Since 2020, businesses have placed more emphasis on their digital transformations. The pandemic changed how leaders need to run things, for example, by compelling them to adapt quickly to remote work, virtual collaboration and enhanced digital processes. The economic challenges stemming from this unprecedented crisis drove a new focus on cutting unnecessary costs.

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With limited time to produce results, many leaders resort to an expensive Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution overhaul, but this can cause more challenges than it solves. Replacing an ERP or bringing in a new version can lead to significant disruptions as users adapt to new systems and workflows. Data migrations can also be tricky to implement properly, and the ROI of the new solution may not even be felt for another three or four years. Indeed, many businesses will have already made substantial investments in their current ERP systems, which would go to waste in the event of replacement.

Noting these disadvantages, some CFOs and CIOs are discovering how to deliver better business results quicker with a Business Spend Management (BSM) platform. These solutions can take just a year to implement and work alongside an existing ERP so that any existing software investments are not wasted.

Raymond Ngan, the Area Vice President at Coupa Software, told Tech Wire Asia: “BSM is a fit-for-purpose solution delivering high-impact business outcomes at a relatively low investment and lower risk over an ERP overhaul. We do not need to boil the ocean if it is not necessary.”

Tech Wire Asia takes a closer look at five ways BSM platforms can unlock hidden value from a business.

1. Increases spend visibility

Limited spend visibility can create several challenges for a business, including impeding efficient scaling by obscuring the true extent of financial commitments across all departments. Similarly, without a detailed breakdown of spending categories and patterns, companies may struggle to track their capital expenditure accurately and manage diverse financial portfolios.

A BSM platform enhances financial transparency by centralising spend activities and providing a comprehensive overview. This ultimately provides CFOs with the ability to budget and align financial strategies with business goals.

2. Breaks down data silos

Consolidation of information from different departments breaks down data silos. Isolated pockets of information can severely hamper efficiency, hinder collaboration and impede strategic decision-making. After integration with existing organisational processes, BSM platforms create a continuous flow of data that ensures relevant information is accessible to all stakeholders at any time, fuelling cross-departmental collaboration and communication.

3. Reduce environmental impact

With a BSM platform, organisations can meticulously track and analyse their spending across the entire supply chain, identifying areas with high environmental impact. By providing insights into resource consumption, waste generation and supplier practices, the systems empower businesses to make informed decisions that prioritise environmentally sustainable practices. Additionally, companies can conserve essential resources by digitising paper-based processes.

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4. Enables business agility

As the primary user interface, a BSM can integrate with ERP systems, facilitating swift adjustments to financial allocations and expenditure plans. The BSM’s emphasis on avoiding unnecessary customisations streamlines the implementation and upgrade processes, ensuring organisations can respond promptly to evolving business needs without the burden of making time-consuming modifications.

5. Improve supplier relations

Inefficient AP processes and payment delays brought on by low internal spend visibility can significantly impact supplier relationships. Any reputational damage might also have a domino effect on new business opportunities and, ultimately, revenue.

However, a best-in-class BSM can reduce these difficulties and delays through automation. With AI-driven commodity classification, for example, transactional-level spend can be mapped to a standard taxonomy with consistency and accuracy in reporting, making it easier to manage supplier payments.

The Coupa solution in action

XL Axiata, a leading telecommunications group, faced inefficiencies in scaling due to separate processes and ERP systems across its six business units, resulting in low spend visibility. It also placed over seven per cent of spending on capital expenditure but did not have the means to track its financial portfolio accurately.

The company decided to implement Coupa’s AI-driven BSM platform to help it gain visibility over both indirect and direct spending. The solution, particularly its Advanced Analytics feature, connected XL Axiata’s disparate ERPs and centralised all financial data and processes, bringing 94 per cent of spend under management. XL Axiata was able to unlock more capital and improve budgeting and resource allocation for future projects.

Mr Ngan said: “Coupa de-risks and future-proofs your business by streamlining your enterprise-wide spend and insights into supplier risk and supply chain risk.”

CBRE, a global leader in real estate, experienced similar success when it integrated Coupa Invoicing Management. The company faced challenges with a high number of supplier invoices at risk of late payment, plus poor visibility and accountability in the payment cycle, straining supplier relations.

Implementing Coupa’s AI-driven commodity classification engine improved payment fulfilment by almost 90 per cent, streamlining the invoicing process and providing accurate spend categorisation. The solution also resulted in a user-friendly experience for suppliers and AP, leading to a more efficient payment process and stronger supplier relationships.

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With the amount of financial data businesses collect increasing at a high rate, having proper control of data is crucial for informed decision-making. Coupa’s BSM provides real-time visibility into payments across teams, currencies and accounts, allowing organisations to cut wasteful spend and optimise their processes.

Its comprehensive suite of applications, covering areas such as Procurement, AP and Supply Chain Management, provides a unified, cloud-native extension to existing ERP systems. The no-code customisation approach, combined with regular releases driven by customer feedback, enable its users to adapt and innovate.

Coupa’s solution facilitates a touchless AP process with automatic monitoring, ensuring efficiency and accuracy in intake, purchasing and invoicing. It simplifies supplier onboarding, helping to foster stronger relationships and reduces risk through AI-powered threat detection and performance assessment. Furthermore, Coupa’s innovative Community Intelligence, fuelled by a repository of over $6 trillion in anonymised transactional data, offers benchmarking capabilities and prescriptive insights into spend management.

Mr Ngan said: “Coupa’s approach to ensuring customer success focuses on driving a successful, measurable outcome for your business. Our joint success is measured against the success metrics that we jointly sign up for at the get-go of our partnership.”

Find out more about how a comprehensive BSM solution like Coupa can help future-proof your organisation by downloading ‘The CFO’s Guide to Business Spend Management’ ebook or contacting its expert team today.