SDCExec.com |

San Francisco, CA — June 25, 2008 — Procure-to-pay (P2P) automation is among leading factors contributing to more efficient business processes and cost savings at today's companies across the globe, according to a recent commercial payment card best practices study.

The study, conducted by Deloitte Consulting on behalf of Visa Commercial Solutions, found that utilizing the latest P2P technologies and integrating commercial payment card usage with those systems can result in better process efficiency, improved spend visibility, optimization of resources and increased cost savings.

"Automating corporate expense management through the elimination of paper-based processes and labor-intensive activities is becoming an increasingly important source of new efficiencies and cost savings for today's business," said Darren Parslow, global head of commercial solutions at Visa. "The P2P best practices can help companies identify needed improvements and boost the efficiency of their expense management processes so they can actually realize those cost savings."

The P2P process is defined as a procurement spectrum that includes sourcing, order placement, payment, settlement, reconciliation, control, audit and reporting. More than 60 individual best practices identify several factors contributing to the improvement of the P2P process, including:

• Automate the P2P process from start to finish
• Create visibility and mainstream commercial payment initiatives with active senior management support
• Make P2P a center of excellence within the organization
• Establish a commercial card program management framework
• Integrate the card program into enterprise-wide performance management initiatives
• Designate a commercial card for company meetings-related expenditures
• Create a formal supplier management function
• Develop an integrated controls strategy
• Use sophisticated reporting and spend analysis tools

The study also found that following P2P best practices can lead to significant efficiency-driven cost savings resulting from process streamlining. For example:

• A $30+ billion global media and entertainment company achieved over $100 million in annual cost savings by strategically sourcing direct and indirect spend categories.
• An $800 million global manufacturing company was able to reduce its supplier base by 70 percent while consolidating 80 percent of its overall spending with a select group of suppliers.
• A $2.5 billion global technology company was able to significantly reduce its reliance on costly and outdated paper-based payment processes by shifting 85 percent of its payments to more efficient and cost-effective electronic payment methods.

Program Optimization

Visa said that best practices are a central element of the company's overall commercial card program optimization tools. These tools consist of various knowledge-based research and services designed to help businesses optimize their commercial card programs for best results and cost savings through improved process efficiencies.

In addition to the commercial card best practices, the optimization tools include spend analysis, benchmarking analysis tools, e-procurement card integration recommended practices, identification of Visa-accepting suppliers and other tools.

A summary of the Deloitte study's results can be found at www.visa.com/procuretopaybestpracticestudy.