Source-to-Pay Operations

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Source-to-Pay Operations

    Source-to-Pay Operations is a comprehensive solution built on the ServiceNow AI Platform that automates and streamlines the entire procurement lifecycle. It connects sourcing, procurement, supplier management, and accounts payable into a unified, end-to-end process. Designed for ServiceNow customers, this solution enhances collaboration across teams and integrates seamlessly with existing ERP and procurement systems, including SAP ECC and SAP S4 HANA, to accelerate time-to-value and reduce errors and delays.

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    Key Features

    • Automation and Case Management: Automates repeatable procurement tasks and supports case management to refocus teams on strategic priorities.
    • Guided Collaboration and Playbooks: Shortens onboarding and qualification cycles with configurable, step-by-step workflows for procurement and supplier processes.
    • Centralized Catalogs and Contract Compliance: Improves contract utilization and compliance through centralized digital catalogs and automated order creation.
    • Invoice Processing Automation: Automates low-value invoice handling to improve days payable outstanding (DPO) and enable accounts payable teams to prioritize higher-value work.
    • Self-Service and Omni-Channel Access: Enables employees and suppliers to resolve low-focus requests independently via self-service portals, virtual agents, and omni-channel interactions, enhancing engagement and governance.
    • Supplier Lifecycle Management: Facilitates supplier onboarding, data management, and issue resolution with real-time collaboration and supplier-driven data updates.
    • Intelligence-Driven Continuous Improvement: Provides transparency to improve supplier compliance, spend governance, and process outcomes by leveraging analytics and supplier insights.
    • Integration Capabilities: Supports integrations with third-party ERP systems, voice and SMS services (e.g., 3CLogic), and the ServiceNow ecosystem to create a seamless procurement experience.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Streamlined Procurement Processes: Employees and procurement teams benefit from trackable, guided workflows that simplify request intake and improve first-time automation.
    • Enhanced Supplier Experience: Suppliers can quickly complete onboarding, manage their data, and collaborate on cases, improving accuracy and reducing delays.
    • Improved Invoice and Payment Workflow: Accounts payable teams gain a consolidated workspace to manage invoice intake, exception resolution, approvals, and integration with ERP for timely payments.
    • Compliance and Spend Management: Controls embedded in digital workflows increase contract compliance and enhance spend governance across the organization.
    • Real-Time Collaboration and Visibility: Centralized supplier information and case management enable rapid issue resolution and better supplier performance oversight.

    Getting Started and Additional Resources

    ServiceNow customers can access Source-to-Pay Operations through their ServiceNow account and explore training and implementation support via ServiceNow University and the Customer Success Center. Connecting with peers in the Now Community and leveraging complementary tools like Virtual Agent and Knowledge Management can further optimize the procurement transformation journey.

    Streamline procurement for employees and enable work team efficiencies. Connect the source-to-pay process end-to-end.

    Why Source-to-Pay Operations

    Automate and simplify the source-to-pay process

    Source-to-Pay Operations is a powerful solution that automates and simplifies the source-to-pay process. It enables a seamless purchasing and case management process across work teams, allowing procurement to focus more on strategic priorities. Built on the ServiceNow AI Platform, Source-to-Pay Operations integrates seamlessly with existing ERP and procurement technologies to deliver faster time-to-value, while streamlining fulfillment and reducing the potential for errors or delays.

    With Source-to-Pay Operations, you can orchestrate work across teams and systems with real-time governance. This enables you to:
    • Refocus teams to higher value work by capturing and automating repeatable non-structured work in cases.
    • Shorten onboarding and qualification cycle times with guided collaboration and configurable step-by-step playbooks.
    • Improve compliance and contract utilization with centralized catalogs and end-to-end order creation automation.
    • Improve the days payable outstanding (DPO) by automating low value invoice processing work, thus enabling reprioritization of teams to more strategic tasks.
    With this solution, you can also increase engagement with collaboration, self-service, and omni-channel access, which enables you to:
    • Deflect low-focus requests from employees and suppliers with self-service interactions.
    • Streamline intake to improve first-time request automation.
    • Meet employees and suppliers where they work, to improve governance and spend management.
    You can also leverage intelligence to enable continuous process improvement. This allows you to:
    • Improve supplier compliance and spend governance through enhanced transparency.
    • Enable suppliers to better help you by letting them audit, define, and update their own information.
    • Drive better outcomes by continually improving people, processes, and behavior.
    • Achieve real-time self service access to purchase orders and invoices, and deflect invoice-related inquiries from employees and suppliers.

