Purchase order software simplifies the way a business buys inventory, goods and services. It helps to improve purchase order management processes, streamline approval workflows and track approved or declined purchase orders. A purchase order system enables businesses to keep purchase orders in one place to increase the visibility of financial expenditure, run audit trails and remove the manual creation of error-prone purchase orders in an Excel spreadsheet.
Do you need a purchase order application?
It’s not uncommon for some organisations to omit purchase orders due to paperwork overload or because of their working relationship with their vendors, customers or suppliers. This can raise issues when there is a lack of communication or an error has occurred within an order.
Some organisations use an Excel spreadsheet to raise purchase orders. These can become prone to error and are not always created to match company identity. Paper-based purchase orders can easily be duplicated and transactions may be missed. The manual administration involved in these processes can be time-consuming, error-prone and costly.
A cloud-based purchase order application allows a business to raise a purchase order through a web browser or mobile application and establish multi-level approval process flows regardless of location. It stores purchase orders in one place, can help provide a full audit trail of purchase orders raised, approved or declined, and can be used as a point of reference or provide legal clarity for any disputes that may occur.
Purchase order software can also be integrated with an ERP system which means that purchases orders and requisitions can be synchronised between different business applications. For example, when a purchase order is created in an ERP system it can be synchronised with the purchase order application and purchase orders created remotely are synchronised with the ERP system.
Purchase order software enables a business to:
- Easily store purchase orders in one place
- Create purchase orders through a web browser or mobile application
- Synchronise purchase orders created in an ERP system to a purchase order app
- Synchronise purchase orders created remotely with an ERP system
- Establish single and multi-level purchase order approval workflows
Benefits of Purchase Order Software
One of the main advantages of implementing a purchase order application is that it removes manual administration from employee workloads. This means that they can concentrate on value added tasks such as risk management and relationship building with suppliers and customers. Common benefits that purchase order software can provide include:
- Reduced buying cycles
- Removal of Excel spreadsheets and error-prone manual administration
- Increased visibility of all purchase orders providing 100% audit trail
- Streamlined purchasing process
- Increased visibility of financial expenditure
- Improved decision making
For more information on how to improve purchase order processes download the quick guide to planning your Purchase Order Approval system below, or call us on +44 (0) 330 99 88 700.
