10 Questions to Ask When Considering a Vendor Self-Service Portal
Are you and your P2P colleagues tired of spending precious time answering invoice inquiry questions from your vendors and internal customers?
Are you ready to automate your vendor customer service with a self-service vendor portal application, and start reducing cost and improving productivity?
If so, following are 10 questions you should ask when considering a portal:
- How much IT time and cost will it take to implement the portal?
- How does data get from your ERP system to the portal? Many portals are tied into ERP systems. The risk is if your portal gets breached, your financial platform could be at risk. How will portal data be kept separate from internal financial systems to ensure security of the data?
- How does the user access invoice data? Depending on how password and user IDs are used, much of the time saved from not having to answer invoice-related questions could be re-spent answering password-related questions.
- Realistically, what is the average ramp-up time to get the portal installed and working properly?
- The key to a successful vendor self-service portal is getting vendors and internal colleagues to adopt it. What has been the experience of other portal users with regard to adoption?
- What is involved from the user’s side to access and use the portal? Do AP’s customers think that the portal is easier to access and use, than continuing to call and email accounts payable? The simpler the application, the better adoption will be and the fewer inquiries you will have to deal with.
- How much will the self-service portal cost up front and annually?
- If the module is part of an ERP system, how flexible is it? What is involved in customizing it for your organization?
- What are the costs to maintain the portal and keep it updated?
- Do vendors incur a cost to use the portal?
To see how InvoiceInfo’s self-service solutions can benefit your operations and your company click here to request more information or call (678) 335-5735.
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Financial Operations Networks (FON) is a financial operations company whose products help accounts payable teams prevent payment fraud: VendorInfo, a vendor portal; InvoiceInfo, a supplier portal; DisbursementControls.com, a membership resource for disbursement controls; and VIMCOE, which provides accounts payable certification. FON is a Nacha Preferred Partner.
FON strengthens front-line control points across vendor onboarding, supplier maintenance, and payments — verifying vendor information, validating bank account ownership, running compliance checks, and reducing exposure to business email compromise (BEC) before payments are made.
VendorInfo is a vendor portal for onboarding: it verifies tax IDs, screens OFAC and validates bank account ownership before a vendor is paid. InvoiceInfo is a supplier portal for after the invoice: suppliers look up invoice status, payment dates and remittance advice themselves instead of emailing AP. Both sit on top of the same ERP and are often used together.
Yes. FON offers specialized programs including the AP Payment Fraud Prevention Certification and the Accredited Vendor Information Professional (AVIP) Certification to help finance professionals strengthen expertise and advance their careers.
Request a demo and our team will walk you through how FON can strengthen your controls, reduce fraud exposure, and improve AP efficiency based on your organization’s goals.
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