ability to create shopping lists or mark items as preferred. They can also include flags, supplier rating, predefined help or FAQs into the search. Top performing vendors have guided access control, the ability to show recommendations based on past behaviors or business rules, highly configurable smart-forms (inclusive in the form of intake process), real-time budget monitoring and advanced use of information or icons to guide the user (logistics cost, inventory availability, tiered pricing, on/off contract, etc.).
Top performers can weight preferred items/suppliers and customized filtering in search results to ensure visibility, use real-time support guidance (conversational systems), enable AI-ML to personalize, recommend and keep sustainable purchases and prescribe savings and mitigate problems/risks.
3. Invoice processing
The ability to optimize ordering efficiency while supporting category needs and keeping in compliance with budgets, contracts and accounting.
The average vendor has core support for standard invoice requirements. Core support includes the ability to automate invoice capturing, matching, validation and approvals based on business rules, the ability to support dispute resolutions through portal capabilities, the ability to create credit notes and full invoicing functionality within a mobile device. Top performers go above and beyond by processing invoices through multiple approval chains, automatic approvals using AI/ML capabilities and having the ability to create recurring invoices from multiple methods.
The vendors that differentiate themselves as top performers tend to focus on processing no-touch, completely automated invoices, with the option to configure the extent of exceptions and human interventions. Top vendors also use AI capabilities for approvals, coding (including Non-PO invoices) and fraud detection, which streamlines the validation and approval process.
4. Payment processing
The flexibility to receive all goods, assets and services to match with POs and invoices.
An average vendor should have basic support for handling payments in multiple methods, such as the ability to capture the supplier’s payment method and transfer to the payment system with invoice. The average vendor also has the ability to support cross-border payment scenarios; however, support is limited to certain countries. On the other hand, top performers support global cross-border payments and the ability to create payment plans based on multiple criteria, as well as AI/ML analysis for fraud prevention. Top performers also have a workspace to view, select and approve payment files to be processed.
Top vendors employ AI/ML analysis and AI-led identification of discrepancies. Vendors also have advanced capabilities, such as an automated payment scheduler and worldwide presence to support cross-border payments without the hassle of banks, some are even licensed money transmitters.
5. Procure-to-pay analytics
The capacity to derive strategic, actionable insight (in context of shopping) to meet goals for P2P, S2P and the business.
An average vendor should include out-of-the-box report builders (drag-and-drop models), reporting dashboards and descriptive reports for payment, invoicing and finance analysis via AP metrics. Top performers have deeper analytics capabilities, such as market intelligence through community data and AI-/ML-enabled actionable analytics for procurement and finance.
Top performers provide actionable analytics for benchmarks, process KPIs, user KPIs, as well as predictive and prescriptive analysis to guide users during their procurement and finance activities. P2P analytics enables contribution from all stakeholders to ultimately generate greater value for the business.
Why selecting the right Procure-to-Pay solution can be difficult
You have to weigh many factors when choosing any technological product. Here are some of the most important factors you should consider when starting your P2P selection:
- Alignment with organizational needs: Each organization has unique procurement processes, supplier relationships and compliance requirements. Identifying a P2P solution that aligns well with these specific needs involves a detailed analysis of how the solution’s features and capabilities match the organization’s requirements.
- Integration and interoperability: Effective integration with existing systems, such as ERP platforms and financial software, is essential for seamless operations. Disruptions or inconsistencies in data exchange between systems can affect procurement workflows and overall efficiency.
- User adoption and usability: The success of a P2P implementation hinges on user adoption. The selected solution must be user-friendly and intuitive to ensure that staff can easily adapt to the new system, which is crucial for maximizing the solution’s benefits.
- Scalability and flexibility: The P2P solution should be scalable to accommodate future growth, increased transaction volumes and evolving procurement strategies. Flexibility to adapt to organizational changes without major disruptions is key.
- Cost and ROI considerations: Evaluating the cost of the P2P solution against the potential return on investment (ROI) is vital. Organizations must consider both the initial costs and long-term benefits, including improved efficiency, cost savings and enhanced compliance.
By addressing these factors through comprehensive vendor evaluations and a clear understanding of organizational needs, procurement practitioners can navigate the complexities of selecting the right P2P solution and make informed decisions that support their strategic objectives.
How Spend Matters can help you select Procure-to-Pay technology
Spend Matters specializes in procurement technology diligence. In addition to projects and advisory, Spend Matters offers Insider, the only membership community and technology comparison tool of its kind: access to Spend Matters SolutionMap vendor rankings dataset combined with independent, zero pay-to-play, brutally honest coverage of solution providers, market developments and trends affecting procurement, finance and supply chain.
We can help you find a solution that meets strategic needs, such as:
- Streamlining requisition and purchase order management.
- Enhancing invoice processing and payment efficiency.
- Integrating spend analytics and supplier management features.
