Think about how you track spending in your school.
Do you find yourself pouring over credit card statements at the end of each month, or are you blindly relying on your staff to make the right decisions when it comes to purchasing?
The power of the entire school lies in the hands of the finance department, yet you probably find yourself wondering what you’re doing wrong… and why you’re struggling to manage and control your school’s spending.
Don’t sweat.
You’re not alone.
Here are some of the main reasons why hundreds of schools turn to ProcurementExpress.com for help when it comes to safely managing their spending.
Sign 1: Incorrect or Accidental Orders:
Everyone knows how awkward it is to keep the courier waiting… but what if by hurriedly signing along the dotted line for an incorrect order you’re throwing money away?
With many teachers busy working across different departments, buildings and faculties – schools are becoming a prime target for inertia selling and a breeding ground for incorrect ordering.
Too often have we witnessed teachers and support staff ordering incorrect items or accidentally placing a double order.
Schools should check, double check and recheck each and every purchase order as standard.
By embracing technology and involving more than one approver in each purchase decision there’s less chance of incorrect items or quantities being ordered. By “spreading the load” you can ease the pressure on everyone.
The ProcurementExpress.com mobile app allows users to choose from a list of preferred suppliers and budget owners to review and approve individual purchase requests in seconds with a single swipe of the screen.
Sign 2: There’s No Audit Trail
It’s worth reminding you that a good auditor never makes mistakes, so you need to make sure you’re completely covered in the event of an inspection.
This is particularly relevant when it comes to schools that are in receipt of grant funding and other government subsidies. Schools that record every purchasing event are always much better placed to prove that historic payments were made for good reason and with due consideration and care.
In the finance department your neck is always on the line – so make sure you cover your back!
Trust us. It always takes less time to do things right than to have to explain why you did things wrong.
With ProcurementExpress.com you can document every stage of the purchase process from the creation of a purchase request right through to the delivery of a shipment. Large schools process hundreds if not thousands of purchase orders each day – and despite how small some of these purchases may be, they are all purchasing events that need to be recorded.
We encourage our clients to think of our platform as if it’s an insurance policy. When something goes wrong you really need to have an easy to understand audit trail that can’t be disputed.
Sign 3: Expense Reimbursement is Sucking Time
Is staff expense reimbursement a job you dread?
For both the claimant and the finance department, expense reimbursement is a slow and arduous job that takes much longer than it’s worth. It hardly makes sense for one of your top finance managers to spend fifteen minutes verifying, processing and approving a claim for a measly pack of whiteboard markers.
The problem with this is that reimbursement requests tend to pile up or come all at once at the end of the financial year. This presents many finance departments with operational issues that are difficult to manage and overcome.
The ProcurementExpress.com expense reimbursement feature allows you and your team to approve reimbursements in seconds.
Team members simply upload photos of their receipts and log their expenses in the mobile app. Once a reimbursement request is submitted ten processes kick off and the budget owners receive a helpful notification.
The finance department can now review each incoming reimbursement request quickly and in their own time, without having to trawl through endless paperwork and case documentation.
At ProcurementExpress.com we want to help schools safely spend their budget. Our platform features can instantly help reduce your school’s costs and increase efficiency. If you’re interested in learning more please request a product demo. We can’t wait to hear from you!
