If you end up spending most of your day updating excel spreadsheets and compiling manual reports, then you really should consider automation.
The best place to start is with your charity purchases. Using an electronic purchase order (PO) software will not only save you time but money as well. The organizations that use efficient PO systems stand a good chance of doing more ‘good’ because the more funds they save, the more societal issues they will be able to address.
One big drawback with paper-based systems and excel spreadsheets is that it does not allow for easy collaboration between charity leaders and junior staff members when they are looking for ways to curb overspending.
Sure, you might argue with me and say, “But our paper-based PO system and excel spreadsheets seem to help us, and they work perfectly fine.” I am going to show you a few important things you might be overlooking.
1.The stationery bills increase every month
Spending over budget always starts with the purchasing of items that are treated as trivial, e.g. stationery. When charities gain momentum, it is common for charity leaders to focus more on strategic issues and assign the purchasing of stationery to someone else in the organization.
The problem with this is that the person may order more than is required. As a result, your stationery bill may gradually increase every month, and before you know it, your organization is sitting on a humongous stationery bill.
A PO system that is compatible with mobile devices reduces this probability easily. It will allow you to keep track of how much stationery is ordered and enable you to approve or reject the PO requests even when you’re not in the office.
Tweet this: You will need to find a way to make your purchases align across all offices.
2.Non-Automated POs take time to approve
If your organization only uses excel spreadsheets, your team will get frustrated every time you are not around to approve POs. Your charity programs may come to a complete standstill and the beneficiaries of your programs may suffer.
When you get back to the office you may be greeted by a pile of POs that need approval. This becomes even more challenging when your charity programs are spread all over the country, or even the world, and which may require that you travel from one office to the other. You will need to find a way to make your purchases align across all offices.
This is only possible if you use a cloud-based automated PO system like Procurementexpress.com. With Procurementexpress.com, charity leaders get a notification on their mobile phones every time a PO request is sent. This way they can approve POs without being in the office and save time and resources in the process.
3.Your office is littered with paper
If papers seem to occupy a large portion of your desk then take it as a telling sign that you need to automate. Besides, the cons of using a paper-based system exceed the pros by large margins. For instance, if you are renting offices, you could end up having to rent an extra room to file all the paperwork, which costs time and money.
Another con is the unneeded paper that will need to be shredded and thrown away, something you wouldn’t have to worry about when using an automated PO system. If you’re environmentally conscious then this is a no-brainer.
4.There are new purchases you know nothing about
Using paper-based systems can be disruptive when it leads to more than one person purchasing the same thing. In most instances, this happens without the charity leader’s approval and by the time they find out, money has already been wasted. I’m sure you don’t want your situation to get to this point.
5.You might get scammed by a fake invoice
With a wide range of charity programs operating simultaneously, there is always the fear of fake invoices. This is because it is easier to create fraudulent paper-based invoices than it is to make electronic ones. These scams can be very harmful to your organization if they are not detected. Funds that are meant to help the less fortunate may be swindled by fraudsters and leave a huge dent on your charity cashflow.
Avoid these scams by employing an automated system such as Procurementexpress.com for quick approval of POs. With Procurementexpress.com, charity leaders are spared the headache caused by fake invoices because it helps them easily detect and reject a fraudulent PO request.
Get rid of the paper-trail hassle with inclusive online reporting that eliminates fraud.
Additionally, Procurementexpress.com runs the budget for you so that you can focus on more strategic issues. You and other authorized users can track expenses from time to time, which will help you to spend within budget. It is easy to use and your staff will master it quickly.
Try Procurementexpress.com here for free!