Choose language:
English
EN
Svenska
SV
Suomi
FI
Deutsch
DE
Choose language:
English
EN
Svenska
SV
Suomi
FI
Deutsch
DE
Choose language:
English
EN
Svenska
SV
Suomi
FI
Deutsch
DE
Choose language:
English
EN
Svenska
SV
Suomi
FI
Deutsch
DE

Procurement Automation: 5 Key Processes to Streamline

Get 20€ off on your first order!

SEASON10
Shop now
New BalanceFristadsPortwestSparcoPuma Workwear
HKSSafety JoggerMatterhornNitras SafetyQualitexTop SwedeJalas
Copied to clipboard!
CAMPAIGN

Save 20€ on your favourite brands

SEASON10
Shop now
Copied to clipboard!
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
CAMPAIGN
Save 20€ on your favourite brands
SEASON10
Shop now
Copied to clipboard!

Inefficiencies in procurement are first annoying. These simple manual tasks eventually waste time, productivity, and money. Growth is faster than most companies realise, outpacing accounting and procurement. These frequent business issues are best solved by procurement automation. Automation frees up time for accounts payable (AP) to solve important issues.

This page covers numerous procurement automation topics:

  • What’s procurement automation?
  • Benefits of procurement automation
  • The top five procurement automation priorities

What’s procurement automation?

Technology streamlines approvals, accounting, and payments in procurement automation. It optimises the procurement process from requisitioning to ordering, fulfilment, and invoice processing, helping procurement teams manage their supply chain.

Digitising invoice input data creates a centralised transaction history and processing database. The system checks, approves, and streamlines payment on one platform.

Complex procurement firms benefit from automation because it eliminates manual bottlenecks. This trustworthy platform improves supplier management, minimises risks and costs, and eliminates repetitive work.

Why should we focus on procurement automation?

Business procurement automation saves time and money. Automation saves time and money on invoice processing, spend management, and sourcing. Automation saves time and money, allowing team members to focus on more vital responsibilities.

The top procurement automation benefits are:

Increased accuracy

Automating invoice processing reduces errors and costs. Human error or miscommunications cause payment delays, data entry errors, duplicate payments, and lost paper invoices. Automation eliminates manual data entry and standardises buying operations, reducing these risks.

Reduced risk

Automation boosts procurement transparency. This can standardise supplier evaluations. Strategic sourcing and using known, fraud-resistant vendors are possible. To reduce risk, procurement automation software tracks performance over time.

Faster processing

Procurement automation lets stakeholders:

  • Compare vendor prices quickly and accurately for the best deal.
  • Track departmental approvals
  • Automate order, reconciliation, payment, and spend management reporting backend procedures.

This simplifies the process and reduces accounts payable cycle times and load.

Optimised costs

Procurement automation software cuts manual labour and wages, saving money. As the company grows, the system scales to manage more procurement activity instead of growing the department. Automation promotes buyer-supplier communication, making buying more efficient.

Top 5 procurement operations every organisation must automate

End-to-end procurement automation is the best way to increase procurement value with fewer resources and time.

Start with these top five business processes to automate:

1. Purchase request and approval

Manual purchase requisitions and approvals slow purchasing workflows and weaken security reviews. With an automated intake system, stakeholders use the right form or curated supply catalogue to submit requests. They no longer need financial or procurement specialists.

Automated requests undergo departmental reviews:

  • Legal
  • Security
  • Finance Department Head

Each departmental approver sees and reacts to the request in the system, sending it to the next stakeholder without frustrating emailed requests, time-consuming back-and-forth, or requests in limbo.

Automating clearance reduces time-to-close by days or weeks, allowing teams to request and get supplies and items faster.

2. Securing

If organisations don’t streamline sourcing, stakeholders will choose providers. Automating the company’s sourcing process lets buyers receive what they need within procurement policy.

Centralising the chosen vendors for each buy category with software helps. It also sets role, user, department, spend category, and other expenditure limits for self-service purchase. It manages budgets and reduces erratic spending.

3. Invoice handling

Invoices are a common procurement bottleneck. Manual processing is limited to a few dozen each day because each inaccuracy and issue requires inquiry and correction.

Automating invoice processing lets companies process hundreds or thousands every day. The automation process digitises paper invoices, centralises vendor and purchase data, automatically validates and reconciles invoices against the database, and codes them appropriately to make your accounting system a single source of truth.

Invoice management eliminates missing payments, redundant invoices, miscoded transactions, and accounting system riddles. Documents are processed, reconciled, and coded automatically for payment.

4. Payments in procurement automation

Manual payment processing, like invoices, causes delays and data entry errors. It also boosts vendor fraud.

Automating the payment process lets accounts payable swiftly and accurately handle payments, record transactions, and store data for month-end close and financial reporting. AP gets real-time payment visibility with software to decrease difficulties and get early payment incentives.

5. Managing contracts

Purchase contract execution is just the start. After signing a contract, monitoring and enforcement commence.

Contract management maintains competitive pricing and terms. It strengthens supplier connections and ensures supply quality.

Manual contract management is costly and hidden. Manual or disorganised contract storage prohibits organisations from checking contract compliance.

Effective contract management is best achieved by automating the process using a central document repository. Doing so allows stakeholders to receive notices and updates when contracts renew, giving them time to negotiate new terms.

Best procurement automation software

The procurement system you choose greatly affects results. Find a software package that can adapt to your business needs but is organised enough to create a highly efficient process that cuts expenses and boosts productivity.

Choose procurement software with these features:

  • Flexible configuration for business-specific operations and customisation
  • Accounting accuracy with automatic GL coding
  • The system has thousands of merchants, favourite orders, and order histories.
  • Flexible permissions for user tiers, roles, and needs
  • Contract centralization for vendor management and reporting
Need help choosing the right vest for your role?
Our team is here to guide you so you can shop with safety and confidence, every time.
Read Next
CAMPAIGN

Get 20€ off on your first order!

Save 30% by buying directly from brands, and get an extra 10€ off orders over €100

SEASON10
Shop now
New Balance Blaklader Fristads Portwest
Sparco Puma Workwear HKS Safety Jogger
Matterhorn Nitras Safety Qualitex Top Swede
Copied to clipboard!
Copied to clipboard!
Choose your reader profile
Student​
I read for my studies
Hobbyist
I read for my own enjoyment
Professional
I read for my professional needs