7 Best Free Procurement Software for Small Business Comparison

Summary: Procurement is crucial to any business and finding the right software to streamline processes related to identifying goods and services, creating a purchase order, and approving the invoices can significantly enhance efficiency. Several free procurement software options are available in the market that offer unique features for vendor management, purchase order creation, and inventory tracking.

For any small business, procurement is a vital function that can make or break an organization. However, managing procurement processes can be daunting for small business owners who often have limited resources and time. Fortunately, with the advancement of technology, many procurement software options are available to streamline product acquisition operations.

This article will focus on top procurement software solutions designed specifically for small businesses. Procurement software ensures automated purchasing workflows, supplier management, and spend analysis. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or have a team of employees, there’s a solution on this list that will help you with all your procurement needs.

When implemented strategically, procurement software will offer several benefits to businesses of all sizes. So, let’s learn more about the best free procurement software and how it will help businesses drive growth and improve operational efficiency. 

What is Procurement?

Procurement can be defined as a process of obtaining goods and services from different vendors for work-related purposes. It is a robust process that involves various steps like identifying needs, sourcing suppliers, negotiating contracts, placing orders, and managing supplier relationships.

Procurement is regarded as an essential step in developing a better understanding of the supply chain, as it helps us to find the most suitable and reliable suppliers that can offer goods and services at a fair price and match the company’s needs. Procurement enables businesses and companies to acquire, arrange, and procure goods from various suppliers for optimal financial results.

What is Procurement Software?

Procurement software is a powerful tool that helps automate the process of product purchasing, order approval, and vendor payment automation. Additionally, procurement software aids in centralizing data, enhancing expenditure transparency, and optimizing the cash flow within the organization, leading to improved capital efficiency.

Procurement software will enable the employees to request a purchase service from anywhere around the globe, freeing up important resources. Moreover, procurement software will play a key role in reducing the administrative hassles associated with order management.

Top 7 Best Free Procurement Software for Small Businesses

• NetSuite
• Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM
• Bellwether
• Qntrl
• Procol
• Pipefy
• Kissflow

In this blog, we will take you through the top free procurement software that will play a key role in streamlining your purchasing operations, enhancing vendor management, optimizing your overall contracts, and improving the invoicing workflow. Let’s look at the best e-procurement solutions and find the perfect match for your small business.

• NetSuite

NetSuite procurement software will help businesses and companies to purchase goods and services at the best price and in an organized and timely manner. It streamlines processes from generating purchase orders to approving suppliers and pre-negotiating contracts.

It will save you time and money, allowing you to centrally manage vendors and the overall procurement process. Moreover, this procurement software generates a real-time view of the money spent by your company on procurement and the vendor’s performance.

NetSuite Features

1. The source management feature will help your employees by providing the right tools to compare and select vendors.
2. Using the purchase management feature, you can easily track your purchase order, which is important in maintaining a proper inventory.
3. NetSuite procurement software will help you manage vendor payments by easily automating the receipts of ordered products.
4. Manage all the vendor-related data using a centralized system and simplify the overall process of supplier communication.

Free Trial: Not Available

NetSuite Pricing: NetSuite pricing starts from USD $499/year.

• Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM

When looking for the best free procurement software, Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM is also an option that you can consider for your small business needs. It is an integrated source-to-settle suite that helps businesses with extensive procurement management.

The software will help with strategic sourcing, and improve supplier relationship management, resulting in higher savings and greater profitability.

Oracle Fusion Cloud CSM Features

• Maximizes your order making process and minimizes the cost incurred on logistics
• Optimize inventory levels and reduces costs
• You can intelligently plan demand, supply, improve order fulfillment, and production processes
• You can easily enhance efficiency and coordination in manufacturing operations.

Free Trial: Offers free trial for up to 30 days.

Oracle Fusion Cloud CSM Pricing: Oracle Fusion Cloud CSM pricing starts from USD $50000.00.

