We often get this questions from our prospects, 'We are operating small, would I really need to invest in a procurement software?' but the answer is not straight forward as you think.
Whether you need procurement software for your small business depends on several factors and here are some considerations to help you decide:
- Volume of purchase orders and suppliers you manage
- Struggling with spend control
- Process efficiency and approval cycle times
- Team's bandwidth to focus on strategic initiatives
- High compliance and audit needs
If your small business deals with a significant volume of purchases, has complex procurement needs, or is looking to improve efficiency and cost control, a procurement software could be a smart investment decision.
Benefits of Procurement Software for Small Businesses
- Cost Control: Helps small businesses monitor and control their spending, preventing overspending and ensuring that purchases align with budgets.
- Efficiency Gains: Automates repetitive tasks, such as order processing and invoice matching, freeing up time for employees to focus on more strategic activities.
- Improved Accuracy: Reduces the risk of errors in procurement processes, such as duplicate orders or incorrect payments, by automating key functions.
- Better Supplier Management: Centralizes supplier information and streamlines communication, making it easier to manage relationships and negotiate favorable terms.
- Enhanced Decision-Making: Provides real-time data and insights that enable small business owners and managers to make more informed decisions about procurement strategies.
Key Procurement Software Features for Small Businesses
- Order Management: Ability to manage your purchase orders will help you to automate PO creation, approval, and supplier acknowledgement. It will also enable you to track the status in real-time, from creation to delivery, ensuring that all purchases are on schedule.
- Supplier Management: Enables you to maintain a centralized database of all suppliers information, including contact details, contract terms, and performance history.
- Budget Tracking: Helps you to implement budget controls and monitor spending against budgets to eliminate maverick spending. It also cut down unplanned and unwanted purchases.
- Approval Workflows: Set up approval workflows tailored to your business needs, ensuring that all purchases are reviewed and approved by the right people before they are finalized.
- Spend Insights: Provide reports and insights on spending patterns to identify opportunities for cost savings, such as consolidating purchases or negotiating better terms with suppliers.
- Audit Trails: Maintain a detailed record of all procurement transactions, making it easier to audit and review processes when needed.
Best procurement tools for small businesses
The "best" procurement software is subjective because businesses have different needs, budgets, and priorities. What works well for one company might not suit another due to factors like size, industry requirements, cost constraints, and ease of use. Each business values different features and benefits, making the ideal choice vary from one situation to another. So, here we tried to categorize the top procurement tools with their stand out attributes.
Procurify: a user-friendly procurement solution
Procurify is a cloud-based procurement platform that simplifies and automates purchasing processes for small businesses. It focuses on providing real-time visibility into spending and budget management, helping businesses maintain control over their procurement activities.
Best for for small businesses that require a user-friendly procurement solution with robust budgeting and spend management features.
Key Features
- Automated purchase order creation and tracking
- Budgeting and expense management
- Approval workflows for procurement requests
- Real-time spend tracking and reporting
- Integration with popular accounting systems like QuickBooks and NetSuite
Pros
- The user-friendly design allows even those who aren't very tech-savvy to quickly learn and adopt the platform.
- Automated approval routing and email notifications keep everything moving efficiently.
- Procurify provides visibility into the status of orders, budget tracking, and expense reports all in one place.
- Integrations with accounting software like QuickBooks, as well as vendor catalogs and punchout capabilities with suppliers like Amazon.
Cons
- Built-in reporting features could be more robust as currently users need to rely on spreadsheets to do deep analysis.
- Inability to edit or modify orders once they've been submitted.
- Limitations in inventory tracking capabilities.
- Lack of customization capabilities
User Ratings
Precoro: a versatile procurement solution
Precoro offers a comprehensive procurement platform that covers the entire procurement cycle, from purchase order creation to invoice processing and supplier management. It’s designed to help small businesses streamline procurement operations and gain better control over spending.
Best for small businesses looking for a versatile procurement solution with strong automation and reporting capabilities.
