Master the Procurement Lifecycle

Procurement management software offers a comprehensive suite of features to streamline the purchasing process, supply chain operations, and everything else in a procurement system. The technology automates tasks like supplier management, purchase requisitions, approval workflows, spend analysis, multi-currency transactions, and compliance.

Procurement software offers real-time visibility into procurement activities, helping build stronger business relationships. It facilitates easier communication, increases efficiency, enhances transparency, and supports better decision-making.

Procurement tools are digital technologies designed to meet the business needs of all organizations. This goes for everyone from large enterprises managing complex supply chains to manufacturing companies sourcing raw materials, public companies ensuring compliance, or SMEs seeking overall procurement efficiency to cut costs.

Procurement management software is built to streamline the entire PO process, from the initial creation to approval, tracking, management, and storage. Here’s how key features typically work:

1. 1. Purchase request: Employees submit a request to purchase via the purchasing software detailing the items and/or services needed, quantities, costs, and other essential data. Some procurement solutions will also assist with strategic sourcing, where staff choose from a pre-approved catalogue of suppliers.
   2. Approval process: The PR is automatically routed through a pre-set approval workflow. Approvers will receive notifications and can electronically review, approve, or reject requests (usually through a mobile app). These workflows ensure the management system does not skip any essential authorizations before creating the PO.
   3. Creating the PO: Once approved, the procurement platform automatically generates the PO. It includes details from the original request, including item description, prices, quantities, terms, and delivery instructions. The PO is then assigned a unique ID for tracking purposes.
   4. Supplier communication: The purchase order software then sends the PO directly to the supplier via email or an automated supplier portal. Suppliers can acknowledge receipt of the PO and provide estimated delivery dates.
   5. Order tracking: Procurement leaders can track the status of POs in real time, from order confirmation to shipment and delivery. The best procurement software provides updates and notifications at every stage of the PO lifecycle, ensuring all stakeholders are aware of the order’s progress.
   6. PO matching: After delivering goods/services, process automation software facilitates the receiving process. Here, delivered items are checked against the corresponding PO to ensure accuracy.
   7. Invoice processing: Procurement management software allows for automated payments after matching the PO. Other solutions may offer integrations with an outside accounting system to get the job done.
   8. Comprehensive reporting and analytics: An efficient purchase order management system offers greater spend visibility and the ability to dive deeper into spend analytics. Customizable dashboards and tools can monitor purchasing activities, track spend, and analyze supplier performance.

Automating the procurement process provides myriad benefits for an organization of any size. Key features include:

• Cost reduction: Automating the procurement process minimizes human errors in order processing, data entry, and invoice matching. This can lead to significant cost savings by avoiding late penalties and overpayments.
• Better visibility: A software solution that automates procurement provides greater visibility into business spend. Not only does this improve accuracy, but it also bolsters compliance and helps procurement teams negotiate better deals with suppliers.
• Increased efficiency: Automated systems streamline procurement by standardizing procedures. This reduces complexity and the time involved in each step. These platforms create an all-in-one, user-friendly experience throughout the entire procurement process.
• Enhanced collaboration: Spend management and e-procurement software systems promote cross-departmental collaboration between different departments. For example, procurement and finance collaboration is facilitated by sharing a unified platform with a single source of truth.
• Strategic focus: By automating remedial tasks like inventory management, SaaS procurement enables procurement professionals to focus on more strategic initiatives, such as supplier relationship management and value analysis.

Additional benefits include:

• Helps maintain regulatory compliance with internal company policies and external regulations
• Budget tracking with complete visibility to effectively manage supplier information
• Ensures consistent and accurate procurement data that is reliable
• Real-time tracking enables faster decision-making
• Procurement functionality that can easily scale to handle increased volumes
• Improved interaction and collaboration with suppliers

Yes. The system elevates procurement automation with a connected suite of solutions that easily integrates with your existing tech stack. Tipalti’s ERP integrations provide visibility into every step of the finance operations transaction cycle, from intake management to approval, onboarding suppliers, payment reconciliation, and more.

Get more value from legacy tools via pre-built integrations with leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms. Tipalti Procurement offers pre-built ERP integrations with your ERPs and finance systems, HRIS, SSO, ticketing systems like Asana and Jira, Slack, credit cards, and more. An ERP integrated with procurement automation will streamline procurement steps and consolidate spend data.

Procure-to-pay (also called purchase-to-pay or P2P) is a comprehensive process encompassing the entire procurement lifecycle, from the initial request to final payables and reconciliation. The procure-to-pay process integrates procurement and accounts payable systems to automate the acquisition of goods and services. The software will automate key stages like requisition, approval, PO creation, receipts of goods/services, invoice matching, payment processing, and record-keeping.

The benefits of procure-to-pay automation include increased efficiency, cost savings, improved compliance, better visibility into spend management, and enhanced control. Automating procure-to-pay processes can also improve supplier relationships by ensuring more timely payments and fostering stronger interactions.

The best way to manage purchase orders is to create a standardized process incorporating clear guidelines, intelligent tools, and strong approval workflows. Efficient purchase order management is crucial for maintaining smooth procurement operations and ensuring that all purchasing aligns with organizational goals.

