Importance of Procurement Data

Procurement data is one of the most valuable assets your company has. Without it, you're flying blind.

?In this article, we'll explore how to leverage that data to get the most value from your procurement processes and achieve your business goals. We'll look at what good procurement data looks like, how to get it, and how to use it to make informed decisions about your business.

?What Kind of Data Should You Be Looking For?

?Let's start with a quick overview of the two types of data: financial and non-financial.

?Financial data is exactly what you think it is—the numbers and dollars that are associated with purchases made by your organization. This includes costs, payment terms, discounts, etc. It's also called transactional data because it tracks transactions between buyers and sellers.

?Nonfinancial data is any data that isn't directly related to financial transactions. This includes things like inventories and supplier information.

?Procurement data can be an incredibly valuable asset for your business—but it's important to know how to use it!

?This is where we come in. With our comprehensive digital procurement platform, we can help you get the best results from your data and put it to work for you in a way that maximizes its potential.

?Here are some of the top ways you can use your procurement data:

?-Spot trends in purchasing behaviors

?-Identify areas where you overspend on supplies or raw materials

?-Discover opportunities to save money by buying in bulk and getting discounts

?-Get a better idea of what kind of products customers want to buy, so you can stock up on those items and make sure they're always available at your store or online shop

?Imagine you're a manager in procurement for a large company. You've got data coming in from all sides: suppliers, customers, finance, and more. Your job is to make sense of this data and use it to drive the best decisions possible for your organization.

?But even if you have data analytics software at your fingertips, how do you make sense of everything?

?There's some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that there's no one-size-fits-all solution—you'll need to approach your data with a critical eye, and figure out what's best for your business.

?The good news is that you don't have to go at it alone! If you're just getting started (or even if you just want to make sure you're on the right path), here are five things that will help you get the most value from procurement data:

?1. Understand how your organization works

?2. Know how your competitors are doing

?3. Be transparent

?4. Get the right people involved

What metrics should you measure to understand your procurement data?

Just as data is important for your business, so is knowing what metrics are most valuable to track. If you can't find the proper metrics, you may miss key insights and opportunities hidden in your data.

The following list of procurement metrics will help guide you through what's most important for your business, so you can take advantage of all the data at your fingertips.

1. **Value of spend**: The amount of money that goes into the purchase of goods and services by a company. The total spend includes all departmental and indirect transactions within an organization. This metric is an important measure of a company's economic health and activity level.

2. **Average discount**: How much on average you're saving through discounts on the products you buy from suppliers. Calculate this by dividing the total discount value by the total number of purchases made with that supplier.

3. **Cost per purchase order (CPO)**: The average amount that was spent per purchase order. Divide the value of all purchases made by the number of purchase orders issued during a given time period to calculate this metric. This will give you an overall picture of how much it costs you to make a purchase, or how

?When you're in charge of procurement at a large company, it can feel like you're being pulled in every direction. Employees need you to keep their favorite supplies stocked. Managers need you to keep costs down. And your boss needs you to make the company money—fast.

?But if you are bogged down by data, it can feel like there's no way to make everyone happy and still do your job efficiently. You spend all day going from report to report, trying to find and enter procurement data, then analyzing that data—and that's all before lunch.