Managing Accounts Payable

Outcome

• Supplier invoices are created and supplier payments are managed using any number of currencies and any type of payment method: Cash, check, manual and electronic bank transfer, bill of exchange/draft, and direct debiting.
• The currency gain or loss on all foreign currency transactions is automatically calculated.
• You have optimized supplier discounts.
• Detailed information on the payment flow is available, configured according to user-defined views.

The controlled payment flow enables you to make decisions to increase the profitability of the company. You use the financial information retrieved to analyze and understand changes in your vendor relationship.

For more details on how M3 is affected, see listed documents in the See Also section.

Before you start

• The financial system must be configured. For details, see Enabling Financial Management
• For starting conditions specific to particular processes or activities, see the respective document.

Outline

The workflow is slimmed and easy to handle, supported by user-defined input formats and automated processes. The three key processes in accounts payable are presented in this figure:

Activity Descriptions

1. Preparing Supplier Invoices for Payment

   Use the highly flexible invoice entry in M3 to apply your own, custom workflows for your supplier invoices. You can process any type of invoice. The online matching to purchase order and goods receipt is completely integrated in the entry flow but can also be done separately. Authorizations, recodings, and approval of invoices are done efficiently using either the regular or simplified workflow.

2. Paying Suppliers

   You can automatically create payment documents based on payment proposals. You decide whether the proposal should relate to a particular payment method, suppliers with a particular payment priority or particular payment terms, for example. All matching and approved invoices are automatically included as well as all discounts for the period and any credit invoices. You can also manually enter payments made, for example, based on transaction notes from a bank.

3. Monitoring Suppliers

   Use any of the many inquiry functions to follow-up and search for specific information. These help you manage your supplier liabilities and forecast your need for liquid funds on a regular basis. You have instant and complete information on a supplier’s transactions over a certain period of time. For example, you also have all invoice information readily available on topped or disputed invoices or invoices requiring approval.