Posted by Steve Wilcox on Wed, Nov 19, 2008 @ 11:04 AM
Ok, I'll admit that the functional requirements for a critical financial function such as AP dwarf the functional requirements for an iPod or a search engine but the point is clear ... ERP AP products are complex. The installation, maintenance and upgrades are complex. The user interface for AP products is especially complex.
And yet, AP touches so many other business functions and business users outside of AP from line-of-business users that need to approve & code invoices, to procurement that needs to help resolve PO holds, to finance managers who want to track key metrics, to suppliers who want status information on their payments. The dilemma is that you just can't expect these users to sit down and figure out how to navigate complex ERP AP screens. The learning curve is just too steep. If you want the most efficient and accurate AP process, you NEED to seamlessly include these users.
And this is one of the major flaws of AP Automation products including imaging and workflow products. For non-AP users that need to approve invoices, help resolve PO holds, provide account coding information for NON-PO invoices, track & manage metrics and trends, retrieve payment status information in a self-service fashion etc. ... these users need something simple ... really simple.
A good AP Automation solution should provide a simple, intuitive, web-based interface for approvals, coding & hold resolution, an intuitive "at-a-glance" AP dashboard for managing day-to-day operations and a simple supplier portal for payment status inquiries.
When you see an approval interface, an AP dashboard or a supplier portal ... ask yourself this critical question:
How simple is this to learn and use?
-Rakesh Shukla
@rakesh170
Related White Papers
Related Blog Posts