CFO DECISION BRIEF

The right AP partner should reduce the work your finance team must coordinate. Use this brief to compare scope, evidence and transition requirements before requesting a proposal.

ARDEM designs, builds and manages accounts payable operations. The approach combines accounting expertise, technology and responsibility for daily delivery. A new platform is not a prerequisite.

Start With the Result You Need

Define the operating problem before comparing providers. Is your priority reliable invoice processing, fewer unresolved exceptions or continuity during a systems change? A multi-location operation may need all three.

Agree what completion means. An invoice captured, an invoice accepted by the ERP and a confirmed payment are different results. Each requires its own measure and clear ownership.

Make the Responsibilities Explicit

ARDEM’s operating role: Manage the agreed processing, quality checks and exception follow-through. Assign owners to open items, report performance and address recurring causes.

Your finance team’s role: Retain the accounting policies and decision rights established for the engagement. Define who authorizes payments, resolves commercial disputes and approves changes.

The joint decision: Agree the scope, system access, acceptance criteria and escalation path before production. Payment preparation or authorized execution can be included where contracted.

Choose Evidence That Resembles Your Operation

These published engagements illustrate different operating challenges. They are not interchangeable benchmarks or guarantees for a new engagement.

Compare the Full Cost of Delivery

Separate implementation costs from recurring service fees. Include integration work, exception handling, quality review and reporting in the comparison. Account for the internal effort your team will retain.

A lower processing rate may cover less work. Ask who pursues a missing receipt, corrects a rejected record or responds to a supplier. Confirm how volume changes, peak demand and new requirements affect the service.

Make the First Review Useful

Bring the current bottleneck, approximate volume, systems and any important deadlines. You do not need a finished process document. Redacted examples of ordinary and difficult invoices can help once an appropriate sharing method is agreed.

A senior ARDEM consultant can help define the problem and involve operations and technology specialists. The next step is to identify what the solution must deliver, what needs validation and how to evaluate fit.

Request an AP workflow review

Share this brief with your Controller, AP leader and IT team. Use the published cases as evidence of specific engagements, then test the proposed solution against your own requirements.