1. Build the right team

Hire staff that ideally have experience of purchase orders or at least understand the company’s need to control spend, this will make the implementation process a lot smoother.  Employees outside finance can sometimes see the purchasing process as unnecessary and time-consuming so having the right finance team to encourage and guide them will be a big key to your success.

2. Outline a plan

Whether you have agreement from senior directors or not, you should always have a plan. Set clear, measurable goals with a timeline and what you aim to achieve by implementing a purchase order system. Can you quantify time or cost savings as a result?  This should help the wider company get on board with your plan.

3. Choose a purchase ordering system

This is a very important decision as different software packages have different strengths; they also vary considerably on price so this depends completely on your requirements and budget. Zahara’s strength is in the automated workflow capabilities. With Zahara you can automatically send purchase orders for approval based on a supplier, value, project etc without having to manually select the approver.  Make sure you can have a demo of the software and ideally take a trial, being able to use the software before entering into a contract will really help you test drive it first.  At Zahara we currently offer free demos and a free trial.

4. Decide on an Implementation Programme

Do you have the time and resource to setup the software yourself or would it more efficient to pay for the experts to guide and advise on how to get the best from the software.  Decide on a target go live date.  Ensure you and your staff have enough time to test the system properly and decide on an approval Matrix before you begin the implementation.

5. Communicate the plan to staff

Once you have senior directors on board it’s important to educate all staff on the importance of purchase orders and why you are implementing it within the company. Securing buy-in from staff prior to implementation can really help with the process and should result in less, if any, push back later down the line.

6. Train users

This should be comprehensive and regular. Creating your own company handbook or guide for the software and specific setup could be beneficial. It’s good practice to have multiple senior finance members that hold a substantial working knowledge of the software rather than leaving one key contact responsible. At Zahara we usually train the finance members so they can then train the wider company users, giving you an even better working knowledge of the software.  This is your software and we want you to own it.

7. Implement the software

You may consider a parallel run for a week or so, you could start with just a few departments initially rather than an “all in one go” approach. Speed is not necessarily the most import factor here!

8. Review

Does it do what you want it to do? Here at Zahara we have a Customer Success Manager who will check in with you to make sure you are getting the most for the software and answer any queries along the way. Review it regularly and revisit your original goals, is it achieving what you wanted?

Ultimately, purchasing software can save you time and effort when raising PO’s. The main takeaway from the points above should be that there is a better way of raising PO’s than using a paper process. We may return to some normality in 2021, but paper-based processes will be a thing of the past this year. Now is the time to bring your processes into the cloud.

But that’s just what we think, we really wanto to know what you think. Head over to our Twitter to let us know!

Register your interest today with our free trial.

The post 8 Steps to Purchasing Success appeared first on Zahara Accounts Payable Automation Software.

Profitability

Tax Savings

Cash Flow

Storage

For accountants and bookkeepers seeking to grow closer advisory relationships with their clients, regular purchasing discussions is one of those low hanging fruit topics. It is an easy discussion to have and can have a profound impact on several key areas of business.

This month’s guest blog feature is written by host of ‘Cloud Stories’ podcast and author of a multitude of Cloud Accounting books, Heather Smith. Subscribe to her Accounting Apps Newsletter.

The post Four Reasons to Talk to Your Clients About Purchasing appeared first on Zahara Accounts Payable Automation Software.

The procurement process is one such business function that has pthe otential for huge amounts of waste. A key question to ask yourself: Do you know who is ordering what within your organisation and for how much?

Transform procurement processes

Let’s get straight to the point: Zahara makes it possible to transform procurement processes and give your organisation a serious competitive advantage on many levels. It eliminates common issues that cost money in the buying process. With Zahara, you will avoid: –

Over-ordering –

With insight into the peaks and troughs of expenditure.

Duplication of orders –

With a system that monitors purchases and flags up where duplications are taking place.

Paying more than necessary –

With a system secured by checks and approvals to avoid payment errors.

Delays in order processing –

with prescribed, automated workflows.

Losing control of purchases at the local site and branch level –

With rigorous buying protocols in place.

Surprise increases in expenditure –

When you have an up-to-the-minute view on operational spend, with controls to avoid budget overspend.

