Control Mechanisms in the SAP ERP-Supported Procure to Pay Process

Abstract

The SAP-supported purchasing process, referred to as "procure to pay process" (P2P process) below, includes the following subprocesses: - Identification of procurement sources and management of these sources (procurement) with reference to the subprocesses of vendor and material master data maintenance - All internal processes for preparing the purchase order at the vendor, for example, releasing purchase requests; creation, shipping, and administration of purchase orders; outline agreements and other common types of agreement in the purchasing process - Administration of other data relevant for the purchasing process (e.g., vendor rating, maintenance of purchasing info records, quota arrangements, or simple information regarding material planning) - Order-related goods receipts and the accounting valuation of these receipts - Invoice receipts and outgoing payments with reference to purchase orders

For organizations that make products, purchasing and materials management are vital parts of the value-added chain: the organizations cannot produce anything without the basic materials. In this chapter, we will look at the procure to pay process from an audit perspective.