End-to-end purchasing workflow in Source-to-Pay Operations
Summarize
Summary of End-to-end purchasing workflow in Source-to-Pay Operations
This workflow outlines the complete purchasing process within the Source-to-Pay (S2P) suite, specifically using the Sourcing and Procurement Operations (SPO) and Accounts Payable Operations (APO) products. It begins when a product or service with an active contractual price is selected for purchase, guiding the transaction from requisition to invoice processing and payment.
Show less
Prerequisites
To enable this workflow, customers must install and activate the relevant SPO and APO product plugins according to their installation sequences.
Workflow Steps and Roles
- Shopping and Purchase Requisition: An employee (role:
snshop.shopper) initiates purchasing either through a quick or full checkout within the Shopping Hub portal. This creates a purchase requisition routed for approval. - Approval: Assigned approvers review and approve the purchase request via the Employee Center portal (role:
snshop.procurementspecialist). - Purchase Order Fulfillment: The procurement specialist fulfills the approved purchase order through the Source-to-Pay Workspace portal.
- Receipt Confirmation: Upon fulfillment, the employee confirms receipt of the goods or services from Shopping Hub or Employee Center portals.
- Invoice Processing: Invoices are automatically created; if exceptions or manual intervention are required, accounts payable specialists (role:
snapapm.accountspayablespecialist) manage invoice creation, conversion, and exception resolution within the Source-to-Pay Workspace. - Invoice Case Management: Accounts payable agents (role:
snapcm.agent) oversee assigned invoice cases, request additional information, and assign tasks as needed.
Key Outcomes
- Streamlined end-to-end purchasing from requisition to invoice handling within integrated SPO and APO products.
- Clear role-based access and responsibilities with specialized portals for shoppers, approvers, procurement specialists, and accounts payable personnel.
- Visibility into the status of purchasing and payment workflows for all involved roles through their respective portals.
- Automated invoice creation with manual override capabilities to handle exceptions and complex invoice types.
Gather a high-level understanding of the end-to-end purchasing workflow with the Sourcing and Procurement Operations (SPO) and Accounts Payable Operations (APO) products within the Source-to-Pay (S2P) suite.
The purchasing workflow is triggered when an active contractual price is available for a product or service the shopper intends to purchase.
Prerequisites
Workflow of the purchasing process
The following figure shows how different personas use the various applications withing the SPO and APO products to complete the end-to-end purchasing process within the Source-to-Pay (S2P) suite.
- An employee performs a quick checkout with a product or service that has a contractual price. A purchase requisition is created. For more information, see Order a product with quick checkout.
Alternatively, an employee performs a full checkout with products or services that have contractual prices. For more information, see Complete your checkout.
Role: sn_shop.shopper.
Application portal: Shopping Hub.
- Approval rules route the purchase request to one or more assigned approvers.
- An approver reviews the purchase request and approves it. A purchase order is created. For more information, see Approve a request from Employee Center.
Role: sn_shop.procurement_specialist.
Application portal: Employee Center.
- A procurement specialist fulfills the purchase order from the associated supplier.
Role: sn_shop.procurement_specialist.
Application portal: Source-to-Pay Workspace.
- On fulfillment, the employee confirms receipt of the requested product. For more information, see Confirm receipt of your order from Shopping Hub Home and Confirm receipt of your order from Employee Center.
Role: sn_shop.shopper.
Application portal: Shopping Hub or Employee Center.
- Invoices are auto-created. When invoices aren’t auto-submitted or don’t match the purchase orders, or when invoice exceptions must be resolved, an accounts payable specialist gets involved. For more information, see Accounts Payable Invoice Processing.
Alternatively, the accounts payable specialist manually creates invoices. For more information, see Accounts Payable Specialist manual tasks.
Role: sn_ap_apm.accounts_payable_specialist.
Application portal: Source-to-Pay Workspace.
- The accounts payable specialist converts invoices of purchase order type to invoice types such as non-purchase order, credit memo, and debit memo, based on their interactions with shoppers and suppliers of business services.
For more information, see Accounts Payable Specialist manual tasks.
Role: sn_ap_apm.accounts_payable_specialist.
Application portal: Source-to-Pay Workspace.
- An accounts payable agent manages and works on assigned invoice cases, requests more information from suppliers or employees if necessary, and creates and assigns tasks to the users. For more information, see Invoice Case Management.
Role: sn_ap_cm.agent.
Application portal: Source-to-Pay Workspace.
- The employee, approver, procurement specialist, accounts payable specialist, and accounts payable agent have complete visibility into the status of the workflow through process completion, from their respective portals.