1) Most companies have large invoice volumes and vendor bases but manage vendor data with small teams of only 1-5 people. Continuous monitoring of vendor data over time is a key challenge due to the manual nature of most vendor registration and data maintenance processes. 2) About a third of companies do not have regular processes for cleaning vendor master data and 21% never close stale vendor accounts, increasing their risk. Poor vendor data quality has contributed to fraud incidents for 34% of respondents in the past 5 years. 3) While interest is growing in supplier portals, current usage is only 24% and integration with vendor master data is limited, with under half supporting vendor self-service. Most vendor data reporting remains managed manually

1. How to Get
Proactive About
your Vendor
Master Data:
4 tips for success
START
INFOGRAPHIC REPORT
© APEX Analytix, LLC and sharedserviceslink.com Ltd 2016. No copy or visual can be used in part, as a phrase
or in whole without the written permission of sharedserviceslink.com Ltd. The concept of this product belongs to
sharedserviceslink.com Ltd and cannot be re-created by a third party for the purpose of an event, article, report
or any other written product, without written consent made available by sharedserviceslink.com Ltd.
Good quality vendor master data is at the heart of any high
performing shared services operation.
• Without good data, it’s impossible to capture the full benefits of
automation technology, and the risk of fraud is high.
• With good data, you can analyze the performance of your
suppliers, leverage spend and reduce your cost base.
sharedserviceslink and APEX Analytix conducted a research study
with over 100 executives on how shared services are currently
managing vendor data.
This report explores:
• How companies are tackling their master vendor data issues
• What technologies leading companies are using to improve
vendor data
• To what extent shared services are using self-service supplier
portals
• How to reduce the risk of fraud by managing your data better
• Four tips to make your master data improvement program a
success
Read on for our findings.
About our respondents
How many invoices do you
process annually?
The size and scale of
master data
Respondents are from companies with large invoice volumes.
72% process more than 100,000 invoices annually.
START
100,000 –
200,000
Less than
100,000
200,000 –
500,000
500,000 –
1 million
Over 1 million
21%
28%
19%
19%
13%
What is your role in vendor
master data management?
All respondents are involved in master data in some way,
whether they are owners of master data (31%) or it affects
their processes (24%).
Approver
Owner
Involved
(part of team
managing it)
Requester
(i.e., new
vendor set up)
User/Impacts
my process
24%
31%
9%
33%
3%
What department owns vendor
management in your company?
When it comes to owning vendor data, there is a relatively
even split across Accounts Payable (AP), Procurement and
Shared Services.
Procurement
Accounts Payable
Shared Services
Other
Supply Chain/Logistics IT
20%
28%
4%
22%
24%
2%
24%
16%
17%
17%
26%
5,000 –
10,000
Less than 5,000
10,000 –
25,000
1 – 5 6 – 10 11 – 20 More
than 20
I don’t
know
25,000 –
100,000
More than
100,000
56%
14%
8% 8%
14%
How many vendors do you
have in your master data?
Cleaning master data
Do you have a process for
regular cleaning of your
vendor master data?
Challenges of
master data
What are your challenges with
vendor master management?
Summary
Master data and
the risk of fraud
Do you agree with any of the
following statements?
What is the registration process
for new vendors?
About half of our respondents have small teams of 1 – 5 on
vendor setup and some have more than 20 FTEs in those roles.
Even companies with larger vendor databases have small
teams. 39% of those who manage 10,000 vendors or more only
have 1 – 5 people on their vendor setup team.
Almost half (48%) manage more than one vendor master.
Of those that manage more than one vendor master, only a third
(33%) have a central vendor database that feeds all vendor masters.
The main problem people have with vendor master management
is continuously monitoring it over time. The next three relate to the
completeness and accuracy of data, and duplicate records and
enforcing standard formats relate to enforcing vendor master
process discipline.
More than half (57%) struggle to get all the documents needed
to complete a vendor record, and almost half report that setting
up a vendor takes too long.
For the majority of respondents, the process of registering
new vendors is highly manual. They are mainly registered via
a PDF or paper form into the ERP. Only 11% use an online form.
How many FTEs are in your
vendor set up team?
How many vendor masters does
your company manage?
Continuous monitoring of
supplier data over time
It is not easy to access
all the documents
related to a vendor
record (W-9, Certificate
of Insurance, diversity
certification, etc.)
Setting up a
vendor takes
too long
Setting up a vendor
requires too many
departments/
touchpoints
Completeness of data
Accuracy of data
Duplicate records
Enforcing standard formats
One-time vendors
Workload management
Multiple vendor databases
Process management/controls
Invoices submitted before
vendor created
Preregistration/supplier sourcing
Fraud
Validation/verification of
supplier-reported data
against external sources
“This is a significant problem”
45%
38%
35%
35%
33%
29%
27%
27%
27%
26%
26%
26%
10%
57%
45%
37%
Have you had an incident of fraud
that could have been prevented
by better vendor master control?
Tools and
technology used
What controls are in place to
identify and prevent vendor fraud?
34%
9%
57%
No
Yes, within the
last 10 years
Yes, within the
last 5 years
34% have experienced an incidence of fraud that possibly could
have been prevented by better vendor data in the last 5 years.
