Procure-to-pay (P2P) covers the full purchasing cycle: from raising purchase requests and approving orders, through to receiving invoices and making payments.
For many organisations, this process is spread across disconnected systems and manual workflows. As a result, visibility is often limited or delayed.
Without clear oversight, it is challenging to manage spend, control budgets, and build strong supplier relationships.
Improved visibility through a modern P2P platform such as UniFi P2P Enterprise Suite leads to better financial control, fewer errors, stronger supplier engagement, and more effective cash flow management.
Where Visibility Breaks Down in the P2P Process
In many P2P environments, visibility gaps appear at several points:
Siloed procurement and finance systems: When procurement and finance data sit in separate systems, it becomes harder to track the full purchasing and payment cycle.
Lack of transparency in approval workflows: Without clear approval processes and audit trails, it is difficult to track which purchases are approved and where bottlenecks occur.
Manual invoice processing: When invoices are processed manually, data capture is slow and error-prone. Real-time insights are impossible when key information is trapped in paper or email.
Missing or delayed data for reporting: Finance leaders need timely data to manage cash flow and forecast spend. Manual reporting or data exports introduce delays and inaccuracies.
Poor integration with ERP or accounting systems: If the P2P process is not well integrated with core finance systems, spend visibility remains partial, and reporting is fragmented.
The Risks of Poor Visibility
Limited visibility across P2P leads to several common risks:
Unauthorised or duplicate spend: Without clear oversight, unauthorised purchases may occur, and duplicate invoices can be paid.
Missed early payment discounts: If invoice approval and payment cycles are not transparent, discount opportunities may be missed.
Late payments affecting supplier relationships: A lack of visibility causes payment delays, damaging supplier trust and leading to potential penalties.
Poor forecasting and budgeting: Finance teams cannot plan effectively without up-to-date data on commitments and liabilities.
Compliance risks: Limited audit trails increase the risk of non-compliance with internal policies and external regulations.
How to Improve P2P Visibility
Several practical steps can improve visibility across the P2P process:
Connect purchasing and finance systems: Integration between procurement, accounts payable, and core finance systems is essential. UniFi is built for this.
Automate approvals and workflows: Automating workflows ensures full process transparency and provides audit trails for all approvals.
Capture and digitise data at each step: Digitising requisitions, purchase orders, goods receipts, and invoices enables real-time data capture. A great example is UniFi Autonomous Data Capture.
Integrate with core finance systems for real-time data: Connecting P2P processes with finance ensures visibility of spend and commitments.
Monitor the process with dashboards and reporting: Dashboards provide finance leaders with real-time oversight of process status, bottlenecks, and key metrics.
How UniFi Supports P2P Visibility
The UniFi platform helps organisations conquer procurement analytics and gain full visibility across their P2P process:
One dashboard: Access the full P2P workflow from a single, unified dashboard with drill-down functionality, giving you complete visibility and real-time status tracking and procurement analytics across every stage.
Centralises purchasing and payment processes: UniFi brings together all purchasing, invoice processing, and payment activity in a single platform.
Connects core systems: The platform connects ERP, finance, and other core back-office systems to deliver end-to-end process visibility.
Provides automated workflows and approvals: UniFi automates workflows and captures approval audit trails, increasing transparency and reducing delays.
Captures real-time data across the process: Data is digitised at each step, giving users and finance leaders an accurate, up-to-date view of spend.
Offers full audit trails and reporting: UniFi provides comprehensive audit trails and real-time reporting dashboards for better decision-making.
Conclusion
Addressing visibility gaps in P2P is essential for controlling spend, improving supplier relationships, and strengthening compliance.
Full transparency enables better financial decisions and reduces risk.
Speak to us about improving your P2P visibility with UniFi or see the full demo now!