Check out three of the hottest P2P trends we’ve spotted this year.
1) Adoption of AI
P2P teams deal with masses of data which is usually stored in isolated systems using data formats that are incompatible with one another. 2020 has seen a steep rise in the adoption of cloud-based artificial intelligence to help tackle such big data challenges. These intelligent systems can seamlessly collate data from varying systems and extract business-changing insights in seconds – saving finance teams hours of manual analysis.
2) Fraud protection software
Every year, companies lose billions to P2P fraud scams; which are becoming more costly and complex as they evolve. According to the FBI, the total amount of losses from phishing, hacking and other email scams doubles every year, resulting in a total (known) loss of around 30 billion dollars worldwide.
In the age of the pandemic, disruption to normal business processes, controls, and working conditions has given malicious actors opportunities to commit fraud, while the turmoil of the COVID-19 situation enables many to rationalise bad behaviour that may have previously been questioned by ethical codes.
In April alone, fraud cases rose by 33%. And most recently, tech giant Amazon, fell victim to invoice fraud, losing 19 million dollars from the business.
In response to such threats, leaders are looking for stabilisation by implementing more sophisticated controls to prevent further losses. Displaying high on this priority list is the onboarding of purpose-built fraud protection software.
3) The cleanse of Master Vendor files
In recent months, we have been having many conversations with Procurement and Finance leaders who have aired concerns around needing to clean their master vendor file in order to prevent avoidable mistakes. A survey by TAG found that the existence of multiple names for the same vendor in a company’s ERP, was the reason behind 25% of duplicate transactions made. This activity is particularly common across businesses with multiple entities
As well as preventing posting errors, a clean vendor file reduces the risk of payments made to fraudulent vendors that may have flown under the radar and gained themselves a spot on your books. In the cleansing process, credentials such as contact information and tax ID are checked, highlighting any false suppliers.
Building on the above, a clean file also ensures compliance is met and accurate reporting is carried out and therefore the right decisions are made.
In an era of finance transformation, it’s more important than ever to keep your finger on the pulse and ensure that your business doesn’t get left behind. If you’d like to talk about how Xelix can supercharge your P2P processes, or if you would like some advice on how to improve your internal controls, please get in touch.