- Managing catalogs and virtual content.
- Ensuring compliance and risk management.
- Facilitating supplier collaboration.
- Integrating seamlessly with ERP/MRP systems.
- Providing scalability and flexibility.
- Offering an intuitive user experience.
- Leveraging modern cloud-based platforms for improved accessibility and efficiency.
Discover Procure to Pay vendors
These are the vendors we are covering today (or very soon). Visit their vendor directory pages on Spend Matters for a quick vendor overview, demographic information and relevant articles, including vendor analysis.
| Solution Provider | What it does |
|---|---|
| Airbase | Airbase is a P2P software that combines power and ease of use. Stop uncontrolled spend and drive user adoption. Fast-growing companies in the mid-market and early enterprise use Airbase. |
| Basware | Basware is a well-established company that provides a complete P2P solution, including one of the biggest B2B commerce networks and a mature AP automation solution for e-invoicing processing. |
| BirchStreet Systems | BirchStreet Systems is a cloud-based P2P automation platform for the hospitality industry. Its platform provides the technology to purchase and manage spend for both direct materials (food and beverage) and indirect materials. |
| Claritum | Claritum delivers a cloud-based P2P solution that also includes tactical sourcing capability. At the core of the Claritum solution is a catalog-based platform with integrated RFx capabilities that allows buying organizations, services providers and suppliers to collaborate around ‘the buy’ for category-specific, tail spend activities. |
| Compleat Software | Compleat’s P2P solution automates purchase requisitions, order placement and invoice processing. Real-time spend analytics are provided using extracted invoice data. |
| Corcentric | Corcentric Platform by Corcentric is a comprehensive S2P/P2P offering, born out of Corcentric’s various acquisitions over the last decade (Source One Management Services in 2018; Netsend in 2019; Determine, Inc. in 2019 and Vendorin B2B Payments provider in 2020). Corcentric Platform currently includes supplier management, sourcing, CLM, procurement, invoice management, financial management, payments and analytics. The company also offers advisory and managed services. |
| Coupa | Coupa is an expansive S2P/P2P offering, including both core modules (S2P, S2C, P2P, AP automation) and many adjacent ones, such as supply chain design, treasury management, and payments. It is well known for utilizing its community-based intelligence to generate insights. |
| ebidtopay | ebidtopay is a European family-owned suite that typically serves the mid-market. It’s ‘smart!’ modules cover S2C, P2P, supplier relationship management and supply chain management, as well as products focused on strategy and innovation. |
| EffiGO | EffiGO is an India-based S2P/P2P platform that offers modules in strategic sourcing, P2P and S2P. It also offers a supplier portal and a product called ‘eDisposal’ that focuses on processing surplus stock and scrap. |
| Esker | Esker’s solution covers the entire P2P (and O2C) cycle, including online purchase requisitions, ordering of goods and services, AP automation, supplier communication and information management, receipt processing, payment management and analytics. |
| Fraxion | Fraxion offers a P2P solution designed to digitize P2P processes for mid-market companies. This cloud-based solution, hosted on Azure Cloud, features multi-company, multi-language and multi-currency capabilities. |
| GEP | GEP offers three S2P/P2P solutions that work together: GEP SMART, an S2P suite application, GEP NEXXE, an SCM application, and GEP Green, a sustainability application. Additionally, GEP Quantum is the AI-powered platform foundation that uses machine learning and low-code development tools to automate tasks, generate insights from data and allow for easy configuration of workflows across GEP. |
| ISPnext | ISPnext is an S2P/P2P solution that has modules for supplier management, sourcing, contract management, procurement, AP automation and spend analysis. Most of its customers are mid or mid+ organizations that have their HQ in Europe. |
| Ivalua | Ivalua is a global solution with customers in over 75 countries and a strong partner network. Its modules cover the S2P/P2P process (including for direct materials management), and it offers some supplemental offerings, such as inventory management. |
| Jaggaer | Jaggaer began in 1995 under the name of SciQuest and has since acquired several other companies that now are part of the offering under the Jaggaer ONE banner, which launched in 2019. In addition to covering the S2P/P2P process, Jaggaer offers solutions for supply chain collaboration and payments. |
| Kissflow | Kissflow offers modules that cover strategic sourcing, P2P, supplier management, contract management, inventory management, invoice automation, spend analytics and integrations. It typically serves SME companies. |
| Medius | Medius is a modular S2P/P2P suite covering the mid-market in Europe that customers mainly use for indirect spend and to benefit from suite-level integrations. Its focus is on the downstream processes of e-procurement and AP automation, but it does have upstream capabilities to support the downstream ones, so it can cover all processes. |
| MeRLIN | MeRLIN is an S2P/P2P suite provider launched in 2021 that supports direct and indirect spend for mid-market companies in the manufacturing and public sectors. |
