Four Ways to Cut Costs by Automating Your Purchasing Process with Microsoft Dynamics GP

As the economy declined, we started thinking of ways to help our customers remain strong during the tough times. We asked ourselves, “How do businesses stay profitable during a down economy?” The answer was simple – increase sales and/or decrease expenses. Easier said than done, right? Maybe not. While we couldn’t do much to increase sales during challenging economic times, we could offer ways to decrease operating expenses. As a provider of business software solutions, we could help our customers automate and control their purchasing process to minimize expenses. I’d like to share with you the top 4 ways our customers are utilizing Microsoft Dynamics GP solutions to cut costs during this tough economic time.

#1 Control Employee Purchases
Many companies today are still “casual” in their controls around employee purchases. Their purchase approval process remains a manual, paper-driven process. With a lack of control and automation, employees may make purchases first and submit the expense for reimbursement after the fact. Managers may spend time following up with employees and asking them to write up a request, even though the items are already being used. This type of outdated purchase approval process can create budget overruns leading to unexpected expenditures.

Microsoft Dynamics GP offers a web-based Requisition Management solution to help increase control and visibility over the entire purchasing process. With Requisition Management, employees can enter purchase requests online for manager approval. Requisitions are then automatically transferred to new or existing purchase orders in Purchase Order Processing. Management has visibility into employee purchase requests before the purchase is made, so they can easily validate that the purchase requests are within budget before approving. This online process helps reduce repetitive data entry and eliminates costly mistakes.

#2 Optimize Vendor Contracts and Create a “Preferred Vendors” List

Renegotiating vendor contacts is a key component in controlling purchasing costs. You could save significantly if you are able to lower costs and improve the terms of your contracts. The problem for a lot of companies is they don’t have easy access to vendor analysis information. Without access to this key information, it is difficult to state a solid case on why they should improve your contract.

Microsoft Dynamics GP gives you the tools for managing contracts and analyzing your vendor purchases to provide you with solid data for renegotiating contracts. Vendor contracts in Dynamics GP can be used for both inventory item contracts as well as service contracts. Alerts and reminders can be setup to notify you of upcoming contract expiration dates. Before locking in a new contract, vendor activity can be analyzed using tools such as Analysis Cubes for Excel, which allows you to slice and dice your real-time, connected data in Excel. Many companies are using these tools to create a “preferred vendors” list, which helps employees focus on using vendors that will save the most money for the company.

http://www.erpsoftwareblog.com/2009/06/four-ways-to-cut-costs-by-automating-your-purchasing-process-with-microsoft-dynamics-gp-1/