By Joel Sauve, Vice President of Audit and Solutions Operations
In part one of this three-part series, we reviewed how to establish a successful prevention program. In part two, we looked at the challenges that commonly occur in promotions and how prevention helps companies address issues earlier in the process. In this final installment, we’ll look at how to measure whether a prevention program is working as intended.
There are five areas you’ll want to keep an eye on: visibility, timing, actionability, adoption, and business impact. Let’s dive in.
Visibility determines value
A prevention program should not be measured by how many alerts it generates.
A high number of alerts may mean the program is identifying risk, or it may mean the same issues are being surfaced repeatedly without being resolved. A low number of alerts may mean fewer problems are occurring, or it may mean teams are not engaging with the program consistently. Visibility is key to knowing the difference.
A strong prevention program gives companies the reporting, metrics, and operational insight needed to understand what is happening, who is acting, how quickly issues are being resolved, and whether problems are recurring. Over time, even well-built programs will falter without visibility.
Timing matters
The first measure of prevention is not what was found but when it was found.
Errors caught before a transaction is completed or earlier in the resolution window are generally easier to calculate, correct, and contain, and prevent smaller errors from becoming larger recurring challenges later. Companies should look beyond dollar totals to also measure where issues are being detected across the process. In addition to prevention and early detection, other initial success indicators include the value of issues identified across stages, downstream recovery mitigation, and reduction in overall issues requiring post-payment review.
Alerts must be actionable
Alerts are only useful if published, seen, understood, and acted upon. A good prevention program should help management monitor metrics such as:
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Alert accuracy (how many errors are considered valid?)
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Alert resolution rate (how many alerts are being resolved?)
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Average days to resolution (is your team resolving valid alerts in a timely manner?)
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Aging of shared and unresolved alerts (are certain alerts not moving through the process as expected?)
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Average number of times an alert must be shared before resolution (are some alerts needing to be sent to external buyers or vendors more frequently?)
These metrics help identify where the process is working and where friction may exist with the goal of establishing alert clarity and usefulness.
Adoption is key
Prevention must become standard operating procedure.
Adoption is one of the most important measures of program health because strong technology, useful reporting, and clear alert logic are devalued if users are not engaging with it. Companies should monitor adoption across the functions that influence resolution, including finance, accounts payable, merchandising, buyers, suppliers, and any other teams involved in reviewing or correcting issues.
Adoption measures may include active users by department, weekly login frequency, percentage of engagement compared to active seats, as well as buyer and supplier participation in reviewing and resolving the errors. These measures help identify where additional training, communication, or process alignment may be needed. Disengagement is not necessarily due to neglect or defiance. In many cases, a new workflow may not be aligned with established team processes. Adoption data provides visibility into root causation of friction points.
Measure business impact
Operational metrics should be tied to financial and process impact.
Improved cashflow and margin reporting, operational efficiency, and reduced dependency on post-payment recovery must be monitored intentionally. Prevention stops being a control and evolves into an operational advantage when a well-built program clearly informs what was prevented, how quickly it was corrected, where teams are becoming more efficient, and how fewer issues are moving downstream into more complex recovery processes. Leaders should have a way to calculate the ROI of the program and understand the cost avoidance by resolving the error before transaction, rather than allowing it to be resolved in the post pay audit.
For example, a retailer notices that several suppliers are repeatedly submitting invoices with incorrect freight charges. Before implementing a prevention program, these invoices were paid and later identified during a post-payment recovery audit, often 6 to 12 months after the transaction. While the company was able to recover some overpayments, it spent significant time researching claims, contacting suppliers, processing credits, and managing disputes.
After implementing preventive controls, the issue is flagged before payment and routed back to the supplier for correction. Over the course of a year, the company prevents 1,000 incorrect invoices from being paid, avoiding $500,000 in overpayments. The average correction time drops from several months to less than two days, and the AP team spends 70% less time managing recovery efforts. As a result, leadership can clearly see not only the dollars prevented, but also the operational benefits: fewer downstream recovery claims, faster invoice processing, reduced supplier disputes, and more time for staff to focus on higher-value activities. The prevention program is no longer viewed as a control. It becomes a measurable driver of margin improvement, efficiency, and cash flow protection.
Final thoughts
Ensuring clear visibility to act earlier, with all stakeholders contributing to measurable business impact is the goal. Ideally, each new issue uncovered in a best practice prevention program should create an opportunity for learning that drives progressive improvement and benefit for your business.
To learn more about how Cotiviti helps companies stand up or optimize prevention programs for our clients with SmartP2P Alerts™, read our fact sheet, reach out to your primary representative, or share your questions at answers@cotiviti.com.
About the author
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Joel Sauve is Vice President of Audit and Solutions Operations at Cotiviti, where he draws on more than 30 years of experience leading audit engagements and technology operations to guide global teams through complex, ever-changing business landscapes. He's passionate about driving value for clients, improving processes, and delivering insights that allow businesses to thrive. |
