The institutional market -- aka the .org, .gov and .edu segments -- are a thriving, growing and potentially highly profitable target market. But many firms quickly hit roadblocks as they attempt to use their typical business approach with institutional customers. You’ll need to adapt your marketing efforts, the way you conduct business and the manner in which you handle billing and payments to work with institutions.

Whether functioning in a not-for-profit or for-profit environment, the fraud, waste and misuse of funds is a serious threat to financial accountability. Procurement policies have become increasingly complex. Segregating responsibilities throughout the procurement process – from procurement request to approval of payment for goods / services received – to individual parties within the organization has become common practice to help mitigate inappropriate use of funds. Additionally, documentation for each step of the procurement process is often required and varies according to corporate or agency policy for auditing purposes.

Federal government procurement policies are complex, stringent and increasingly require more transparency. Because government services are funded by taxpayer dollars, due diligence is a necessary component to ensure optimal and appropriate use of available funding. In recent years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has made significant progress in adopting custom purchase and payment programs to help streamline complex procurement of commercial products and services. This paper will address the rationale and advantages behind custom purchase and payment program adoption and the options that should be considered to achieve further cost saving enhancements. It will address closed-loop, private procurement and payment solutions and why they are advantageous over traditional off-the-shelf solutions in specific industries in the domestic and overseas marketplace.

By incorporating strategic invoice verifications into the accounting process, an organization can significantly reduce the cost to process transactions and eliminate man-hours dedicated to invoice dispute and resolution. This paper discusses various types of automated invoice verification process, their purpose and the advantages stemming from a strategically implemented electronic payment program.