By now, you know the important role that purchase orders play in your purchasing and procurement processes. Not only do they allow you to clearly set out the products or services you want to purchase, but they also serve as a legal document that protects both you and the seller when a dispute arises. Apart from this, purchase orders can also help you control your expenses which, in turn, makes budgeting and planning easier.
However, purchase orders are not without their drawbacks and challenges. In this post, we’ll look at some of these drawbacks in more detail, and show you why purchase order software might be the solution.
What is Purchase Order Software?
Despite the important role that purchase orders play and the benefits they offer, you’ll encounter some of the following issues when using them in your purchasing and procurement processes:
- Inefficiency.
- Errors.
- Lack of visibility.
- Security risks.
- Lack of control.
Purchase order software aims to eliminate these problems by automating the purchase order process. It does this by eliminating manual data entry and streamlining the process of generating and approving purchase requisitions and purchase orders. This gives you more control over your purchasing and procurement processes and allows your team to manage incoming orders, invoices, and payments easier.
Benefits of Using Purchase Order Software
Now that we've seen what purchase order software is and given a broad overview of how it works, let's consider the benefits you’ll enjoy when you use purchase order software for your business.
Efficiency
One of the major benefits of purchase order software is that you experience a dramatic increase in efficiency. This is simply because the software, as mentioned, allows you to automate a significant part of the process. As a result, you’ll eliminate manual and repetitive tasks, and your processing times will decrease.
And when you increase efficiency, you also save time. When you do, you free up your team's time to focus on more productive and higher value activities.
Reduction in Errors
Apart from making your purchasing and procurement process more efficient, purchase order software also allows you to reduce errors. It does this in two ways. Firstly, it allows you to ensure that your process is followed in accordance with your procurement plan and the rules and controls you set in place.
For example, it can automatically match the purchase orders, packing slips and invoices in three-way matching based on the rules you provide. This gives you complete control and ensures that all purchase orders are approved and executed in terms of your plan.
Moreover, no matter how skilled or experienced your team is, humans make mistakes. While some of these mistakes have little to no consequences, some can be devastating. So, because you’ll automate large parts of the process with purchase order software, you’ll eliminate manual, human tasks. As a result, you’ll reduce errors in your process and avoid the consequences of these errors.
