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“With 5% of operating budgets flowing through procurement—possibly more for institutions with extensive outsourcing—efficiency directly impacts your ability to respond quickly to changing circumstances.” — Higher Ed Dive
American higher education institutions spent more than $700 billion annually on operations, payroll, procurement, and services. Managing that level of spending requires systems that ensure payments are accurate, compliant, and efficient. Yet many universities still rely on manual processes to onboard vendors and issue payments. Workflow might involve paper, emails, spreadsheets, and multiple approval steps, which can slow down purchasing and create an unnecessary administrative burden.
Modern AP strategies include two systems that can reduce this friction: vendor onboarding software and vendor payment automation. Together, these tools help manage suppliers more effectively while improving the speed and accuracy of payments.
Higher education procurement environments are uniquely complex. Decentralized purchasing at the department level can be challenging to manage and track. Then, there are hundreds or even thousands of vendors in the mix.
Each vendor requires documentation, tax information, payment details, and approval within your financial system. Without a standardized onboarding process, this information can be lacking, requiring manual effort to reconcile. For example, one department may request a W-9 form by email, while another may submit a vendor setup request through an internal ticketing system. All of this makes it harder to maintain accuracy. Many institutions end up with incomplete information or duplicate vendor profiles, which can delay payments and increase compliance risk.
Over time, these inefficiencies can slow procurement cycles and create friction between your institution and your suppliers.
Vendor onboarding software is designed to automate the registration and verification of suppliers before they can do business with an institution.
Many AP teams spend 10+ hours per week on invoice processing, largely due to manual data entry and inefficient workflows. Manual vendor setup contributes to these inefficiencies. When supplier information must be entered and verified manually, AP teams often have to spend additional time correcting errors, locating missing documentation, or confirming payment details.
Instead of sending forms by email or collecting documents manually, suppliers can enter their information through a secure digital portal. The system collects required documentation such as tax forms, contact details, and payment preferences in a standardized format, helping make sure that vendor records are complete and consistent across the institution.
Vendor onboarding software also reduces manual data entry for finance teams. Information submitted by the supplier flows directly into financial systems, reducing the risk of errors and duplicate records. Validation tools can also verify tax identification numbers, confirm required documentation, and flag incomplete information before a vendor is approved.
Once vendors are in the system and validated, vendor payment automation can process and track your payments. Invoices are reviewed and matched against purchase orders, and approved, and payment information moves directly into your payment workflow. The appropriate payment method is chosen based on what you set up during onboarding. Payments are issued electronically.
Automation also improves reporting and reconciliation. Finance teams can monitor payment activity, track payment status, and maintain a complete digital record of vendor transactions. For universities handling high transaction volumes, vendor payment automation can significantly reduce the administrative workload and improve financial transparency.
Vendor onboarding software and vendor payment automation are most effective when implemented together as part of a unified accounts payable strategy. Onboarding tools capture accurate supplier information at the beginning of the vendor relationship. Payment automation systems use that verified data to process invoices and issue payments efficiently.
For example, once a vendor has completed digital registration, their payment preferences and tax information are already stored in the system. This allows AP teams to process invoices and payments without repeatedly requesting documentation. Integrated systems also help you monitor supplier activity across departments easier.
A cooperative purchasing agreement allows you to leverage the collective buying power of other institutions. E&I Cooperative Services, the only member-owned nonprofit sourcing cooperative focused solely on education, competitively solicits contracts on behalf of its more than 6,400 member institutions. This results in significant volume discounts and rebate opportunities, typically greater than colleges or universities could achieve on their own.
Corpay is an S&P 500 fintech company that specializes in payment automation and spend management and is a recent addition to the 215+ cooperative contracts offered through E&I Cooperative Services, offering vendor onboarding software and vendor payment automation solutions to streamline your procurement process.
View the Corpay contract through E&I and see how you can streamline your procurement and payment process and receive exclusive rebates based on transaction volume.