Introducing the Request to Pay Methodology
What Is The Request to Pay Methodology?
The request to pay methodology is a proven method for organizations to manage their spending. It incorporates industry best practices with technology to ensure spending within organizations is on-time, on-budget, and on-track. It’s a simple framework that when paired with an online platform, like Procurify, allows organizations to save time, money, and streamline the entire request to pay process.
Why Does It Exist?
After talking to hundreds of customers over the last couples years we’ve discovered common problems with most organizations’ purchasing process. Regardless of the size of the organization, for profit or not for profit, B2B or B2C, many of them had the same challenges with their request to pay process. So out of necessity the request to pay methodology was created.
Who Does It Involve?
The request to pay methodology involves all stakeholders within an organization that are involved in making a purchase. Everyone from the requester – who requests a product or service, to the approver – who manages the department budget, to the purchaser – who makes the purchases on behalf of the organization, to the receiver – who receives the delivery of the goods, to the accounts payable person – who issues the payment and allocates the costs.
How To Interpret The Graphic
Along the top of this graphic are the 5 actions (request, approve, purchase, receive, pay) organizations should follow in order to manage their spending. Along the bottom are the tools they can use to better maintain control, increase visibility and improve efficiency throughout the entire process. In the middle are the artifacts that are created and evolve through the entire process – providing an electronic trail for auditing.
The 5 Stages In The Request to Pay Process:
- Request: employees request products or services to be purchased by the organization
- Approve: budget managers get notified in real-time and can approve purchase requests
- Purchase: purchasers get notified of approved purchases and purchase with confidence
- Receive: receivers receive the delivered goods and confirms the quantity and invoice number
- Payment: accounts payable issues payment and costs are allocated to the appropriate budget
Over the next few weeks we’ll talk about each stage in more detail including tools and tips to help you manage each step of the request to pay process. Subscribe to our blog newsletter to stay up-to-date on the request to pay methodology series.
