An organization’s procurement software facilitates automating the processes involved in acquiring the goods and services needed for the company’s day-to-day operations. Procurement software also conducts multiple complex and vital tasks such as the generation of purchase orders, execution of the ordering process, corroboration of the invoices with the receipt of the material and digital payments. A well-tailored procurement system is powerful enough to facilitate smooth inventory and purchasing processes without manual intervention.
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Procurement Software comes in wide different varieties. The top five are as follows:
- Source-to-Pay (S2P) Software –
This type of software focuses on managing suppliers from the early stages of the procurement process. S2P undertakes a more comprehensive approach in comparison to P2P software. Some steps in Source to Pay Software include specification of needs, preparation of bids, decision-making, management and signing of contracts, procurement, and payment of pending bills.
2. Procure-to-Pay (P2P) Software
The procurement and payment for the goods and services used is the primary function of the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) Software. This software also allows monitoring the net spending and ensuring compliance in the procurement process to allow for a streamlined and efficient experience.
3. Accounts Payable Software
The Accounts Payable Software supervises the automatic status of the bills and the timeline for the clearance of these bills. An organization can use this software to trace pending payments and schedule them to avoid overdue charges.
4. Request for Proposal (RFP) Software – The demand for proposal software is pivotal in managing proposal applications by creating personalized templates, tracking the status of outstanding proposals, and collecting signatures.
5. Purchasing Software
This software allows the automation of the entire procurement process right from purchasing to payment, giving users a more remarkable ability to control their decisions and increasing productivity.
An organization needs to take an informed decision about the right call when choosing from the vast available options of procurement software.
The following checklist will help you pick software that is a good fit for your organization.
- Ease of usage – It is necessary to pick software that the various employees can easily use in the organization. The more user-friendly an application is, the less time the organization will need to spend on staff training, and it will also lead to lesser scope for human error.
- Quick Onboarding and Implementation – Any software that takes too much time can create inefficiencies in the organization, so choosing software that can be implemented and integrated smoothly within the company’s existing ecosystem is essential.
- Compatible accounting systems- A sound procurement system will have an incorporated accounting system that will fit the organization’s needs or be compatible with whatever ERP-related software the company currently utilizes.
- Budget tracking in real-time- Manual processes makes it very difficult to track the actual time impact the various operations organization can have. But with a procurement system with a real-time budget tracking system, an organization can analyze all its spendings in real-time and make any changes whenever required.
- Vendor Management – A sound procurement system will track the performance of various vendors and ensure that the communication sent out to them is consistent, which will lead to longer-lasting productive relationships with the supply partners.
- Customization and quick approval of workflows – The best procurement software reduces the time taken to procure raw materials by reducing the time taken for approval in the various processes involved in the procurement process.
- Customer Support – The procurement system handles an array of complicated procedures that comprise the procurement process. Even the smallest of inconveniences can have a negative impact on the operations of the organization. Hence, it becomes imperative that the procurement software company provides responsive and easily accessible customer support to solve problems quickly.
Choosing the right procurement software is a momentous task for any organization as there are many factors to consider and many variations of software available. But, going through the above-mentioned checklist will provide you with a keen sense of direction of the characteristics to be considered before choosing the procurement software which is the best fit for your organization.