    Procurement is in the scope of most enterprise transformation initiatives. As procurement leaders assess their priorities, organizations are looking for transformable ways to evolve their procurement processes, while leveraging their existing investments. Organizations can use the Source-to-Pay Operations solution to address several of their use cases.

    process
    Improve procurement processing and drive compliant outcomes

    Make it easy for employees and procurement to make procurement processes easier and trackable, with omni-channel guidance.

    collaborate
    Accelerate supplier qualification and enhance accuracy

    Enhance the supplier experience by enabling suppliers to complete onboarding tasks, raise requests, and get answers to questions quickly.

    digital
    Transform supplier management with digital experiences

    Access supplier information easily, identify key supplier contacts, and collaborate in real time to resolve issues that impact production.

    invoice
    Streamline end-to-end invoice processing and expedite the payment process
    Enable accounts payable teams to simplify and speed up the invoice processing cycle and ensure timely and accurate payment of invoices.

    Improve procurement processing and drive compliant outcomes

    Source-to-Pay Workspace

    Help employees self service their requests through intuitive workflows, knowledge base, and virtual agents. Increase spend under management and employee engagement with omni-channel guided experiences that meet employees where they work. Use step-by-step playbooks to make processes easier and trackable. Increase contract utilization and compliance by including controls in digital workflows.

    Accelerate supplier qualification and enhance accuracy

    Supplier Collaboration Portal

    Extend procurement processes to include supplier qualification and onboarding. Orchestrate workflows to include cross-functional teams, from legal to finance. Improve supplier data quality by enabling suppliers to manage their own data. Accelerate issue resolution by empowering suppliers to engage with cases and tasks.

    Transform supplier management with digital experiences

    Source-to-Pay Workspace

    Manage and collaborate with suppliers on cases, in real time. Use case management for diverse issues like quality resolutions, supplier shortages, engineering changes, and so on. Centralize all supplier demographic, performance, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) intelligence. Better manage supplier data by centralizing supplier information. Leverage third-party supplier intelligence to increase the depth and breadth of supplier information.

    Streamline end-to-end invoice processing and expedite the payment process

    Accounts Payable Workspace

    Save time and increase productivity by consolidating all Accounts Payable workstreams into a single experience. Enable Accounts Payable teams to work seamlessly with suppliers and cross-functional teams to resolve invoice-related inquiries and to process invoices quickly and accurately. Ingest invoices via different channels and capture invoice data using Document Intelligence to reduce manual invoice data entry. Perform end-to-end invoice processing using workflows to identify and resolve exceptions, obtain approvals, and post the invoices into ERP systems to process payments.

    Source-to-Pay Operations integration with third-party applications

    Source-to-Pay Operations supports the following integrations:

    Source-to-Pay integration framework
    Install an optional third-party ERP integration application that enables primary data, fixed assets, purchase order, receipt, invoice, and tax integration capabilities between S2P and the third-party ERP application.
    Source-to-Pay Operations integration with SAP ECC and SAP S4 HANA
    Send purchase orders, receipts, suppliers, and payables invoices created in Source-to-Pay Operations to SAP ECC and SAP S4 HANA.
    Source-to-Pay Operations integration with 3CLogic
    Enhance the end-user experience with voice and SMS capabilities.

    Learn

    Get started

    • Log in to your ServiceNow account and find additional information about Source-to-Pay Operations, at Now Create.
    • Access real-time courses, self-paced training, and career resources at ServiceNow University.
    • Work with an implementation specialist to achieve your desired business outcomes. To learn more, visit the Customer Success Center.
    • Connect with other Source-to-Pay Operations users at Now Community
    • Explore which other tools can optimize your Source-to-Pay Operations experience, like Virtual Agent, and Knowledge Management.

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