TweetPurchase to pay process, SOX controls, segregation of responsibilities – to a business they can, and are, seen as obstacles to just getting things do. But they are a necessary evil. Without them fraud would be rife.

So what are the most common purchase to pay frauds? We can’t know for certain which are employed most often but based on common knowledge and a bit of personal experience we think these are good candidates for the top six. continue reading…

TweetReady for the new year, Patrick Harbin has published and amazing 50 ways to reduce costs in accounts payable.  They say about new year’s resolutions that you should ensure they are achievable so for those that think 50 major change management  programs in one year – that’s 1 per week – is a little too much, you might want to consider the first 5 because we think the first 5 are the best 5. continue reading…

TweetThis is how it will be read. When the European regulators produced guidelines on how bent a banana could be, there was a media frenzy. Headlines like “Europe Bans Bent Bananas” and “It’s Official – Bananas Banned by Brussels”. It was a Euromyth of course but it sells newspapers and I can feel the same thing is going to happen when the CEN get’s its hands on e-invoicing standards. continue reading…

TweetOB10 can make some great claims. They might like to claim to be the biggest and they’d certainly want to claim best. I think they can legitimately claim to be the first. But these superlatives are very much double edged. “First” also means oldest and “biggest” can mean least agile.

So how can OB10 maintain their leading position? Last week I had the great pleasure of meeting Luke McKeever, their new CEO, who told me. continue reading…

TweetWe’ve all seen it at the airport check-in. Mr. More-Important-Than-Everyone-Else complaining about something or other. He’s late to board and they won’t let him on. Maybe he’s exceeded his luggage allowance, or, best of all, because he’s a frequent flyer, he wants an upgrade. “I fly with you all the time.” “ I’m a personal friend of your CEO.” ” Do you know who I am?!”

I was once given a master class in how to get upgraded on a flight. It was from a colleague, a professional buyer,  who bet me he could get his sister a business class seat on a coach class ticket. I paraphrase the conversation for brevity but this is how he approached the check in. continue reading…

TweetSome great things have come out of Australia but leaving Rolf Harris and Skippy aside, passion for procurement doesn’t seem to be one of them. Why is it that Aussies don’t get as passionate as the poms about procurement?

Well I’m not sure that the Europeans do get quite as passionate as Claudine Swiatek believes in her captivating article in her blog The Young Sourcerer about passion. But her point is well made that it’s a shame that procurement isn’t as well respected in some quarters as it should be. continue reading…

TweetAriba is falling behind. It’s falling behind in customer growth and it’s failing to innovate. So why has Ariba got such a rosy future? continue reading…