The first step when implementing a purchase order process is the requisition phase. Authorized personnel submit detailed requests that are reviewed and approved by relevant authorities.

Advanced, cloud-based procurement software takes it one step further, automating many aspects of the PO lifecycle. From inventory management to e-invoicing, tracking capabilities, real-time updates, templates, and more, the technology always creates convenience and elevates efficiency.

Tipalti is designed to streamline and automate various aspects of the procurement process, including:

• Simple intake: Tipalti offers predefined, custom intake forms. This process enables employees to submit purchase and supplier-related requests easily.
• Approval workflows: Automate approvals (move them out of emails) with rule-based routing that eliminates bottlenecks and reduces manual work.
• Supplier onboarding: Tipalti offers a self-service supplier portal that validates supplier data for tax requirements, reducing errors and ensuring compliance.
• Purchase order management: Once a purchase requisition is approved, Tipalti’s procurement automation will proceed to the next step, which is creating the purchase order.
• Spend analytics: Tipalti offers next-level spend analytics enhanced by powerful search functionality. Track every spend with comprehensive dashboards and real-time reports.

Much like any process automation technology, procurement automation significantly reduces manual workflows, increasing efficiency and cost savings. Here’s how procurement automation helps the purchasing process:

• Cost savings: Automation via procurement software platforms minimizes the risk of human errors, helping businesses avoid costly mistakes during the intake or PO creation process. Procurement software also provides better visibility into spend patterns, helping to better identify opportunities for cost savings.
• Enhanced compliance: Procurement automation ensures that purchasing processes are standardized and followed consistently, enhancing compliance with internal policies and external regulations. Procurement systems also help businesses maintain detailed records and audit trails of all transactions, making it easy to track procurement activities down the road.
• Increased efficiency: Automation eliminates manual tasks like data entry, requisition approvals, and invoice processing. It speeds up the entire procurement lifecycle, reducing bottlenecks and ensuring employees get their resources faster.
• Improved supplier relationships: Procurement automation systems enhance collaboration between suppliers, procurement managers, and key stakeholders in the purchasing process.
• Greater insight: Automated procurement systems provide real-time data and analytics for more accurate and precise decision-making. They offer insights into spending, procurement efficiency, and supplier performance.

Additional benefits include:

• Automated procurement systems can scale, taking on a higher volume of transactions without the need for additional resources.
• Seamless integration with other accounting and ERP systems ensures a smooth data flow.
• Procurement management software leads to enhanced invoice management and streamlined financial systems.

“Intake-to-procure,” “intake-to-pay,” and “procure-to-pay” are all terms that refer to different stages and processes within the broader procurement and AP workflow. Here’s a detailed breakdown of each process:

Intake-to-procure (I2P): Intake-to-procure (I2P) starts with identifying a need or requirement (intake) and ends with creating and approving a purchase order (procure). This process involves the beginning stages of procurement but stops short of actual payment.

Key steps include:

1. Identifying the business need for goods or services
2. Submitting a formal requisition or request
3. Reviewing the request and approving or rejecting it
4. Identifying and selecting suitable vendors
5. Creating a purchase order

The primary focus of I2P is the accurate identification, approval, and ordering of required goods or services. It does not include sending payments of any type.

Intake-to-pay (I2P): Intake-to-pay (I2P) is by far the most thorough process of the three. It starts with identifying a need (intake) and extends through the final payment to the supplier. It encompasses the procurement and payment aspects of accounting, ensuring a seamless transition from request to payment.

Key steps include:

1. Identifying the business need for goods or services
2. Submitting a requisition for approval (can be done with requisition software)
3. Reviewing the purchase request and approving or rejecting it
4. Identifying and selecting suitable vendors
5. Creating a purchase order
6. Receipt and verification of goods and services (order fulfillment)
7. PO-matching of invoices to relevant documents
8. Invoice approval via custom routing
9. Sending payment to vendors
10. Record-keeping and any type of reconciliation required

The main focus of the I2P process is to improve efficiency and manage the entire lifecycle of procurement and payment, ensuring comprehensive control and greater efficiency.

Tipalti Procurement software is one example of an I2P solution that offers the entire package, from a guided employee experience during intake to accelerated approval chains (parallel approvals), comprehensive supplier data collection, and enhanced team collaboration (30+ ticketing systems integration).

Procure-to-pay (P2P) is a process that begins with the procurement of goods or services and ends with payment to the supplier. Unlike intake-to-pay, P2P typically starts at the procurement stage (after the requisition has been approved and a purchase order is created).

Key steps include:

1. Creating a purchase order
2. Receipt and verification of goods and services (order fulfillment)
3. PO-matching of invoices to relevant documents
4. Invoice approval via custom routing
5. Sending payment to vendors
6. Documentation and recording of all transactions

The main focus of the P2P process is the procurement and payment stages, providing efficiency and control, from order creation to budget tracking and payment. It does not consider the intake process or how employees initially buy the goods/services they need.

Summary of Differences

• Intake-to-procure (I2P): Identifying needs to generate POs. Stops before the payment stage.
• Intake-to-pay (I2P): This process includes both procurement and AP transactions, from identifying needs to making payments.
• Procure-to-pay (P2P): Starts from purchase order creation and extends through supplier payments. There is no guided intake process.