Managing payables is both an evil necessity and a savings possibility. The Payables department must walk the fine line of paying everything on time, but not too early (improving cash flow); taking advantage of early payment discounts, but not paying disputed invoices (improving cash flow); and most importantly, making sure your credit stays good, so that you have inventory to sell and goods for internal use (such as coffee and toilet paper) when you need them. These tools will help you walk that fine line.

In the next chapter, we'll see how we can manage our receivables better through the use of Business Intelligence.