A Source-To-Pay Tool For Enhancing Spend Analysis Reports
Spend Analysis Report
Organizations looking to boost their efficiency and procuring processes can benefit greatly from implementing source-to-pay tool. Specifically, such tool can result in improved spend analysis reports i.e. summaries detailing the total amount of money that the companiespends in one particular area. Such reports are critical aspect of finance departments operations, as they help executives to make conscious decisions about products and services procurement, thus contributing to the companies economic efficiency, profitability and overall growth.
Source-to-Pay tools are robust solutions that help companies to automate various procurement process steps and tasks, such as sourcing, contract management, procure-to-pay, supplier management, and analytics. For finance departments, one of the greatest advantages of such tools is that they facilitate and expedite the creation, aggregation, and analysis of spend data which can be then used to generate structured and accurate spend analysis reports. Below is detailed step-by-step guide that provides comprehensive overview of how to use Source-to-Pay tool for the purpose of creating such reports.
1. Login to the system
The first step is to login to the Source-to-Pay system with your credentials. Once you have done so, you will be able to access the main dashboard of the tool.
2. Configure Your Spend Analysis Report
To configure new spend analysis report, start by selecting the ?Spend Analysis? option from the main dashboard’s navigation panel. This will take you to the spend analysis screen, where you will need to configure the settings of your report, such as the marketing/groups to be analyzed, date range, currency, and budget and so on.
3. Connect the Appropriate Data Sources
Once you have configured all of your settings, you will need to select the data sources that need to be included to the analysis process. Depending on the size of your organization and the amount of resources in the system, this could include everything from contract databases and purchase orders, to invoices, supplier databases and more.
4. Select the Types of Data to be analyzed
This is an additional step required to ensure that the data is properly analyzed. In the ?Data Selection? tab, you will need to select the various types of data you wish the Source-to-Pay tool to analyze. This includes identifying the expected purchase outcomes, the forms of payment, the types of suppliers, the item categories, and more.
5. Aggregate and Analyze Spend Data
Once the selection of data sources and types has been completed, your spend analysis report is ready to take shape. As such, the Source-to-Pay tool will start to automatically aggregate, analyze and process all the data, so it can prepare useful information that can give you better insights into your spend data.
6. Generate Your Report
When the data-crunching and analysis process is complete, you can move onto the ?Reporting? tab in the Source-to-Pay system. Here, you will be able to access all of the spend data analysis results, which you can then use to generate your business’ spend analysis report.
7. Perform Advanced Analysis
In many cases, basic spend analysis report will not be sufficient to acquire the insights business need to make well-informed decisions. Therefore, one of the most important benefits of Source-to-Pay tool is the ability to perform advanced analysis on the information such as drilling down into various data metrics and visualizing the results into easy-to-read graphs and charts.
8. Generate Insights and Take Actions
Using the advanced analytic capabilities of the Source-to-Pay tool, you and your team can generate detailed insights from the spend analysis report. With these insights in hand, you can take informed decisions with regards to improving the effectiveness of your procurement processes. This can also help you assess the total spend of the company and identify areas where you can save costs and boost your budgeting optimization level.
Conclusion
A Source-to-Pay tool is comprehensive solution that can be used to generate comprehensive and accurate spend analysis reports. Combined with the powerful analytics, insights and analytics capabilities, the tool makes it easier than ever for finance executives to take control of their spend optimization processes and to tailor strategies and actions that will improve the companies financial performance in the long-term.
