7 Signs Your Business Needs a Purchase Order System

The purchase order process is riddled with challenges and difficulties. Time, money, and effort spent in vain can severely hamper the entire accounts payable process. In addition, it has a direct impact on the bottom line of an organization and its overall growth.

Purchase orders (PO) are a vital component of the procure-to-pay process. They are crucial to maintain accurate and complete financial records. A mismanaged order management system can hamper the entire PO function. A simple solution to this problem is an electronic purchase order management system.

Let us look at seven signs that your business should switch to an order management system.

1) Conducting business without formal contracts: Surprisingly, a large number of organizations continue to do business with vendors without a formal contract. A PO, as you might know, is a binding legal contract that safeguards the rights of both the buyer and the vendor. It’s crucial that you create POs for any and all orders that you have for your business.

PO creation, approval, and delivery can be a lengthy and paper-heavy process. Using an order management system can help streamline and quicken the process for your business.

2) Undefined purchase order processes: Several businesses tend to have non-standardized processes for their procurement needs. This can dampen and reduce the efficiency of the entire accounts payable process. An order management system can ensure standardized and streamlined processes that are followed at every step of the process.

3) Lack of transparency: It’s important for relevant stakeholders to have access to pertinent business information. Withholding such information can create issues within the order management process. In addition, storing important data in spreadsheets can lead to data access issues, difficulty in tracking information, and potential security risks.

An order management system can mitigate these risks by storing all important business data in one central location with access sharing to relevant stakeholders.

4) Inaccurate data: Manual processing and storage of purchase orders can lead to errors, such as excess inventory, inventory shortages, and other similar challenges. A PO system eliminates the possibility of errors with minimal manual intervention.

5) Accidental orders: Ordering incorrect items or quantities can prove to be an extremely costly mistake for your business. This is a common issue caused by a lack of checks and balances in the order management process. With the help of a PO system, you can eliminate accidental orders, speed up the PO process, and improve the efficiency of your order management function.

6) Maverick spending: If there is no protocol or procedure in place, it’s possible to encounter maverick spending. Uncontrolled spending can be expensive and leads to loss of revenue. A PO system will ensure that only certain people have access to approving PO requisitions and orders, thereby reducing and even eliminating unplanned and unapproved spends.

7) Time-consuming approval process: Does your PO requisition need to go through multiple approvals, thereby increasing processing time? This lengthy process can make the PO process inefficient and prone to error. With a PO system, approvers get immediate notifications regarding purchase requests and can make swift approvals.

Conclusion

The procurement function can be challenging and filled with hurdles. You can improve the entire process by implementing best practices and utilising an electronic order management system. With today’s dynamic marketplace and everchanging technology landscape, it’s crucial that businesses stay on top of their procure-to-pay function and better manage the entire order management process.

Are you considering implementing an order management system for your business? QX’s proprietary purchase order system, QX Procurely can enable your business to handle orders from multiple locations, digitise/automate the ordering process, improve order tracking, and generate accurate reports, among other benefits. Get in touch with us to schedule a free demo today!

Originally published Dec 14, 2021 07:12:21, updated Dec 21 2021

Topics: Accounts Payable Automation