Guide to Building a Smarter Procurement Process in ConnectWise PSA

— VP, Financial Services Industry, US

Building a smarter procurement process is all about cutting down on manual errors and driving holistic growth.

ConnectWise Professional Services Automation's procurement process is designed for IT departments and managed service providers (MSPs) who want to simplify purchases. It keeps everything centralized on a user-friendly platform and automates approvals.

Well, how does it work?

From ordering to managing expenses, it guides businesses to control costs and boost vendor relationships.

This blog guides you through the key steps of streamlining an efficient and tailored ConnectWise PSA procurement process. Let's get started!

Key Steps to Build a ConnectWise PSA Procurement Process

Let's deconstruct a methodical, doable strategy to create a more intelligent, efficient procurement procedure with ConnectWise PSA.

1. Define Clear Procurement Policies and Workflows

Start strong by establishing transparent procurement policies. Define thresholds for approvals—like purchases under five hundred dollars requiring minimal oversight, while larger buys over five thousand dollars need managerial sign-off.

Additionally, set specific workflows for different categories. Clear policies prevent confusion and ensure compliance.

Pro Tip: Keep a record of these guidelines and share them with your team. To keep everyone on the same page, use ConnectWise's knowledge base or custom documentation features.

2. Use ConnectWise PSA’s Procurement and Inventory Modules

Make use of the integrated procurement and inventory management tools that ConnectWise PSA provides!

Establish reorder points so the system can automatically initiate a purchase request when stock falls below them. Developing item catalogs ensures uniformity and expedites the procurement process for commonly ordered products.

For instance, you establish a reorder point of 10 for network switches. ConnectWise minimizes manual follow-up and stockouts by creating a purchase request when stock falls below that level.

3. Integrate with Suppliers and Vendors

Smooth vendor connections are essential to a more intelligent procurement process.  Keep the vendor database in ConnectWise updated.

Integrate ordering systems or vendor websites whenever you can to create purchases directly and automatically. To get better terms and savings, negotiate for preferred vendor agreements.

4. Automate Purchase Requisitions and Approvals

Workflows for manual approval are laborious and prone to mistakes. Automate these processes!

Create rules in ConnectWise that will ensure purchase requests that surpass specific thresholds are forwarded to the appropriate approvers automatically

Quick Tip: Use notifications and dashboards to keep stakeholders informed in real-time.

Let's understand this better with an example! You can establish approval processes such that each hardware request exceeding one thousand dollars is sent straight to the manager for approval before being automatically purchased.

Results? Fewer delays and increased visibility into procurement status.

5. Standardize Purchase Orders (PO)

Standardized POs facilitate tracking and lower errors. Make use of ConnectWise's PO templates to ensure uniformity throughout your company. Each PO should have pertinent documentation attached, such as estimates, approvals, and vendor details.

Additionally, link POs to invoices and payments for complete transparency.

For example, when you order new laptops, generate a PO with pre-filled details, attach vendor quotes, and track delivery and payment statuses—all within ConnectWise.

Quick Tip: Regularly review open POs to monitor pending deliveries

6. Integrate Procurement Data with Financial and Ticketing Systems

Your procurement shouldn’t live in a silo. Hence, link procurement activities to your financial systems within ConnectWise for accurate expense tracking.

Additionally, link procurement data to project modules or client tickets to make sure procurement aligns with customer deliverables and budgets.

For instance, a client’s project requires additional hardware. When procurement is linked to the ticket, you can monitor costs against the project scope. This adds up to your overall profitability.

7. Employ Reporting and Analytics

Data is your best friend in smarter procurement! According to Amazon Business's 2024 Procurement Data Report, 98% of businesses aim to invest in data analytics and insights solutions, meaning a sizable number of businesses are already doing so.

Hence, you need to regularly analyze procurement reports, including

• Spending trends
• Vendor performance
• Cycle times
• Stock levels

These insights aid in negotiating better terms and projecting requirements for the future.

Quick Tip: Set KPIs like procurement cycle time or cost savings, and track progress over time.

8. Train Your Team and Improve Continuously

A well-designed procurement procedure is a dynamic system. Train your team on ConnectWise policies and best practices. Ask for feedback to identify problems and areas for improvement.

Additionally, review and change your processes consistently to accommodate evolving requirements.

9. Maintain Compliance and Audit Readiness

Maintain thorough records of every procurement-related activity, including POs, approvals, and bills. This ensures adherence to legal requirements and corporate policies.

When you have thorough, well-organized data in ConnectWise, regular audits become simple.

You need to create audit trail reports using the integrated reporting tools. This confirms all purchases have the required paperwork and authorization.

Summing Up

A complex set of workflows spanning multiple departments and operational business units make up the procurement process. It may also be more prone to expensive inefficiencies as a result of its complexity. This is where smart, automated procurement is useful.

When using ConnectWise PSA for procurement, you can expect high-end automation and simplified workflows through a centralized interface. Our above-mentioned guide will help you take your procurement efficiency up a notch.

Are you looking for smart solutions to upscale your procurement processes? Head out to Bering McKinley! We offer added ConnectWise Sell and ConnectWise Automate implementation services to make procurement faster, simpler, smarter, and transparent.

Here is how we help you with the ConnectWise PSA procurement process!

• Provide recommended procedures for data transfer between ConnectWise Automate and ConnectWise Manage
• Automate high-value technical duties to boost productivity
• Offer strong and precise data automation reporting

Contact us today to utilize BMK's specialized business solutions to generate lasting value.

FAQs

1. What is PSA in ConnectWise?

ConnectWise Professional Services Automation (PSA) is a complete business management platform for managed service providers (MSPs) and other IT service providers. It makes tasks like project management and billing more efficient.

2. Can I track purchase history and supplier performance in ConnectWise PSA?

Yes, you can keep an eye on purchasing patterns and assess supplier performance with integrated reporting and analytics.

3. What are the key benefits of a smarter ConnectWise PSA procurement process?

A smarter ConnectWise procurement process helps in cost saving and speeds up order fulfillment to streamline business efficiency.