Business
10 min read

Spend management: A smart solution for companies

Success requires capital disbursement, but it’s important to keep track of expenses. That’s why intelligent businesses invest in spend management.

Man using a tablet to track his company spending

Spend management is a process that can be tedious and time-consuming.

But as a vital part of managing any organization, it needs to be done in an efficient and risk-free manner.

This will prevent your company from experiencing financial problems. 💸

In this post, we'll walk you through the best spend management solutions for your company.

Read on!


What is spend management?

Spend management is a unified process that helps you compile, track, and review your company expenses.

It is designed to provide hard facts and eliminate confusion about spending.

According to Globe Newswire, the market size of the spend management software companies will be worth $39 billion USD by 2029.

This kind of growth clearly states the value of spend management platforms for business. 

Intelligent spend management

The key to spend management is optimization.

Imagine being able to analyze in a matter of seconds the following expenses of your company:

  • payroll,

  • software subscriptions,

  • insurance,

  • rent,

  • office supplies,

  • utilities,

  • travel expenses,

  • etc.

What's not to like? 😉

You can keep track of all the costs that go into your daily operations at the touch of a button.

Additional benefits of intelligent spend management

Spend management improves spending analysis, and optimises the sourcing of business capital.

But not only that, it also aims to strengthen relationships with suppliers by taking control of payments.

In a nutshell, intelligent spend management keeps track of every penny spent on your business with the use of high-end software.

In return, companies can:

Identify spending sources.

Spend management integrates direct and indirect expenses. For example, you can collect the use of corporate cards to track orders, invoices and travel receipts.

Centralize data.

Collect all expense information in a single place. This can help the finance team keep an accurate estimate of business spending. It’ll also improve the company’s decision-making process.

Analyse and verify spending.

When you can see all spending data in one place, it’s easier to correct spelling errors, and to eliminate duplicate receipts. This is crucial to keep an accurate register of business expenses.

Drive efficiency.

Brands can automate manual tasks to prevent errors in spending. You can free up and reallocate resources to improve your ROI.

Decrease supply costs.

Mapping out costs can pinpoint which suppliers yield more benefits to your operations. You get a clear view of all transactions, and determine how to improve sourcing.

Forecast expenses.

Collecting real-time data will disclose opportunities for saving capital. It’s also ideal to reallocate spending where needed. In short, you’ll be able to manage your business strategy, and improve revenue over time.

Boost productivity.

Spend management provides real-time data on expenses. Brands can use such intel to forecast their purchases, leading to a more cost-effective spending. 

Business man using the Pliant app to track expenses
Pliant's spend management solution allows you to automatically track budgets on a team or company level, and get notified immediately if teams approach or exceed their budgets.

Why is spend management so important?

The ultimate goal of spend management is to pinpoint where a business is losing money.

With such data, companies can then mitigate risks and optimise their cash flow.

No wonder Germany’s industry is expected to invest over 716 million USD in spend management software by 2024.

What is a spend management strategy?

It refers to implementing a finely tuned plan to intelligently track expenses with a view to minimizing risks and saving money.

Outcomes of not having a well-planned expense management strategy

Not investing in spend management could prove costly for businesses as it can lead to poor compliance and inflated costs.

Vague spending policy

Employees should know where, how and what they can spend the company’s capital. Without spend management can lead to overspending, especially when there’s no policy that regulates payments.

Non centralization

All company areas have their own expenses, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track of every transaction. Spend management can collect such data in one place to improve resource allocation, and prevent unnecessary expenses.

Rudimentary expense tracking processes

Company resources must be accounted for, in order for the business to make better spending decisions.

But with a lack of automation in spend management, you must rely on manual processes. This can lead to more human errors and inaccuracies.

So, to prevent the issues that stem out of improper spend management, you can benefit from Pliant's best-in-class spend management solution.

What is a spend management platform?

A spend management tool allows you to digitise your cash flow. This includes sourcing and purchasing operations.

It’s also a suite where you can track supplier payments, invoices, and the company’s expenses.

What does a spend management software do?

The best spend management software consolidates all your financial stack  into one source. 

From there, you can collect all expense information, so you can learn how every penny is spent.

Plus, they also include payment methods that facilitate spending

Pliant expense tracking dashboard

Best spend management tools

Here is a list of some of the best spend management software available. And luckily, they are all part of Pliant best -in-class integration offering:

Circula

This software is best suited to manage travel expenses. It also includes both a mobile and a web-app to manage invoices in real time. Circula was designed considering European tax standards. Thus, travelling managers can take control of spending across the continent.

Agicap

With a single interface to centralise a company’s financial data, Agicap manages cash flow in real-time. This provides management to have a clear view of their current spend management practices. Agicap also features automated bank monitoring, and invoice follow-ups, among other perks.

Candis

Candis focuses on automation and invoice management. You can integrate the suite with your accounting platform, so it can conde and route invoices via mail, or by direct upload. Candis also streamlines finance communications, so team members can share, review and approve invoices in real-time.

Tidely

Tidely can keep track of your liquidity in rea-l-time. Its tools offer a 360° view of your financial situation. By keeping track of all bills and transactions, Tidely can forecast the best spending scenarios, so you can improve your financial health over time. It’s a great tool to overview the present, and plan ahead for a profitable future.  

Declaree

This software is all about digitising expenses. Declaree’s interface makes it easy for employees to scan receipts and card spending.  Declare is also capable of setting up an expense allowance for each employee, based on the region that they work at. Travelling Employees can also submit flight data, so the company can allocate a mileage budget for their use. 

Get My Invoices

Get My Invoices does what its name states. The software streamlines invoice digitization. It also features cloud and mobile app imports, as well as automated accounting, so you can set up thorough tax reports. The finance team can then review the reports for approval. 

Buchaltungsbutler

Buchaltungsbutler is an all-in-one accounting solution. It features automation, preparing accounting capabilities, and an invoicing program to track expenses. The app is designed to make the collecting process a breeze. Plus, you can categorise expenses by different criteria to streamline reporting.

Domonda

The suite streamlines digitization automation and team collaboration. With Domonda, users can prepare and approve invoices and make automatic payments to suppliers. It also offers corporate cards, while keeping track of employee expenses. Domonda collects all the data in a single interface to streamline bookkeeping.

Commitly

This cloud-based option offers cash flow management solutions for small and medium businesses. Users only need to connect their bank account to Commitly to start tracking their expenses. The app supports integration with over 4,000 baking institutions in Austria and Germany. 

Bookman

Bookman manages all incoming and outgoing invoices. The software can collect invoice data from a web app or via smartphone. Then, you can review the invoice and automate the corresponding payment. It also features bank integration to manage the invoicing process from a single source of capital. 

Final Thoughts

There’s managing expenses rudimentarily, and then there’s intelligent spend management.

We recommend the latter, regardless of the size of your company.

Implementing a solid spend management process takes work, but you can leave it to the experts.

A spend management software will automate most buying and paying operations. Plus, you’ll be able to track spending in real-time.

With such data, you can plan on how to decrease business expenses, and reduce financial risks.

In short, spend management can turn your expenses into an asset for success. 🏆

Duline Theogene, Author

Duline is an SEO writer and content strategist with several years' experience blogging on topics related to eCommerce, marketing, education, travel, and finance.

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