Procurement is one of the biggest cost centers in any organization, yet it often doesn’t get the attention it deserves compared to other key functions. Businesses continue with outdated, manual procurement processes without even realizing it. The aftereffects are not good: overspending, lack of transparency, and frustrated accounts payable teams struggling to keep up.
Waiting too long to automate procurement for small business can lead to bigger problems down the road. A smarter approach is implementing procurement software now before inefficiencies take a toll. The right procurement portal software will reduce the load for your teams while bringing benefits like:
- Strengthening strategic sourcing and building better relationships with suppliers
- Revealing hidden cost savings, boosting your bottom line
- Improving supply chain management and keeping your inventory stable
- Automating contract management and reducing human error
- Helping procurement teams introduce process improvements that drive long-term success
If you’re feeling the pinch of inefficient processes, it’s time to look into procurement management software.
What is Procurement Software?
In layman’s terms, procurement software is more like a business’s personal shopping assistant but way more efficient. Instead of dealing with piles of paperwork and endless email chains, it automates the entire process of buying goods and services. The whole purchasing experience becomes smoother and more organized this way.
How does it help?
Ease Ordering: You can quickly create purchase orders to get exactly what you need without the hassle.
Connect with Suppliers: All your supplier details are stored in one place, making it easy to find them when you need to reach out.
Track Everything: From the moment you place an order to the delivery and payment, it tracks everything so you’re always in the loop.
Make Approvals Faster: Managers can approve or deny orders with a click, ensuring no unnecessary purchases slip through.
Invoice Made Simple: It matches invoices with orders, ensuring you’re only paying for what you ordered.
Also Read: 5 Tips to Overcome Procurement Challenges
Types of Procurement Software in the Market
Everything sounds good so far, but let us tell you one truth: Every software is not the best.
Though they fix the manual loopholes, each software has different capabilities, which may work for your business but not for others. There are so many to choose from. For example, there is procurement software for small businesses, large enterprises, and startups.
Then, there is e-procurement software, procure-to-pay software, contract management software, and the list is very long. Picking up one is as difficult as finding the best supplier for procurement, not when you are here.
Here is a list of all types of procurement software and what they do.
- E-Procurement Software: Automates most of the tasks involved in buying goods and services.
- Procure-to-Pay (P2P) Software: Good for managing cash flow and ensuring accuracy in invoicing and payment processes.
- Supplier Portal: Focuses mainly on supplier relationship management.
- Contract Management Software: Automates contract creation, approval workflows, and compliance monitoring.
- Spend Management Software: Tracks analyzes and manages company spending.
- Inventory Management Software: While not strictly procurement-focused, inventory management software syncs with procurement management systems to help track stock levels and manage reordering.
- Purchase Order Management Software: Automates the process, ensures orders are sent to the right suppliers and helps manage order statuses to ensure timely deliveries.
- E-Sourcing Software: Helps find the best suppliers through an online auction or bidding process.
What Makes Procurement Software Best
Price? That’s the last step in choosing the best procurement software. Initially, it is its features that separate the best from the worst. Because what’s the point of spending on software that does not serve your needs? To ensure you pay for what works for you, check for the key features in a procurement software.
- Vendor/Supplier Onboarding & Management Portal: Streamline the onboarding process with tools to collect and store vendor information, verify credentials, and create a centralized supplier database for easy access.
- Vendor/Supplier RFQ Portal: Facilitate requests for quotations (RFQs) to efficiently collect and compare supplier proposals, ensuring competitive pricing and service offerings.
- E-Sourcing and Supplier Bidding: Manage sourcing events, including supplier bidding processes, to compare and find the best suppliers based on quality, price, and reliability.
- Supplier Management: Monitor supplier performance and track contract compliance.
- Purchase Requisition Management: Enable employees to submit purchase requests through a standardized process, ensuring that only approved requisitions move forward.
- Approval Workflows: Automate approval hierarchies, ensuring every purchase aligns with your budget and approval guidelines.
- Purchase Order Automation: Automatically generate POs and send them to suppliers.
- Inventory Management Integration: Align procurement activities with inventory needs by giving a real-time view of stock levels across inventories and reorder points.
- Contract Management: Simplify procurement contract creation, approval, and tracking with alerts for renewals or compliance checks.
- Invoice Matching and Payment Automation: Match invoices with purchase orders to prevent any payment issues for better cash flow management.
- Spend Analysis and Reporting: Analyze spending across different departments to identify cost savings opportunities, and optimize purchasing decisions.
- Supplier Performance Monitoring: Evaluate supplier performance metrics like delivery times, quality, and pricing to ensure reliability and maintain high standards.
- Compliance and Risk Management: Track purchasing activities against regulatory requirements and internal policies to mitigate risks and maintain compliance.
When Choosing the Best, Think Beyond the Features
A procurement solution that addresses your current challenges is important, but you need to think bigger for lasting success. The best procurement software for small business delivers sustainable ROI too. In other words, a valuable addition is one that:
- Keep your data safe.
- Provides 360-degree visibility to internal stakeholders of the procurement process.
- Agile enough to evolve with your business and global standards.
- Ease the supplier’s onboarding and collaboration.
By choosing the right software procurement management tool, you ensure these essential capabilities are built into your system, setting you up for long-term success.
Cost It Right: A Complete Software For All Your Procurement Needs
Cost It Right is more than ordinary software that automates the stages of the procurement process. After years of ground research to tackle the traditional challenges of the manufacturing industry with modern technologies, our software has emerged as a one-stop solution to procure and manage product costing from the unitary level. From advanced budgeting tools, vendor RFQ portal to vendor onboarding and AI-driven insights, Cost It Right has everything you need.
Book a product demo with us to learn more about Cost It Right and how it can solve your procurement challenges.