Unauthorised expenditure –

by putting controls in place to grant purchasing powers to authorised personnel only.

Using unapproved suppliers –

If they are not on the system, they cannot be sent a purchase order.

Manual processes –

Automated workflows replace outdated human processing, with checks in place to take control of the entire buying function.

What could this mean for your business?

• As well as adding a considerable sum to your bottom line – a typical business can expect to save 5% of their operational expenditure, worth £’000’s in extra profits – you will also benefit from: –
• A closer insight on operations and the financial health of the business across all divisions, locations and outlets.
• Top level, real time reporting for CFO’s, at the office, or on the go.
• An analysis of buying habits – habits aren’t always good for business.
• Financial discipline that will create a less wasteful culture.
• Reduction in waste and all the costs associated with waste.
• Elimination of human error, by automating processes.
• Eradication of the costly burden of hidden fees such as late payment charges.
• Maximising savings via early payment discounts received, by speeding up your AP processes through to payment.
• Closer management of cashflow for better financial reporting.
• Improved productivity using an automated purchase to payment process.
• Multiple retailers, construction companies, care providers and leisure organisations are using Zahara to gain all of these advantages.
• Implementation isn’t a barrier either, as we can prove with our free trial to get you started.
• So, if you’re looking to instil much needed financial discipline across purchase requisition, invoice processing and making secure, automated payments, it would make sense to have a conversation.

For a no-obligation trial or to request a demo, please email np@myzahara.net

The post Take Back Control of Your Purchasing appeared first on Zahara Accounts Payable Automation Software.

Recently the company WeWork has been in the news. Because of a leaked document suggesting their purchasing has gotten out of hand (read here). Purchasing Culture or Spend Culture as its also known as is defined as how a company spends its money. and how it acquires goods or services.

History of Purchasing Culture

Purchasing Culture, became a topic of conversation during the 1980s. Because government departments spend started to escalate out of control. Companies who had government contracts started over charging for very basic goods. For example, a company who had a U.S defence contract charged the U.S Government $638 for a toilet seat. This issue is common with the government organisations. They are repeatedly overcharged for goods and services (read here to find out more).

Purchasing in Europe & Procurement in the U.S

In a previous article, I discussed what the different terms of purchasing and procurement mean. However, I Would like to reiterate through research I have conducted myself, using google. That the terms Procurement seems to be a U.S orientated term. On the other hand, Purchasing seems to be a European term. Larger companies may have a whole team dedicated to the acquiring of goods or services. In the States, you may have a VP of Procurement and then above him a CPO. In the U.K however, the top job in procurement is known as a Director of Purchasing. These positions are to manage companies procurement, and their spend culture. Their main focus is to stop a company’s cost escalating out of control.

Procurement Is About Instilling a ‘Cost Conscious Culture’

Source Supply Chain Management Daily Read Article Here.

Why You need to Manage & Control Your Spend

But you don’t have to have a whole department and team in order to manage your companies spend. If you are a small to medium size business you can use purchase order software, such as Zahara. It’s a solution where it can provide greater control over your finances. Giving you a greater peace of mind. However, it is important to invest time in developing a “cost-conscious culture”. This will mean you will get the most out of using our solution. If you are an enterprise class business Zahara could be the perfect addition to your existing accounts setup. As it has an integration tool with the most popular accounts systems on the market. We currently integrate with Quickbooks, Sage 50, Sage 200 & Xero. We are currently developing a native integration with Xero, which will then increase the usefulness and functionality of Zahara.

Managing Spending is an Important Part of any Business. Let Zahara help you do it. Take a Trial Today & Book in for a Demo with our Team to Find out More.

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You can quickly set up your company and start a 30-day trial. After that, it’s entirely up to you whether you continue. You only pay monthly for the number of users you need, or for those with more than 50 users; you can arrange a site license at a price that works for you and the size of your organisation.

We continually enrich Zahara with new features, so you get to choose a system that will grow with you over time. We listen to our customers, who all face the same problems and require better purchase order management, yet want an easy intuitive system available to all. As a result, every 3 – 4 weeks we release new features and refinements.

The post How does Zahara purchase management work? appeared first on Zahara Accounts Payable Automation Software.