If you’re in charge of procurement, you may feel like you’re flying into an economic storm with obstructed vision. Surging inflation, supply chain uncertainty, and concerns about a recession are all clouding spend visibility.
As suppliers pivot their pricing strategies, accounts payable (AP) departments spend more time reconciling invoices that don’t match orders. At the same time, surcharges are popping up more frequently, muddying your spending figures even more.
With so much uncertainty swirling in procurement’s faces, it’s harder than ever to spot new opportunities to diversify spending, increase sustainability, overcome supply chain disruptions, and achieve your company’s goals.
Don’t panic. There are ways to clear up your spending visibility, no matter how rocky the economic climate becomes.
How to Achieve Greater Spend Visibility
Improving spend visibility is easier than most procurement leaders realize. Here are a few quick ways to increase your spend visibility and drive strategic decisions:
Harness the power of AI.
AI is reshaping spending patterns and what your teams can accomplish. Advanced SpendTech™, or spend management technology, now includes cognitive scan and data capture. This technology can scan PDFs and handwritten invoices and transfer information into your digital systems. Of course, that means teams save hours by eliminating manual input, but it also means more accurate invoicing data and supplier details flow into your reports.
The latest SpendTechTM also uses machine learning to identify invoicing patterns. That means it gets better at spotting errors, auto-suggesting purchase requests (PRs), and categorizing your spending as you go along. It all adds up to less time fixing mistakes, more accurate spending figures, and more time identifying new opportunities to save.
Clean up your spending data.
It’s impossible to see, measure, and improve spending if you can’t trust your numbers. And the potential for data-entry errors is skyrocketing in the current economic climate.
Suppliers are increasing prices, adding surcharges, and shifting their pricing strategies. That means AP is being flooded by invoices that don’t match orders. Every moment fingers hit the keys, the potential for input errors increases. Any one mistake can throw off your records and block your spend visibility.
There are two ways to solve your company’s data problems:
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- Move to digital: Shift as much of your procure-to-pay processes to a digital system as possible. This move improves your transaction accuracy, including classification and accounting, so you gather better-quality data. It also increases the amount of data procurement can see and use to make smarter decisions.
- Embrace AI: There is now technology that will identify, track, and flag errors. That includes mismatches, exceptions, and other costly problems. AI will not only track down mistakes but also predict issues and repair them without extra input from your team. Embrace new tech, and you’ll paint a clearer picture of how and where money is spent.
Digitize the P2P process.
If you want a crystal-clear picture of spending, digitizing the procure-to-pay (P2P) process is essential. An effective P2P platform allows employees to shop and make purchases with your approved suppliers. That means the critical spending data you need to make high-level decisions is always streaming into your system. With spending data telling you where money is flowing and what suppliers you’re using, you can see what moves to make to improve your company’s financial future.
How to Choosing the Right SpendTech™ Platform
Although P2P software can be a step in the right direction, not all platforms will give you the same level of insight. Here’s a quick look at what the best SpendTechTM tool will include:
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- A user-friendly platform: The best SpendTech™ platform will be easy to use. The more user-friendly the software is, the more employees will use it. When more of your workforce embraces technology, it can increase compliant spending and package spending information in one place so that procurement leaders can use it to strategize.
- A centralized marketplace: An advanced solution will let employees search and purchase goods and services from a central marketplace of pre-approved suppliers, opening up visibility while cutting down on maverick buying. It also gives CPOs and CFOs current and historic spending data to make smarter decisions about investments, budgets, suppliers, and more.
- AI and automation: The best software will use AI to eliminate errors, simplify workflows, and forecast spending trends. These benefits enable your teams to work faster and free up procurement to make smarter decisions.
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Clear Up Your Spend Visibility
As the economy continues to shift, it’s more important than ever for procurement teams to see exactly where the company is spending and what moves to make next. And advanced SpendTech™ solutions can make it easier to do just that. Visit our eProcurement page to learn how best-in-class software can increase your spend visibility and inform smarter procurement decisions.
