Procurement Software to Simplify Purchasing for Your Business

Companies looking to reduce costs and strategically grow their business will not simply purchase the items that they need, but procure them. Procurement is the process of sourcing and securing products, while creating controls that protect against cost inefficiencies and risk. Procurement software allows businesses to electronically source products, approve purchase requests, place and manage orders from a variety of vendors, and pay vendors — streamlining the entire procure-to-pay process.

Procure-to-Pay software centralizes and automates the entire purchasing workflow, from selecting an item to purchase to submitting a payment to a vendor. Software users can access a catalog of items that were pre-approved by management. Then, they can request and place orders, all the while staying within their budgets, which are easily accessible and updated in real time. Procure-to-Pay software eliminates the manual PO, approval, and payment process, significantly decreasing time spent on invoice reconciliation.

The benefits of implementing an e-Procurement software include:

1. Cost savings: e-Procurement software protects the bottom line since you’ll be partnering with pre-approved vendors with negotiated terms.
2. Fewer manual errors: With automatic purchasing and payments workflows, there is less room for manual error, decreasing the likelihood of duplicate orders, missed payments, and duplicate payments.
3. Eliminated unapproved spending: When orders are able to be placed faster and with a streamlined approval process, buyers to get what they need quickly — eliminating unapproved purchases or orders placed off-catalog.
4. Spend analysis and reporting: You can easily generate spending reports and conduct a wide range of spend analyses, since all of your purchasing and payment data is in one place. With better data visualization, businesses can forecast, plan, and budget more effectively.

There are many procurement software solutions on the market, each with distinct strengths and drawbacks. The best procurement software can:

1. Power strategic sourcing and better supplier relationships
2. Identify cost savings and increase profitability
3. Reduce risk of supply chain disruption and help with managing inventory
4. Automate cumbersome contract management processes
5. Introduce procurement teams to process improvements that they can implement

Look at this data on some of the best procurement solutions out there for growing organizations, based on rating from G2, a trusted software marketplace.