One of the wisest things a company could do for itself after a Coupa investment is to hire a Coupa consultant to help them with their implementation. The truth is that although the customer service for Coupa is stellar, in order to get the most out of the software installation a business owner will need all of the help that they can get.
Since the Coupa platform is made for businesses to get the very most out of all of their procurement endeavors, it is a pretty safe bet to assume that if you hire a qualified consultant they will understand every aspect of the source-to-pay procedure.
What is Source-to-Pay?
For most businesses, the procure-to-pay process is what everybody is familiar with. However, many companies are changing the way that they do things and considering a wider spectrum of the procurement strategy. While procure-to-pay is merely purchasing the goods and services that the company needs to operate, the source-to-pay strategy is when the company considers the sources of the goods and services and begins the process by sourcing the goods and services fresh, every time that it is necessary.
The source-to-pay process starts out with the sources of the goods or services such as vendors or service professionals.
The steps of the modern-day source-to-pay process are:
- Planning
- Sourcing
- Buying
- Paying
The source-to-pay process is the steps that are taken to initiate an entire procurement process from sourcing to paying. From the source of the goods and services to payment for the goods and services.
The planning stage is the most important part of the entire process. When the procurement team takes the time to look at the needs of the company along with the budget and makes plans to get the most out of each step in the process they give the entire company an advantage.
The thing about Coupa is that it can give an entire glimpse of the needs of the company and where everything is located from a bird’s eye view. Instead of the company meeting in a crowded office and a person writing important topics on a whiteboard, the software will generate detailed reports of how money is being spent, where vendors are doing a great job, what is needed, and what is not needed.
Sourcing the Vendors
Finding and discovering the right vendors for a business can become tedious work if the person searching for the answers does not know where to look. Finding great vendors does not have to be so difficult with the help of artificial intelligence and a guide to show how to make it all work.
One of the key elements behind hiring a consultant to help with a Coupa implementation is that the consultant will be able to uncover features that the software has to offer that people do not know about unless they have a deep understanding of the platform.
Having great sources gives the company a huge advantage over the procurement task because sources are where the company is able to get a sturdy stance and get the most out of all money spent.
For example, the Coupa platform is equipped with a service that can help to find and establish the vendors that are most appropriate for the company based on the unique criteria that the seeker puts into the platform.
The difference between reaching out to every possible vendor over the phone and asking them if they have decent prices on the goods or services that the company needs is that with the help of the program the software can search a huge database that is filled with vendors, their availability, and what they have to offer.
In addition to the database information, the software can reach out to the vendors and establish contracts with pricing deals and even more benefits that will vary from one company to the next.
Consultants and Strategies
So here is what makes the world of difference, and why it is so smart to hire a consultant. If the consultant that you hire does not understand the source-to-pay process, you need to hire another one. Although the source-to-pay strategy that you already have established for your company is unique to you, the entire concept of the source-to-pay strategy is something that should be understood by the person helping you implement the strategy that is best for you.
It is common knowledge for the strategy to consist of four basic steps that we mentioned above, however, for each business each step of the process will be different.
For example, if the company is a factory that manufactures shoes and sells them to online stores to ship out to customers, the needs of that business will be much different than a company that sells makeup.
It is safe to say that the vendors for the materials that are used to make shoes are going to be much different than the needs of a company that sells eyeliner and lip gloss.
Teamwork Makes it Happen
When a company chooses to implement a software platform such as Coupa into their business it takes some genuine team effort to get everything dialed in to where it needs to be in order to make the investment bring back a huge return.
Hiring a consultant and expecting them to know everything you know about your business is foolish. The consultant will be an expert on the software and the way that it works, but not an expert on your business. This is where you come in.
The very beginning stages of the Coupa implementation will be for the consultant and the business owner to sit down and become familiar with the needs of the company and the benefits that the consultant has to offer.
Once the consultant has an understanding of what the needs of the business are they will be able to construct a plan for the business to go by when they are plotting out the core of the administration of the software.
Details such as what the company needs, the types of vendors it will need, the amount of spending the company will have available, and the best ways to get supplies and services for the least amount of money and energy.
Learning the Platform
So, yes, your Coupa consultant should know everything there is to know about the source-to-pay strategies that make businesses flourish. When you have passed the stages of implementation and initial administration it will be time to learn the ropes of your installation and teach the rest of the people that will be using it the right way to use it.
Each person that will have access to the platform will have their own user log-in information and a set of permissions that will determine where they can go in the program and what they can do.
The consultant will be your guide and your go-to for any questions that you might have when you are learning how to run the program.
Conclusion
Since the Coupa platform was built for the spending management of a business it is only logical that the people that built it know the ins and outs of the source-to-pay system. With that being said, it is pretty clear that if you choose to implement the system you will have a lot of help and expertise right beside you along the way.