Accounts Payable Automation

Driving Efficiency and Providing Visibility to the Enterprise


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - September 8, 2010) -  Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), announced the release of its latest accounts payable study, E-Payables 2010: The Strategic Value of Accounts Payable Automation. This study explores how enterprises of all sizes can derive efficiency gains from automation, capturing cost savings and providing visibility into invoice and payment status.

"Whether focusing on the receipt or payment ends of the accounts payable process, companies are responding to a common set of pressures driving their focus on A/P process improvement," says Scott Pezza, a senior associate at Aberdeen Group. "At the top of the list, companies are facing top-down directives to cut costs, and are experiencing difficulties in working with information in paper-based formats." This report provides an overview of possible solutions, from technology-based decisions to convert paper documents to usable data, to engaging suppliers to enable alternative payment options.

"Transitioning away from paper checks is certainly a goal easier stated than achieved," according to William Jan, a senior analyst in Aberdeen Group's Financial Management and GRC practice. "However, with an informed strategy for supplier engagement, businesses can spend their time wisely, by selectively approaching those business partners most likely to agree to a change."

This study also presents the current state of A/P functions, the cost impacts of inefficiency, and outlines how top-performing companies are leading the way in digitizing documents and automating processes for enhanced corporate performance and external collaboration.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Metafile and SAP. To obtain this report, please visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6531&camp=2.

Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary ERP and Finance Research.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

(C) 2010 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com