Top 5 Must-Have Features in Modern Purchasing Systems | Procuredesk

If you are in the market for a purchase order system, this might resonate. I was recently talking to a controller who mentioned that they are looking for a P system and they have like 10 options to evaluate. So it's like, and everybody looks the same or everybody talks the same. How do I know which system is right for me? And that's the value for many companies. So if you, if this is your, if you're in the market today for a P system, this video is for you. Because I'll kind of walk through and look at like top five things those are must have in any procurement system. So you should kind of evaluate based on that and then accordingly figure it out. So if you're joining me for the first time, welcome. My name is Sachin Sharma. I'm the founder of Procure Desk where we help growing companies automate their PO and AP processes. So let's dig in. Number one is it should be easy to use for everyone. So the main keyword here is everyone we see all the time that you know. Let's say an AP team wants to implement a PO system. They look for their key requirements and they look great. But then when fields start using it they have a very different requirements. They probably want something which has a mobile app or something very simple for them to use. So they're not spending a lot of time in creating purchase order requests and so on. Right. So when you're looking at ease of use, it's not just for one department. Look for who are my key stakeholders, what are their key requirements and can they easily use the system. So that's number one. Number two is it must have punch out integrations. So punch out is the ability for a procurement system to connect to different vendors website like let's say Amazon or Staples or Office Depot and pick what they want to buy. However, with one main difference, it brings you back to the procurement system so you can get the approval for the purchase before you make the purchase. That's kind of the main requirement here. Right. So it implements spend control but it maintains the ease of use they're used to by going to different websites. So that's number two, make sure it has a punch out capability. Number three is real time budget checks. So if you are in let's say school charter schools where you have budgets and so on to track or you are a construction company and you have job costing or any company that has budgets. One of the key problem with budgets is many systems doesn't have like real time visibility, they don't check in real Time and say, do I have the money left before I kind of make the purchase? And then you, towards the end of the month you're kind of running your report and realized geez, we went over budget again. Right? So all this can be avoided if you have real time budget check. So ensure that the system is checking for the budget before making the purchase. Right? So that's number three. Number four is it must have strong ERP integration. What do I mean by strong ERP or accounting system integration? If you're using QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage, Microsoft Business center, all the key systems, right. You want a system that actually talks to them without you touching them. Right. All the time, Right. You don't want to go and hit an export button, put it in a spreadsheet and then import back into your accounting system. You want something which is as easy as, as soon as an invoice is approved, it just shows up in your accounting system, right? Or as soon as you pay something, it shows back in the purchasing system. So it is doing all the back and forth automatically without you touching it. Right. That's kind of the what we call a strong ARP integration. And number five is you want to have three way matching with OCR and AI capabilities. So with OCR where the system is able to read the invoice and that way you're avoiding data duplicate data entry or even data entry at all, right? So invoice shows up, it's created for you, you review it, you submit it for matching and the three way match allows you to check your invoice against a purchase order and receipt. And why that is important is now if everything matches, you don't have to have that invoice approved. So you can speed up your whole process, right? In terms of making sure that the invoice is booked and your books are updated. So if you're in the market for a purchase order system, look for these five must haves. Right? Number one is it should be easy for everyone. Number two is you must have punch out integrations. Number three is real time budget check. Number four is strong ERP integration. And number five is three way matching with ocr. If you are in the market for a purchase order system, click on the link below and talk to one of our product specialists to see if procuredesk can help you with your processes. And this is a system that everybody can use as an example. Thanks for joining me today and I'll see you in the next video.