Key Features
- Purchase order automation and approval workflows
- Supplier management with performance tracking
- Invoice management with three-way matching
- Budget tracking and real-time spend analysis
- Customizable workflows and reporting tools
Pros
- Users appreciate the ability to set up complex, multi-step approval routes based on factors like department, cost center, purchase amount, and custom fields.
- Features like budget tracking, spend analytics, and consolidated reporting give finance teams and managers much better visibility into departmental and company-wide purchasing.
- Many customers praised Precoro's excellent customer support, noting the team is very responsive, helpful in resolving issues, and open to feedback.
Cons
- Reporting interface is very basic and lacks advanced analytics features.
- Lacks a dedicated mobile application.
- Lacks integrations options with wide range of ERP systems, invoice scanning tools and more advanced payment systems
User Ratings
ProcurementExpress: a budget-friendly procurement tool
ProcurementExpress is a simple and affordable procurement software tailored for small and medium-sized businesses. It focuses on making purchase order management easy and accessible while offering budget controls and approval workflows to ensure efficient spending.
Best for small businesses that need an intuitive and budget-friendly procurement tool with essential features for purchase order management.
Key Features
- Quick and easy purchase order creation and approval
- Budget tracking with real-time notifications
- Supplier management and communication tools
- Mobile app for on-the-go approvals and order tracking
- Integration with accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero
Pros
- Procurement Express allows for setting up detailed budgets and automatically tracks spending against those budgets in real-time.
- The platform works seamlessly across devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Cons
- Customers found it challenging to generate certain types of reports, such as a comprehensive purchase order log or detailed vendor-specific reports.
- Lacks the ability to add or modify fields, create custom workflows, or adjust the user interface to better suit the specific needs.
User Ratings
G2: 4.7/5 (61 review
Spendwise: a procurement software for simple yet effective way to manage purchasing and expenses
Spendwise is designed for businesses looking to streamline procurement and expense tracking. It helps users manage purchasing, monitor budgets, and improve visibility into spending. Its easy-to-use interface is particularly helpful for small to medium-sized businesses. Spendwise is especially useful for businesses that want better visibility into expenses without dealing with overly complex software.
Best for small to medium-sized businesses that need a simple yet effective way to manage their purchasing and expenses.
Key Features
- Purchase Order Management
- Budget Tracking and Reporting
- Invoice and Supplier Management
- Approval Workflows
- Expense Monitoring and Control
Pros
- Easy to create, submit, and track POs through the entire approval chain. The ability to attach supporting documents, such as quotes or receipts, directly to POs further enhances the process.
- It allows for detailed monitoring of spending, inventory levels, and order statuses.
Cons
- Difficulties with the search feature, particularly when looking for specific items or descriptions.
- Lacks advanced or customizable reporting features that would allow you to drill down into specific data points or create tailored analyses.
User Ratings
Order.co: For automated order management and supplier consolidation
Order.co is a procurement platform that automates purchasing by consolidating orders and streamlining the approval process. It’s designed to help small businesses simplify their procurement workflow and gain better control over spending and supplier relationships.
Best for small businesses seeking to streamline their procurement processes with automated order management and supplier consolidation.
Key Features
- Automated order consolidation and supplier management
- Centralized purchasing and invoice management
- Approval workflows and spend controls
- Real-time budget tracking and reporting
- Integration with existing financial and inventory systems
Pros
- Customers find it comparable to familiar e-commerce platforms like Amazon or eBay, making the transition to Order.co seamless.
- The ability to easily monitor costs, generate reports, and gain insights into their purchasing patterns.
- Features like the ability to add custom items, create personalized product lists, and integrate with existing internal systems are highly valued.
Cons
- Difficulties in finding specific items, especially when browsing or searching for products you're not familiar with.
- Misses comprehensive product descriptions, including specific details on size, color, and style.
User Ratings
Choose the one that fits into your unique needs
As you would have understand, procurement software can greatly enhance efficiency, and reduce costs even for small businesses. It helps to automate mundane and repititive tasks, manage suppliers, and providing real-time spend insights. Each procurement tool offers unique features and the 'best' depends on how well it fits into your specific requirements. Consider factors like ease of use, scalability, and integration capabilities when selecting the right tool for your business.