5 tips for a clean (and fraud-free!) Supplier master file

(Adobe warehouse)

Lisa Doherty

As a procurement analyst at Texas State University for the past two years, I understand the difficulty and difficulty of managing the complex payee management process and the risks involved in ensuring that payments, in my case in the hundreds of thousands, are made to the right ones Seller and not to a fraudulent actor.

This is especially worrying when the FBI reports that companies lost $ 28 million to email fraud between 2016 and 2020, over the past year.

Not to mention the accounts payable and purchasing departments are the main target for bad actors more than 60% of the time. No wonder I can't sleep at night!

As an independent business, I have found that the key to mitigating some of these risks (and getting better sleep) is to implement a better supplier management process and procedure. This also includes the use of technologies to automate a manual and error-prone process.

With these strategies, I can better manage the large and fast flow of new suppliers while managing our 30,000 relationships with existing suppliers.

I've summarized my five most important daily tips that are important to keep up with the constant flow of information while effectively managing internal expectations. This systematic and efficient process will ensure a more accurate supplier master file, which I believe is essential to reduce the risk of payment fraud.

1. Daily check

I maintain a library of 20 responses covering various scenarios where vendors may be slow to deliver their information, and I start the day by contacting vendors who need to resend their validated bank account information.

I will send an email stating in advance, in writing, that they will not be paid if they do not verify their bank account. I trust PaymentWorks will expedite and automate the onboarding process for providers and use the mobile app to track their responses.

With the automated collection and verification of recipient data, we also have the option of checking the security of correct work processes and approvals before a supplier data record is created or updated in our ERP system (SAP). Relying on both my own due diligence and PaymentWorks' corporate identity platform, I have confidence that the information in my supplier master file is valid and correct, which is critical to ensuring that payments are made to the correct suppliers at all times .

2. Prod the pipeline

Texas is one of many states that have timely payment laws that require payments from certain types of providers 30 days after the end of service. So I have to be proactive when salespeople aren't.

Using the same list of pre-made statements, I methodically navigate my channel of vendors stuck in a particular stage of the onboarding process. I select the appropriate email for the situation (e.g. wrong tax number or DBA name) and start the email. I typically contacted 100 vendors in the first 30 minutes of my day. And my coffee is still hot!

I also have a habit of sending personal emails and relying on automated emails to get the attention of slow marketers. This constant communication is incredibly effective in helping me achieve my quick onboarding goals.

3. Keep everyone in the loop

Anyone who has ever worked in supplier management will tell you that they spend half of their time answering the question "Where is my supplier?". In the integration process. In my communications with suppliers, I copy the person in the state of Texas who does business with them so my internal customers know their supplier's whereabouts on a daily basis and can help with the supplier if necessary.

4. Train the masses

When thousands of people are inviting suppliers to do business like the state of Texas does, keeping them up to date on what to do is no easy task. First, consolidate the onboarding process in one place. In this case it is me.

To further assist, I have created training materials to ensure that all of our internal stakeholders understand what the university needs, how they can help, and who to direct their questions to if needed. I've also made a list of who can place an order at the university. These are my people who need to understand what to do and why.

5. The perfect provider master file is a marathon, not a sprint.

With 30,000 suppliers in our SAP system, there is still a lot of work to do to create an empty supplier master file. With all of my proactive reach and knowing that the information has been verified through the PaymentWorks platform, I am sure that the information received is accurate and true.

With every existing change of provider, I proceed in the same way as with a new provider and thus create a new, empty folder. This ensures that those who have not changed information in years are correct.

I take time each week to proactively contact existing vendors, ask them to provide their credentials (taxes, payment address, payment method, contact details, HUB status, etc.) and then add them to my checklist to start the next day . . B.

By targeting small groups of high priority providers at once, I can scan my 30,000 providers and block unresponsive providers. As soon as non-respondents are marked as inactive, I am closer to the perfect master supplier.

While having thousands of vendors to manage is overwhelming, there are simple steps you can take every day to keep your vendor information accurate and reliable, and to protect yourself from fraudulent behavior. By implementing this routine, I finally have peace and quiet and can sleep well. Hope that helps you too!

Lisa Doherty is a purchasing analyst at Texas State University, specializing in supplier maintenance.

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