Mastering Source to pay
From Chaos to Clarity: Mastering Source to Pay with Microsoft’s Business Process Catalog
In today’s uncertain economy, procurement is no longer just about purchasing goods and services—it's about building resilient supplier networks, optimizing working capital, and enforcing compliance across every transaction.
Yet too many organizations still treat procurement as a series of disconnected steps, manually patched together with spreadsheets, emails, and outdated workflows.
That’s where the Source to Pay (S2P) journey comes in. And when guided by Microsoft’s Business Process Catalog (BPC)—especially for those on Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management—it transforms from an operational burden into a strategic business driver.
🎯 Why Source to Pay Matters More Than Ever
The Source to Pay process spans every activity from defining sourcing strategies to paying suppliers and analyzing spend. When fragmented, it leads to:
- Maverick spending
- Invoice errors and late payments
- Supplier disputes
- Compliance risks
- Missed rebate opportunities
But when unified under a structured process framework, the S2P journey becomes a control tower for enterprise spend, delivering transparency, accountability, and efficiency.
🧩 A Modern, Modular View of Source to Pay
Microsoft’s Business Process Catalog provides a role-driven, modular approach to S2P. Here’s how it breaks down:
| Process Step | Key Objectives |
| Develop Procurement and Sourcing Strategy | Define your sourcing objectives: preferred vendor models, category strategies, compliance frameworks, and sustainability targets. |
| Define Procurement Catalogs | Build guided buying experiences with approved products, services, and pricing structures. Ensure buyers are aligned with negotiated agreements. |
| Manage Supplier Relationships | Onboard new vendors, track certifications and performance, manage disputes, and support supplier diversity programs. |
| Source and Contract Goods and Services | Launch RFQs, evaluate proposals, and negotiate contracts. Establish blanket orders, trade agreements, and price structures. |
| Procure Goods and Services | Employees submit purchase requisitions (self-service or MRP-triggered). Requisitions convert to purchase orders through automated approval workflows. |
| Manage Accounts Payable | Receive vendor invoices via OCR, XML, or manual entry. Match against POs and receipts. Handle exceptions and post accruals. |
| Issue and Settle Vendor Payments | Process payments via ACH, wire, or check. Respect payment terms and discounts. Reconcile bank accounts and maintain payment history. |
| Process Vendor Rebates and Incentives | Track rebate programs and contracts. Calculate eligibility, validate claims, and improve procurement ROI. |
| Analyze Procurement and Sourcing | Use dashboards to monitor supplier performance, contract leakage, price variance, and category spend. Feed insights back into the sourcing strategy. |
👤 Who’s Involved? Role Mapping in Action
Every stage of the S2P lifecycle involves specific personas. Microsoft’s BPC helps align responsibilities with system security roles in Dynamics 365:
| Stage | Primary Roles |
| Strategy & Catalogs | Procurement Director, Category Manager |
| Supplier Management | Vendor Administrator, Legal |
| Sourcing & Contracting | Procurement Specialist, Strategic Sourcing |
| Purchase Execution | Buyer, Department Requisitioner |
| AP Processing & Payments | AP Clerk, Finance Controller |
| Rebates & Analytics | Procurement Analyst, CFO |
This alignment improves onboarding, segregation of duties, and audit readiness.
⚙️ Bringing It to Life in Dynamics 365
Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers embedded features that make this process seamless:
🛒 Procurement & Sourcing: Catalogs, requisitions, RFQs, and contracts
💬 Vendor Collaboration: Secure supplier communication and document exchange
🧾 Accounts Payable Automation: OCR invoice ingestion, 3-way matching, and workflows
🏦 Cash and Bank Management: Payment proposal automation and reconciliation
📊 Power BI Spend Analytics: Visualize top vendors, categories, and cost variances
🔁 Power Automate: Trigger alerts, reminders, and exception handling
This digital backbone ensures consistency, traceability, and real-time decision-making.
🧠 Real-World Story: Procurement Reinvented
A global manufacturing client migrated to Dynamics 365 and adopted the S2P BPC flow. They:
- Consolidated 4 legacy ERP systems
- Streamlined sourcing across 600 suppliers
- Automated over 80% of invoice handling
- Created live dashboards to track working capital
This wasn’t just an ERP upgrade—it was a reinvention of how procurement created value.
🚀 Final Thoughts: From Process to Performance
Procurement isn’t just about cost savings—it’s about strategic enablement. And with Microsoft’s Business Process Catalog for Source to Pay, organizations gain a playbook to scale smarter, operate cleaner, and buy better.
✅ Looking to reduce AP cycle time?
✅ Struggling with contract leakage?
✅ Want to turn procurement into a competitive advantage?
Start with the process. Let technology follow.
📩 DM me if you’d like:
A Visio flowchart of the Source to Pay model
An Excel matrix of roles and outcomes
A maturity assessment template for your procurement function
🔗 Explore the Microsoft Business Process Catalog