SOURCE: Aberdeen Group
December 09, 2008 13:00 ET
Commercial Cards Prove to Deliver Savings for Procurement and Accounts Payable
New Research Finds That Commercial Cards Drive Lower Procure-to-Pay Transaction Costs
BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - December 9, 2008) - Over the past decade, the advent of commercial
cards has streamlined the procure-to-pay (P2P) process across procurement
and accounts payable (A/P) functions. Not only have commercial cards, which
include Purchasing cards and Corporate cards (also referred to as "Travel"
cards), reduced P2P transaction-processing costs, they have also added an
additional layer of depth to the procurement and accounts payable
departments by driving compliance, reducing cycle times, and automating the
payment process, according to a new report published by Aberdeen, a
Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS). To obtain a complimentary copy of the
report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5380.
The report, "Commercial Cards: Delivering Savings Across Procurement and
A/P," evaluates the strategies, capabilities and card performance of over
250 enterprises, discovering that the decade-old solution continually adds
value to the ever-evolving procurement & A/P units. Commercial cards have
helped Best-in-Class enterprises:
-- Achieve 71% lower P2P cycle costs than their competitors
-- Capture 20% of their indirect spend on cards (twice the amount of the
average enterprise)
-- Reduce "maverick" (off-contract) spend by 10.4%
"Best-in-Class enterprises consistently demonstrate their ability to
achieve desirable performance across the spectrum of procurement and A/P
performance metrics," states Amit Gupta, research analyst, Aberdeen. "By
capturing twice the amount of indirect spend on commercial cards,
top-performing firms have not only achieved significant bottom line
savings, but also drove compliance and reduced procure-to-pay cycle times."
Aberdeen recommends that enterprises implement the following
recommendations to spark performance within their respective commercial
cards programs:
-- Promote cross-functional collaboration among key internal stakeholders
in procurement, A/P, finance, and treasury
-- Set aggressive goals to convert a significant percentage of manual
payments to commercial cards
A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the
following underwriters: American Express and SunTrust. To obtain a
complimentary copy of the report, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5380.
For additional access to complimentary Global Supply Management Research,
please visit
http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/-global-supply-management.
About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
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© 2008 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
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