In a recent Mercator Advisory Group document Steve Murphy the Director of the Commercial and Enterprise Payments advisory service laid out how to assess various B2B payment platforms. Below we have highlighted some of those platforms mentioned in the document and some of the criteria that should be used to evaluate each.
E-Procurement Does the platform:
1) Allow search by category, Dynamically update pricing and precontracted terms, Generate POs in digital form to supplier fulfillment site
2) Allow use of P card
3) Allow dynamic routing out to B2B marketplaces
4) Provide reporting dashboard w/ integrations to external analytic platforms
E-Invoicing Does the platform:
1) Capable of creating digital invoices across multiple standards
2) Capture invoices and convert to digitally readable version
3) Create e-invoice automatically through PO generation
4) Offer dynamic discounting for suppliers
Automated Payables Does the platform:
1) Allow for 2 to 4 way matching with invoice & PO
2) Workflow capabilities to route through matching & payments approvals
3) Situational analysis to apply the highest value payment selection
4) Allow suppliers to create variable payment terms
Alternative Financing Does the platform:
1) Offer approved buyer invoice financing
2) Offer supplier receivables financing
3) Offer direct buyer/supplier marketplace funding
4) Offer funding alternatives like PO, inventory, distributor, forfeiting
