EDITOR’S LETTER

A lot has been written recently on how Digital is shaping the future of business. While customer experience, marketing, sales and other customer facing functions have received their due share of attention, what is interesting is how the face of something as fundamental as the Accounts Payable process can be transformed with Digital, leading to a direct impact on the working capital position of enterprises.

Over the last few years, there has been a seismic shift going on in this function, transforming it to a profit center. The ability of the AP function to drive business outcomes and not just report on them is being increasingly enabled by digital. This edition titled ‘Driving Process Excellence in Accounts Payable with Digital’ showcases how enterprises can make Accounts Payable a strategic function by partnering with key stakeholders to make this change happen.

This shift in terms of automation in the AP function is also having an impact in terms of the skills that is required by the department. No longer is this function just data entry and administrative skill sets, on the other hand, the AP processor is now required to have the technology skills at least from an end user standpoint, collaboration skills to work with multiple teams including procurement, treasury etc. and participate in the working capital optimization strategy. AP teams are no longer considered as only back office cost center functions.

Automating AP processes has led to significant cost savings as a result of process efficiencies, led to increased visibility and transparency. The erstwhile complex process entailing several laborious working hours, delays and resultant supplier dissatisfaction is now replaced with a seamless, automated process and better transparency to the supplier. The cover story explores more about this topic together with innovations possible with dynamic discounts, cognitive technologies etc.

This edition features an interview with Mr. Chetan Trivedi, Chief Information Officer at Hindustan Zinc Ltd (Vedanta Resources Plc) who shares his perspectives on this topic including what the Vedanta group has done in this area.

We hope you enjoy reading this edition. Thank you for your continued engagement with Illuminar.

Have a lovely day!

Best Regards,
Srividya