Top Ten Problems Solved by Infor SunSystems Cloud in the Financial Services Sector. Problem #5: Inefficient Procurement and Cost Control
In this blog, the fifth in our series, we highlight the impact of inefficient procurement and cost control in financial services. Inefficient procurement and cost control are more than just a matter of profitability; they lead to structural risk.
The challenges
The core challenges – cost control, compliance, visibility, and inefficiency – are the same as those experienced in other sectors. But in financial services there are some key differences:
Regulatory Pressure and Compliance Risk
Financial services firms are more regulated than most. And with regulation comes risk. Companies are required to maintain proper controls, procedures, and audit trails. Failure to comply risks fines, audit failure, and reputational damage.
One important aspect of compliance is data security. Financial services firms carry additional risk due to stringent data protection requirements. Records may include information relating to payments, investments, and transaction history, all of which are of critical concern to their clients.
Financial Impact and Profit Sensitivity
Another obvious difference between financial services and other sectors is that firms are often more commercially focused. They exist to maximise profit and shareholder value. This changes the focus of procurement and cost control.
Speed and Operational Agility
Financial services is a dynamic and highly competitive sector. You only have to look at how the high street has changed in recent times. Retail bank branches used to be everywhere. Not anymore. Automation and online banking have replaced much of the branch network. Change has been driven by competitive pressure. In financial services, you must be quick to change; if you don’t, your business may die.
Procurement Focus
The focus of spend in financial services differs to that in other service sectors, where spend may be focused on staff costs. In financial services, there is greater focus on IT systems and external suppliers. As a consequence, supplier management plays a more important role in managing risk.
How does SunSystems Cloud help with procurement and cost control in financial services?
SunSystems helps financial services firms tackle procurement and cost control challenges by introducing structure, visibility, automation, and financial control across the entire purchasing lifecycle.
Here are some of the key features that make SunSystems a market-leading solution for financial services:
Improve Visibility
SunSystems is ideally suited to organisations with complex and dynamic reporting needs. Financial services is one of the best examples of this. They are structurally complex; they frequently operate across global markets; and change happens quickly.
One of the key advantages that SunSystems has over other financial management systems is its flexibility to help you adapt to change. Its system of custom analysis dimensions delivers a cleaner, more manageable Chart of Accounts that is intuitive and easy to use. SunSystems also offers greater flexibility for reporting across multiple entities and multi-currency management (see previous blog concerning Multi-Entity and Multi-Currency Complexity).
Improve Control
The LAKE SunSystems solution will help you gain end-to-end control of the purchase-to-pay cycle:
- Automate processes with intelligent workflow to tighten budgetary control and improve compliance.
- Deliver real-time visibility of every stage of the procurement process.
- Reduce administrative burden and support your plans for digital transformation.
Manage Risk
LAKE solutions include options to streamline supplier management. They simplify the recruitment, qualification, appraisal and ongoing management of suppliers. This in turn lowers costs and helps manage supplier risk.
Take the next step
To find out how Infor SunSystems Cloud from LAKE could help your organisation, download a copy of our SunSystems Cloud Beginner’s Guide – Commercial.
In the next blog in this series, we highlight the impact of inadequate audit trails and controls.
By Jon Isherwood