Top 12 Purchasing Software for Small Businesses

Why does your business need purchase order management software? Insight into your company is more important than ever. A purchasing software for small business will help you control your costs, save you time on your accounts payable processes and allow you to track your company's purchase activity.

The Best Procurement Software for Small Businesses

In the contemporary landscape, small businesses are increasingly turning to automated purchasing systems to streamline and enhance their purchasing processes. These software solutions cater to the unique needs of small enterprises, offering user-friendly interfaces and functionalities that facilitate efficient procurement management. One key advantage is the automation of routine tasks such as purchase requisitions, order processing, and invoice handling. This not only saves time but also reduces the likelihood of errors, enabling small businesses to operate with increased accuracy and reliability.

Moreover, procurement software for small businesses often integrates features for vendor management, allowing companies to maintain a centralized database of suppliers, track performance metrics, and negotiate contracts more effectively. The accessibility of real-time data and analytics empowers small businesses to make informed decisions, optimize procurement strategies, and identify potential cost-saving opportunities. As technology continues to evolve, leveraging automated purchasing systems becomes a strategic imperative for small businesses, providing them with the tools to compete more effectively, foster scalability, and adapt to the dynamic demands of the market.

We will cover several softwares, the key features of each one, and review how each can help your business with your procurement processes. We also call out what each platform does well to give you an overview of what is possible. 

You can make the best decision for your company with insight into the best purchasing software for small business available today. The top 12 automated purchasing solutions available today are:

‍

1- Tradogram

2- ProcureDesk

3- Pipefy

4- Procurify

5- Kissflow

6- Procurement Express

7- Xero 

8- Zoho Books 

9- Bellwether 

10- Coupa 

11- Sap Ariba 

12- Order 

‍

Tradogram 

Tradogram is an end-to-end cloud-based small business purchasing order software with several components that help streamline your procurement processes, manage your expenses and give you complete visibility of all purchasing activity within your business. 

Some of the stand-out features that simplify procurement in your business are:

Purchase Requisitions

The purchase requisition process is an important first part of the procurement process and can be implemented to streamline the procurement processes in your business. It is a formal process that documents the request for purchase within an organization. 

It standardizes how your team requests purchase items and allows procurement centralization. Without it, team members can often end up contacting vendors independently, confusing the process even more with multiple contact points for your supplier

Within Tradogram, purchase requisitions can easily be converted into Purchase Orders, making the process easy for your entire team.

‍

                 DOWNLOAD THE DIGITAL PROCUREMENT TRANSFORMATION GUIDE

‍

‍Invoice Matching

One of the most time-consuming processes in procurement is reconciliation. Did we receive what we ordered, and were we invoiced correctly from our supplier? 

Your accounts payable department spends most of its time matching purchase orders and receiving records and invoices from the vendor. Tradogram's proprietary three-way match process will automatically match the records from these areas and bring discrepancies forward for action.

Receiving (Delivery notes)

Did you receive what you ordered? Knowing about order shortages as soon as they happen is critical for you to react appropriately. Knowing supplier shortages will allow you to respond quickly with alternate solutions. Tradogram's order reconciliation functionality provides an automated review of purchase receipts and will let you know when there is an issue.

Approvals

One of the best business controls you can implement is the approval process. Putting a system stop in place to allow review of purchase requests before they are bought is critical visibility you need in your business.

Within Tradogram, the approval setup is dynamic and flexible. Hierarchies can be setup and be adjusted to meet your needs. Exemptions to approver rules can be easily setup and the system quickly notifies the approver of an outstanding workflow. 

• Strategic Sourcing (RFP/RFQ)

With ongoing supply chain constraints, it becomes more important than ever to manage the entire lifecycle of your contracts. From negotiation to fulfillment, it's crucial to have a full view of all vendor contracts.

Tradogram can set up an item master, allowing you to manage pricing from different suppliers easily. With the budget planner tool and built-in supplier communication tools, negotiation, communication documentation, and contract monitoring are more accessible than ever.

Using the available built-in suite of analytics around procurement KPIs, you can identify and maintain a list of approved suppliers.

• Budgeting & Spend Analytics

A full suite of reporting and analytics gives you essential data at your fingertips, a critical component of a purchase order software for small business. With an easy-to-design reporting portal, you can build custom reports and get real-time spend analysis data. Reports can easily be shared with the right stakeholders and can be limited to certain people to keep certain information private if needed.

Setting budgets is the best way to manage the spend in all areas of your business. This gives your team a framework to operate in and allows for easy identification and diagnosis of any issues that may arise, when a given category exceeds the spend allocated to it in a budget.

Tradogram allows for easy budget setup by project or by category and is dynamic in its structure with the ability to set different budget levels by area. The system will notify you of any spend that is exceeding budget.

Tradogram is our platform, and we are really proud of it. It is a professional, easy-to-use, robust procure-to-pay platform that is made to fit your business. Click here to try a demo today. 

ProcureDesk

Helping companies automate their purchasing processes, Procuredesk lets your employees manage the purchasing operations with an easy-to-use online shopping-like experience. A total spend and procurement platform lets you see all your expenses in one place, with invoice matching, budget management, and spend reporting. 

Procuredesk gives visibility to your cash flow, with an intuitive dashboard for tracking both approved and pending purchases and track orders with ease. 

What does it do well?

This solution for purchase orders combines purchase request and order functionality. It’s a great way to keep track and control your procurement spending while also getting rid of bottlenecks and other potential delays.

‍

Pipefy

A highly customizable platform with smart-workflow management, Pipefy is customizable for most areas of your business. Not limited to procurement, this platform has modules for all areas of business, including HR and IT.

What does it do well?

 It concentrates information into one easily accessible area. In addition to streamlining and automating essential procurement operations, Pipefy is the perfect way to communicate with stakeholders. 

