One world is an e-procurement system that creates a single Council wide system to keep track of invoices and purchase orders, which successfully integrates with the General Leger system and has a facility to analyse General Leger transactions with the supplier and their order details. It also introduces a commitment facility and budget approval process that gives managers more control when managing their budgets.
The vision is that once purchasing is implemented the Accounts Payable (AP) or Creditors process shall be centralised with a '2/3 way matching' of the Order, Receipt and Invoice. The coding and certification shall be carried out at the Purchase Order stage making it possible to match invoices and pay them from the central creditors team without needing to refer them back to departments.
As a result, the process will be more efficient and transparent, enabling users and Directorates to concentrate on streamlining their purchasing processes. Where no purchase order exists or queries are raised against an invoice the local user will be informed and involved in resolving issues.
The Accounts Payable system shall bring more versatility into the process when making payments to suppliers. At the same time Council staff will have online access to track when payments have been made. It is anticipated that invoices will continue to be received locally to start, however, the vision is to educate suppliers to eventually submit invoices to central creditor teams for direct scanning and payment.
Suppliers will also benefit from this system as it promotes prompt payment. Suppliers are being encouraged to receive payments through BACs to make payment easier, quicker and more efficient. The system provides Council staff with facility to access and view information, such as, a scanned image of a suppliers invoice on line.
The Purchase Ordering system endeavours to provide a common way of working, amalgamating all the different purchasing arrangements that already exist in the Council.
The system is Windows(tm)- based and user-friendly using the latest web technology to enable users to easily access it through their PCs. One World provides users, budget holders and managers with an efficient and more accessible purchasing, supplier and accounts payable information.