| Oalia | Oalia was created in 2000 at approximately the same time as several other European S2P/P2P providers. It started with a focus on intellectual services and added capabilities over time to become a full suite. However, P2P in Oalia is deployed more as a complement to the S2C offering than as a full-fledged P2P offering. |
| OneMarket | OneMarket by LogicSouce offers solutions that cover P2P, analytics, sourcing and contracts. It also offers a project management capability called Portfolio. |
| Onventis | Since its first release in 2002, Onventis has been incrementally building and expanding its S2P/P2P system that it offers on the European mid-market. Over the last few years, it has worked to close several gaps by acquiring Spendency for spend analytics, adding native CLM capabilities and third-party risk data providers. Today, it covers the entire S2P process. |
| OpusCapita | OpusCapita (now part of GEP’s portfolio) provides a P2P solution platform that includes e-procurement, invoice processing automation, product information management, e-invoicing (sending and receiving) and B2B integration (XML/EDI). |
| Oracle | While arguably best known for its ERP, Oracle also offers many other applications, including a procurement cloud that covers the S2P/P2P process. Other applications include a supply chain and manufacturing solution, human capital management and product lifecycle management. |
| Order.co | Order.co’s P2P solution combats maverick spend by incorporating external marketplace content into purchases and enhances efficiency by consolidating and paying invoices on behalf of buyers. The solution serves purchasers, approvers, procurement admins and accounts payable teams. |
| Penny Software | Penny is a modern and user-friendly cloud-based procurement software. It’s a modular software covering the complete procurement journey. It’s highly customizable and integratable. |
| PLANERGY | Planergy’s offering includes the four modules which make up the requirements for a comprehensive P2P solution: requesting, purchasing (ordering), AP automation and spend analytics. It is aimed mainly at SME and lower MM, which consists of companies with between 50 and 1000 employees. |
| Proactis | The creation of Proactis goes back to 1996 when the company Get Real Systems was founded in the UK. The company changed its name to Proactis in 2003. It offers an S2P/P2P suite that includes a marketplace/supplier network, In addition to buy-side capabilities and revenue, Proactis has an offering dedicated to suppliers wishing to capture new business opportunities. |
| ProcurePort | ProcurePort offers a strategic sourcing solution that’s main focus is on configuring and managing RFx and auction processes. In 2018, ProcurePort acquired a separate P2P platform that it now sells under its brand. |
| Promena | Promena is an S2P/P2P suite that focuses on smaller and mid-size businesses and that support supplier management, sourcing contracting and e-procurement. |
| Raindrop | Raindrop offers a comprehensive S2P/P2P platform designed to streamline procurement processes and enhance supplier management. Their platform covers various aspects, including spend management (Catalogs and Requests), sourcing, contract management and payables management. |
| SAP Ariba | Since its initial founding as Ariba in 1996, SAP Ariba has continued to undergo significant development, and the solution’s overall SAP Ariba roadmap increasingly intersects with those of other SAP products. Today, it covers the full S2P/P2P lifecycle. |
| SoftCo | SoftCo provides a P2P solution designed for SME and MM organizations, with its largest presence in Europe. The platform, developed over 10 years, features advanced invoice capture, a robust workflow and business rule engine and strong systems integration capabilities |
| Synertrade | Synertrade offers three solutions: supplier management, P2P, and S2C. |
| TeamPay | TeamPay offers an interesting middle-market P2P value proposition for companies looking to control their spending on purchases but not over control it. It’s a good option for companies that use Slack and Microsoft Teams. |
| Tradeshift | Tradeshift leverages its business network to excel in marketplace, e-invoicing, V-Card and SCF programs, achieving high volume in the P2P market. It also offers an open integration framework for third-party apps focused on supplier connectivity, transaction enablement and collaboration. |
| Varis | Varis provides a P2P solution with three packages: marketplace, e-procurement and P2P. These packages include modules, such as Storefront, Services, Quote, Suppliers, Platform, Requisitioning, Order, Contracts, Analytics and Payables. |
| Vroozi | Vroozi offers a cloud-based P2P solution that evolved from its original e-procurement platform into a comprehensive suite. Key features include invoicing and payments, a supplier portal and discovery modules. Additional capabilities include an RFQ feature (three bids & a buy) and Vroozi Expenses for reporting and approval. |
| Zapro AI | In addition to covering the S2P/P2P cycle, Zapro AI also offers solutions for vendor management and inventory management. |
| Zip | Zip’s P2P solution streamlines procurement with automatic PO creation from intake requests, AI-powered invoice and payment processing and powerful approval workflows. It supports punchouts, receiving and built-in collaboration. Features include dynamic workflows, budget and savings management, ERP and P2P integration, renewal management, a contract repository and an AI assistant. |
| Zycus | Zycus is an S2P/P2P provider that offers P2P and S2C platforms, as well as applications for intake management, risk management and ESG management. |
Procure-to-Pay in the Content Hub
