Compliance Will Never be the Same Again

In this edition of the Finance and Procurement People Podcast PPN CEO, Ellen Leith talks to Phil Bailey, Director of Strategy and Sales Execution at Thomson Reuters about the new role compliance plays within today's organisations. 

Compliance is No Longer a Back-Office Function

In the past compliance was treated as something of a back-office function, something that needed to be done, but that didn't really help the company move forward from a strategy perspective. Those days have gone.

Today with governments around the world directly intervening in process via eInvoicing mandates, compliance with digital standards is no longer optional. Phil points out that this can be both a gift and a curse, forcing companies into a rethink into whether systems are built on the right standards and philosophy and for example and how compliance fits alongside automation. 

Steer Away From Taking a "Mandate by Mandate" Approach

And it can feel relentless. Rules change and then change again, sometimes before a company has finished the first change! And while some organisations absolutely get that ebb and flow and have built resilient and flexible solutions around it, others get caught up in a constantly changing wheel of mandate by mandate adaptation, rather than a more holistic view. 

Strategies That Work Call For Collaboration

But real change comes from communication and from collaboration. 

Not just within an organisation, but from coming together as a community. Phil pointed out that change on this level offers the perfect opportunity to get ahead and level up the playing field as a whole. Understanding where we have experience and sharing that by joining advisory boards etc and help effect change on a global scale. 

Get the CFO Involved and Think: Vision!

And from a collaboration standpoint, it's important to realise that eInvoicing mandates have changed everything and the people we need in the conversation have changed with it. The mandates touch on every corner of every part of the business - not just AP, AR or tax - but supply chains, operations, finance, IT, legal etc. That ripple effect flows over systems, people and process, enterprise wide. And that conversation has to move up and out. The CFO needs to be involved. Need IT at the table and Tax, AP and Procurement need to speak the same language. 

Those treating eInvoicing as a departmental issue are leaving themselves exposed. 

Phil's number one piece of advice:

Think globally, think cross function, think vision.