Cash Is King! How to Optimize Working Capital Across Your Organization
Just when you thought your procurement and finance organizations were robust, the pandemic caused widespread disruption. One of the biggest casualties has been cash flow, both for the organization and its suppliers. In this on-demand webinar, learn how leading organizations are optimizing their cash and working capital throughout their organization and supply chain.
Relieve pressure on cash flows by optimizing working capital from Procurement to Finance
In this webinar, you’ll learn:
- Best practices for working capital management and Days Payable Outstanding (DPO)
- The impact of recent economic disruptions on working capital
- Case studies of organizations that implemented effective working capital optimization
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every business across the world. Some sectors, such as grocery, have adapted. But others, such as travel and hospitality, have taken a serious hit to their incoming cash.
In this on-demand webinar, Coupa and The Hackett Group explore how enhancing purchase-to-pay processes can relieve the pressure by optimizing working capital from Procurement to Finance. Join Amy Hillcox, Director of Procurement and P2P advisory (The Hackett Group) and Ulrika Haug, Senior Director, Product Marketing (Coupa) to learn top tips to increase your working capital.
Featured Speakers
Amy Hillcox
Director, Procurement and Purchase-to-Pay Advisory
The Hackett Group
Ulrika Haug
Sr. Director Product Marketing
Coupa Software
Today, many organizations, as you may imagine, operate in silos. And these silos, particularly between Procurement, Finance, Accounts Payable, and Treasury, minimize your visibility, creating blind spots. Just like you have blind spots when you’re in a car and you want to change lanes, sometimes something bad will happen. An example of this in an organization is an unforeseen payment that suddenly hits your account and causes a liquidity shortfall. As a result [of these blind spots], most organizations are not getting the full value of their working capital.
FAQ
Working capital improvements are conceptually easy, but implementing them can be challenging. Why is this?
The first challenge to implementing working capital management improvements is that working capital is often seen as the problem of Finance staff who are based at headquarters. But in reality, many functions must be involved in the improvements in order to be successful. Another challenge is that working capital performance is easy to window dress but much more difficult to implement sustainably. Furthermore, you will encounter resistance as you endeavor to implement improvements, which will require you to build in extra time for the organization to adapt to changes and accept them. An additional challenge is the requirement to have meaningful, real-time information in order to make corrective actions. This information is hard to come by, and it must be available in a consistent format from the outset of your working capital improvements efforts. It is especially difficult to change the mindset of employees to recognize that less working capital is better, since it will also make their daily job more difficult. Watch the webinar for tips on how to address these and other challenges.
What are the key objectives of the purchase-to-pay process (payables)?
There are seven primary steps in the purchase-to-pay process, each of which corresponds to numerous objectives. First, in the Planning and Strategy step, you must be sure to use the most appropriate procurement channels and establish the right criteria for the purchasing process. Second, in the Sourcing and Supplier Management step, you must minimize total cost of ownership, obtain the best payment terms, and obtain benefits of scale. In the third step, Requisition and Order, you must ensure orders are processed quickly and with the right suppliers and conditions. Fourth, the objectives of the Receipting and Evaluating step are to ensure that negotiated conditions are met and to identify potential discrepancies early. Fifth, the Invoicing Processing step will require you to ensure that invoices are processed as quickly as possible, that you do not accept incorrect invoices, and that you start the payment clock from the receipt of the correct invoice. The sixth step, Discrepancy Management, requires that you solve any unmet expectations without generating issues in the operation. And finally, the objectives of the seventh step, Settlement, are to ensure the correct amount is paid at the time it is due (neither early nor late). For more information about how to measure the success of attaining these objectives, please watch the webinar.
How do virtual cards maximize working capital?
Virtual cards eliminate manual card statement reconciliation and expense reports, and they reduce costly supplier onboarding. Your procurement team no longer needs to onboard one-time suppliers, you can capture more spend under management, and you maximize savings via bank rebates and extend DPO. Your Finance and/or Treasury teams have full control, real-time visibility, and auditability of spend. You also can automatically reconcile against the GL account and bank statement, which eliminates manual invoicing. It also enables you to optimize working capital because of the card float. For more details, please watch the webinar.
