If your customer wants bearings, we can get it for you." "Let's try exporting our product/service to a bunch of foreign markets." Wrong! Pick a product/service and pick a market. Focus, focus, focus. Persist, persist, persist."I know my product/service works well here in the India, so I'm certain it will fly overseas."
Top 10 International Marketing Mistakes!
Leverage technology
It's hard to think of an area of business that can't be enhanced by the judicious application of smart technology - and the procure-to-pay function certainly isn't one of them. "With automation comes: improved quality; improved controls; better cycle time; the possibility to aid in ‘corporate social responsibility' initiatives; reduced costs. The best procurement automation far exceeds any attempt by AP software to handle procurement.
Those who view procurement as a mysterious, arcane discipline (and as any procurement specialist can vouch, that's quite a significant proportion of the business) are often unaware of the value of Purchase Orders - but for those working within the function there's no excuse.
"Two key requirements of an efficient P2P cycle are 100% (or as near as possible) issue of Purchase Orders in advance of supply and a simple, easy to use workflow system or process for any remaining requirement for invoice approvals and query resolution," says independent shared services specialist Jim Whitworth. Are the charges for the right goods or services? 4. Scale counts: run P2P from shared services
The shared services model might not be appropriate for smaller businesses - but if you're operating within a large, complex organization (perhaps with international scope) you're almost certainly going to be able to find P2P gold in them thar shared services hills. With adherence to comprehensive ordering processes, streamlined systems and good user training and acceptance testing, PTP can be an efficient, low-effort, low-intervention process."5. Close the Procurement-Finance divide
To some (especially those with a vested interest in keeping them separate) Procurement and Finance might be considered distinct, if closely related, fiefdoms - but many respected figures from right across the space consider that bringing them closer together, if not amalgamating them completely, offers significant benefits right across the organization.
For example: with all of the current AP workflow technology, AP departments can play a vital role in assisting procurement with supplier rationalization, early pay discounts, spend analytics and vendor satisfaction. Best-in-class companies have recognized and tapped the value of data sharing across functional units. Communicating with suppliers, for instance (especially if payment issues have arisen) needs to come from the right place in accordance with a well-thought-out and strict communications policy.
"Schedule regular team meetings with reps from all parts of the process (departments creating requisitions, purchasing, accounts payable, treasury, an IT person to make the system work), " urges Michael Evans of Kansas City Southern Railroad. "Communicate, particularly if there are cash flow issues... 7. Sort the process first…
If you're getting ready for a big system implementation or any other automation activity that will transform or significantly impact upon your purchase-to-pay process, you need to make sure that process is as clean and optimized as possible before you start automating.
"There are many ways that technology can help streamline your P2P process, but technology is just one variable in the equation," says CentrePoint Energy's Julienne Sugarek. "Keep in mind that if you automate a bad process, you will lose some efficiencies in the short-term by requiring extensive configuration and customization. Make sure your process is effective, efficient and well controlled first. By putting process first, you can achieve exponential gains through process automation."
Following on from the last point: when looking at cleaning up a process pre-implementation it's worth considering going about it systematically via the application of process improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma.
"There are several advantages to applying Six Sigma or any other process improvement methodology to P2P," Ramesh Krish of Amgen tells SSON;(listen to Ramesh's podcast on "Applying Six Sigma methodologies to the procure-to-pay process" here);"You get process efficiencies, you can get transactional efficiencies, and also cost efficiencies. The third reason is, P2P as a function is not exactly streamlined in a lot of companies; it tends to exist in silos."
"Supply-chain management is becoming important to sustainability," explains Ovum's Warren Wilson, "because, one, organizations face increasing pressure (from consumers, regulators, even investors) for environmental accountability; and two, accountability requires the collection and aggregation of consistent, reliable data at all steps in the product life cycle, from cradle to grave – i.e. the supply (and distribution) chain. Software can help to automate that process and make it practical… Answering that question will drive market creation/adoption of standards and verification processes. 10. Get the right backing - right from the top
"Sponsorship from the top is absolutely crucial," confirms independent F;A specialist Graeme Ludlow. Leverage technology
The best procurement automation far exceeds any attempt by AP software to handle procurement. Are the charges for the right goods or services? 4. Scale counts: run P2P from shared services
The shared services model might not be appropriate for smaller businesses - but if you're operating within a large, complex organization (perhaps with international scope) you're almost certainly going to be able to find P2P gold in them thar shared services hills. 5. Close the Procurement-Finance divide
To some (especially those with a vested interest in keeping them separate) Procurement and Finance might be considered distinct, if closely related, fiefdoms - but many respected figures from right across the space consider that bringing them closer together, if not amalgamating them completely, offers significant benefits right across the organization.
Communicating with suppliers, for instance (especially if payment issues have arisen) needs to come from the right place in accordance with a well-thought-out and strict communications policy.Communicate, particularly if there are cash flow issues... 7. Sort the process first…
If you're getting ready for a big system implementation or any other automation activity that will transform or significantly impact upon your purchase-to-pay process, you need to make sure that process is as clean and optimized as possible before you start automating. "Keep in mind that if you automate a bad process, you will lose some efficiencies in the short-term by requiring extensive configuration and customization. Make sure your process is effective, efficient and well controlled first. By putting process first, you can achieve exponential gains through process automation."
"There are several advantages to applying Six Sigma or any other process improvement methodology to P2P," Ramesh Krish of Amgen tells SSON;(listen to Ramesh's podcast on "Applying Six Sigma methodologies to the procure-to-pay process" here);"You get process efficiencies, you can get transactional efficiencies, and also cost efficiencies. Software can help to automate that process and make it practical… 10. Get the right backing - right from the top
About The Shared Services ; Outsourcing Network (SSON)
SSON is the largest and most established community of shared services and outsourcing professionals, with over 25,000 members.
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If I get a raise that bumps me into a higher tax bracket, I'll actually take home less money. According to the Canada Revenue Agency's 2010 federal tax rate schedules, when your salary was $40,000, your federal marginal tax rate was 15% and now with a salary of $43,000, your marginal tax rate is now 22%.With a $40,000 income, your take-home pay was $34,000 ($40,000 less 15% in federal tax). If you make $43,000, you will take home after federal tax a total of $36,407.90. Renting is like throwing away money. Rent money falls into the same category.
Do you know that reputed service providers can greatly reduce the costs of payroll processing? Do you want to know what characteristics separate effective payroll service providers from the crowd? Through stringent checks and balances, reputed payroll providers drastically reduce or eliminate IRS audits and penalties for transgressions that occur during payroll processing or payroll tax processing.