‍

Procurify

Procurity is a simple and scalable procurement and purchasing software for small business with an intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to manage their business spending decisions effectively. Procurify easily integrates with softwares like Quickbooks and Amazon Marketplace. It simplifies procurement management by making it easy to streamline the  approval, budgeting, and purchasing workflows from a centralized location. 

What does it do well?

This purchase order solution for small business issues custom spend cards for each team member to simplify expense management. The cards are loaded with pre-approved funds. You can easily monitor spendings on individual cards and reconcile your records accordingly. 

‍

Kissflow

Kissflow is a fully-customizable procurement software for small business. It is primarily a no-code workflow management tool that allows you to customize your process workflows to meet your specific business needs. 

With this tool, users can customize every step of the process from procurement to payment all in one place. This system also has varying options for displaying analytics that will enable you to view many aspects of your procurement process, allowing you to manage your suppliers and keep a close eye on their performance.

What does it do well? 

Easy-to-navigate dashboards make analyzing your business a breeze. Kissflow has a template for every workflow including the procurement process. This simplifies the process of creating purchase orders and other related dashboards. It also offers robust integration to connect your procurement process with other finance systems you use.  

‍

‍Procurement express

Best for small businesses, Procurement Express simplifies the procurement process for your business. Its intuitive platform allows you to split your expenses and allocate your spending across different business areas. Its fully customizable user management purchase order approval process is excellent for managing spend.

What does it do well? 

It has an offline mode that allows you to work when the internet is unavailable and will sync once you are back online. It also has features to automate essential steps in the procurement process such as purchase requests, approvals, verification and so on. This reduces the overall workload on your procurement staff.

‍

Xero

Xero is a simple and smooth solution for your online purchase orders. With an intuitive interface that allows you manage your orders effortlessly, Xero’s template can be easily adapted to your specific business needs.  

Xero is not rigid with order numbers either. You can freely select the type of order numbers you prefer. 

What does it do well? 

With the solution for purchase order, you can create online orders and always stay updated about the current status of your orders and deliveries. 

You get a template for creating an order and once it has been created, you may choose to share it or print your purchase order. The order can even be saved in PDF format or sent via mail. 

‍

Zoho Books

Zoho is an online accounting software that helps businesses automate their workflows. This includes their purchase order workflow. This solution for purchase order is particularly ideal for growing businesses. Zoho Books helps you keep track of your purchase orders without stress.

This software simplifies the process of logging your orders, ensuring that nothing is missed in saving your order details and keeping a comprehensive record for your purchases. In addition to capturing the basic details of every order, you can also attach files to your invoice to provide context. 

What does it do well? 

Zoho Books promotes team collaboration by allowing you to easily copy and share purchase orders via email. It is ideal for vendor management and makes it easy to identify trends in your purchase order or prepare reports based on your order history. 

‍

Bellwether

Bellwether’s solution for purchase orders is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses. It helps you reduce time wastage, and cut out unnecessary steps and costs in preparing and managing your purchase orders. Consequently, efficiency and productivity in your business are enhanced. 

What does it do well? 

With the software, you can automate the purchasing process and reduce the time it takes to complete a purchase cycle. Apart from customizable workflow, the automated process reduces vendor research and negotiation. 

‍

Coupa

The Coupa software is a tool for tracking business spending. This means it has features for managing all your financial transactions including procurements, vendor payments, supply chain management and so on all from the same cloud-based platform. 

The software's real-time tracking feature allows you to easily monitor your purchase orders without missing a thing. 

What does it do well? 

The purchase order solution makes the process of converting a purchase requisition to a purchase order seamless. Coupa improves the integration of procurement with other important aspects of your business such as Finance and IT. 

‍

SAP Ariba

SAP Ariba’s purchase order solution is designed to achieve three things. First it transforms your entire purchase order process. The tool also links all your business spending functions and improves end-to-end collaboration and data exchange in the Purchase order process. 

What does it do well? 

Using this tool to manage your procurement process boosts transparency. Purchase order records can be easily checked for discrepancies in supplier compliance and corrected when necessary.

‍

Order

Order meets all your business procurement needs in a single software. The procurement tool is a great option for fast effective procurement with lesser costs. You can purchase your supplies, pay for your order and keep track on the same platform. 

Further, you can identify all the best prices for the products and services you need and add them to your cart as one big order. Order allows you to enjoy simplified vendor payments too regardless of the size of your purchase order. 

What does it do well? 

Order is a complete procurement package, allowing you to monitor every detail concerning your purchase order in one place. 

How to Choose the Best Purchase Order Software for Small Business?

Choosing the best purchase order software for small business requires careful consideration of various factors to meet specific needs and enhance operational efficiency. First, assess the scalability and user-friendliness of the system to ensure it can grow alongside the business. Look for features such as customizable templates, intuitive interfaces, and ease of use for seamless integration into existing workflows. Consider the system's compatibility with other tools, such as accounting and inventory management software, to ensure smooth data flow. Affordability is key for small businesses, so evaluate pricing structures, including any hidden costs. Prioritize a small business purchase order system that offers security features to safeguard sensitive information. Lastly, read user reviews and seek recommendations to gauge usability in business processes and customer satisfaction. A thoughtful selection process ensures that the chosen purchase order solution aligns with the unique requirements and budget constraints of small businesses.

Final Thoughts

Procurement processes are so essential to automate to get control of your business processes. It is vital to choose purchase order systems for small business that is easy to set up and use and has all of the features you are looking for. It is crucial to select a system that integrates well with your current purchase ordering tools and that your employees can adopt quickly.

The best procurement software for small business simplifies all workstreams from procurement to paying invoices and all steps. The increased visibility and control over spending are crucial and the most important reason to move your business to a procurement solution.

‍