14% don’t currently have segregation of duties in place
27% don’t have a third-party audit data annually
33% don’t currently validate against external data sources
Segregation of duties
Third-party AP Audits at least once a year
Verification against external data sources
Dual control
Yes No
86%
73%
67%
45%
No, but we
are looking to
implement a
tool in the next
18 months
Yes
No, we
manage it
manually
Not sure
7%
25%
17%51%
Do you use a vendor master
reporting tool to manage your
database?
Half of respondents (51%) manually manage their master
data reporting.
Only about a quarter (24%) currently use a supplier portal,
but 30% are looking to use one to onboard suppliers.
For those using a supplier portal:
• Less than half of the portals (48%) support vendor master
self-service
• 35% don’t have the portal integrated into the ERP
• Only a quarter of respondents or fewer validate data fields
including TIN/VAT registration matching, fraud or risk scoring, or
check against prohibited vendors
No, we don’t
have a supplier
portal, but we
are looking at
using them
No, we
don’t use
supplier
portals
Yes, we use a
supplier portal
30%
46%
24%
Do you onboard or manage
vendors/suppliers with a
supplier portal?
What capabilities does your
supplier/vendor portal support?
Supplier document uploads (e.g., 1099s, insurance certificates, proof of minority status)
Invoice and payment status inquiry
Supplier self-service Vendor Master
43%
57%
48%
52%
52%
48%
Integration into the ERP
35%
65%
Yes No
8%
33%
3%
9%
26%
21%
Yes, annually
Yes, monthly
Yes, we do
this less than
once a year
No, we don’t
have a regular
process
I don’t know
Yes, quarterly
33% don’t have a regular cleaning process of vendor data.
How often do you close stale
vendor accounts?
21% never close stale accounts.
21% 10%
34%
35%
Between
1 and 2 years
Between 6 months
and a year
After more
than 2 years
Never
• Despite the importance of master data, most companies aren’t
using effective tools to manage their data. Generally very small
teams manage huge amounts of data, often without
automation tools.
• The main problem people have with data is continuously
monitoring it over time.
• Poor data control is not just time-consuming, it also increases
risk. 34% have experienced an incidence of fraud that possibly
could have been prevented by better vendor data in the last 5
years (and this may be under-reported).
• Interest in self-service vendor masters is on the rise. Only 24%
currently use supplier portals, but 30% are looking to use them
in the near future. Practitioners are looking for portals that
ensure completeness, validate data, and prevent duplicates
and provide continuous monitoring.
While the desire to improve data exists in most organizations, it is
often not at the top of the priority list. If you are considering or
planning on improving your data, here are some tips for success:
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Focus on reducing the manual touch points in
the process.
Tools to automate the integration and management of
data can make your teams much more efficient, and
can free them up to work on more value-adding work.
Tips for success
Validate data to reduce risk.
It doesn’t take a lot of fraud to cause your company
problems. Many of the common fraud schemes can
be prevented if data is automatically validated and red
flags are raised early. Validate early and continuously
monitor to reduce risk.
Ensure you have the right controls in
your process.
The best technology embeds best practice processes in
your master data management, including regular
cleaning and segregation of duties.
Embrace self-service.
While we are all used to self-service technology in our
personal lives, we are only scratching the surface of it
in our corporate lives. Self-service supplier portals are
making it faster and easier to keep data up to date and
accurate. The solutions are not all equal. Do your
homework to ensure the best results.
57% have more than 10,000 vendors in their master data.
1
2
3
5
452%
16%
14%
5%
9%
4%
More
than 5
Vendor fills out a PDF
or Paper Form
There is no
standard form
Vendor fills out
online form
51%
11%
38%
Which automated validations
are performed by the portal?
TIN / VAT registration matching
Business Risk
Fraud or Risk scoring
74%
26%
78%
22%
83%
17%
Yes No
© APEX Analytix, LLC and sharedserviceslink.com Ltd 2016. No copy or visual can be used in part, as a phrase or in whole without the written permission of sharedserviceslink.com Ltd.
The concept of this product belongs to sharedserviceslink.com Ltd and cannot be re-created by a third party for the purpose of an event, article, report or any other written product,
without written consent made available by sharedserviceslink.com Ltd.
Our respondents have high invoice volumes and
large supplier bases, however vendor setup and
supplier help desks are generally managed by
small teams of 1-5. Most respondents who manage more
than one vendor master don't have a central vendor
database that feeds all vendor masters.
The time spent cleaning master data varies,
however 33% don't have a regular process and
21% never close stale accounts, increasing their
exposure to poor quality data.
As the majority of respondents have a manual
process to register and maintain vendor records,
it's no surprise keeping data up to date over time
is a challenge. Many also struggle with the time it takes to
onboard vendors and obtain all the correct documentation.
Most master vendor data reporting is managed
manually. While 47% don't yet use supplier
portals, 30% are looking to use them in the near
future. However about half that do have supplier portals
aren't able to leverage supplier self-service for vendor
master data.
While only 10% identified the risk of fraud as a
challenge, 34% have had an issue of fraud that
could have been prevented with better data in
the last 5 years. Many of the best practices to control and
prevent vendor fraud aren't taking place in up to a third
of companies.