Here is a message from the Financial Affairs and Information Systems Departments providing an update on Coupa at the start of the year.
 
"Dear all,

Since the deployment of the new Coupa purchasing portal, significant and recurring difficulties have affected the institute’s teams, with real impacts on daily operations and relationships with suppliers. We are fully aware of these negative consequences and completely mobilized to provide solutions. Today, we would like to share with you a transparent progress update on the actions already taken and the next steps.
 
What has been done 

Since last year, concrete actions have been implemented to clear payment backlogs, improve the tool, and prioritize the most critical situations.

• In-depth work has been undertaken with the Coupa tool publisher to improve automatic invoice reading, which had deteriorated with the change of tool: this automatic reading is progressing step by step, and although the process takes time, the trend is toward improvement,

• Strengthening of the interface between the Coupa and SAP tools was initiated in July 2025 in order to streamline the processing of data flows on a long-term basis,

• In December 2025, an internal task force, supported by external service providers, enabled the processing of nearly 70% of pending invoices, representing a total of 4,400 invoices cleared before the budget closure.

Thanks to these efforts, the operational situation has improved. At the end of January, the number of invoices awaiting processing stood at 3,530 compared to 6,350 at the end of October 2025. In addition to these outstanding invoices, we know that not everything has yet been resolved for users and suppliers, and we remain fully committed to addressing the remaining structural anomalies. 

Ongoing actions  

Our efforts are currently focused on several areas:

• Processing urgent situations to avoid any supply disruption—for example, the specific case of supplier Air Liquide—through close coordination between the management of the Institut Pasteur, requesters, and suppliers,

• Clearing the remaining backlog of outstanding invoices, mainly old or complex cases requiring in-depth checks,

• The request for a specialist consulting firm to carry out a comprehensive diagnosis and develop a plan to secure the purchasing process, roles and use of the tool in the long term: details on the roadmap and timetable,

• The development of a plan to secure the purchasing process, roles and use of the tool in the long term, with the support of a specialist firm: the roadmap resulting from this work is currently being finalised.

This action plan will mobilize all stakeholders on campus. The Department of Financial Affairs, working in close collaboration with the Information Systems Department, will rely in particular on the user committee (see the dedicated article in the July 11, 2025 newsletter) to relay information, support teams, contribute to decision-making, and support the continuous improvement of Coupa.

In conclusion 

We know that expectations are high, but unfortunately it is not yet possible to commit to a specific date for the definitive resolution of these difficulties. Nevertheless, thanks to this comprehensive action plan and the mobilization of everyone, we are targeting concrete improvements over the coming months.

We would like to sincerely thank all the teams already mobilized, as well as the entire campus, for their involvement, patience, and the quality of feedback shared in past few weeks. Your comments and suggestions are essential and directly inform the ongoing work.

We once again apologize for the difficulties encountered and assure you that everything is being done to restore a reliable, smooth and fully operational tool."

The Financial Affairs Department and the Information Systems Department