Suggested Read: What is Procure to Pay (P2P) Process

• Bellwether

Bellwether procurement software is a powerful tool that will help small businesses streamline and optimize the procurement process. As one of the best e-procurement software, it helps create a seamless process by automating different procurement-related tasks.

The software will also help in gaining a better strategic understanding of your purchasing process. Users can easily analyze trends, track supplier contacts, and manage their overall budget.

Bellwether Features

1. Hassle-free inventory management as it will track your items with just a few clicks.
2. The expense reporting and analytics feature will give you a complete overview of the overall expenditure management
3. Automated purchase order feature will eliminate all the paperwork thereby minimizing the risk of human errors and generating purchase orders in seconds.
4. Rapid requisitions will enable you to create, process, authorize, and track purchase-related requests quickly.

Free Trial: Not Available

Bellwether Pricing: Pricing is available on request.

• Qntrl

Qntrl procurement software enables users to manage vendors centrally, thereby negotiating better contracts. It is a robust procurement solution, using which you can easily onboard vendors with accurate and up-to-date information, including their certifications, risk factors, and different legal responsibilities.

With Qntrl, users will be able to share documents and information, ask for feedback, and establish a clear channel of communication.

Features of Qntrl

1. Using connected tools, you can easily verify your ERP’s budget and update the vendor database information.
2. Qntrl offers comprehensive reports using which you can easily analyse purchase requests, the number of unplanned requests, and total cost savings percentage.
3. With the improved cost control feature, you can ensure smooth compliance with your company’s cost guidelines.
4. Qntrl offers real-time visibility and helps you keep a tab on what is being ordered, in what quantity, and when it is due.

Qntrl Free Trial: Not Available

Qntrl Pricing: The business plan starts from USD $5.85/user/month.

• Procol

Procol is an excellent choice for free procurement software, offering several benefits that can save time and money. With its advanced features, this software streamlines the entire procurement process, eliminating manual tasks and enhancing efficiency.

Procol’s specific functionalities include tender assessment, purchase order generation and approval, streamlined product or service selection and ordering, contract management, etc. By discarding outdated and conventional sourcing methods, Procol effectively reduces the cost of your procurement operations.

Features of Procol

1. Supports contract management by eliminating paper trails from your contracts.
2. Offers procurement support services from managing your suppliers to monitoring your spending pattern.
3. Seamless category management that will help you make sourcing-related decisions easily.
4. Offers third-party integrations to help you manage all the data within a centralized system.

Procol Free Trial: Not Available

Procol Pricing: Pricing is available on request.

• Pipefy

Pipefy software provides small business owners with a procurement solution that is both flexible and customizable. This robust solution will improve stakeholder communication and encourage the workforce to quickly make intelligent and efficient work-related decisions.

By integrating with Coupa, SAP, NetSuite, and DocuSign, Pipefy ensures comprehensive visibility and transparency for every purchase requisition, thus eliminating gaps.

Features of Pipefy

1. Ensure real-time communication with integration other third-party applications like Slack and Jira. 
2. Provides a clear view of each procurement stage.
3. Offers a detailed dashboard feature that will give you an in-depth analysis of all the essential procurement-related work processes. 

Pipefy Free Trial: Does not offer a free trial but has a free plan for small teams, freelancers, and students.

Pipefy Pricing: The business plan pricing starts at USD $19/user/month.

• Kissflow

Kissflow procurement software offers a versatile procure-to-pay solution, enabling businesses of all sizes to enhance the efficiency of their procurement processes.

It offers dedicated modules for purchase orders, purchase requisitions, vendor management, purchase invoicing, analytics, and seamless integration. Furthermore, for small business owners seeking to transition from manual procurement management, Kissflow presents an ideal choice.

Features of Kissflow

1. Supports vendor management
2. Users can easily manage their billing and invoicing needs
3. Easily monitor order management
4. Offers pre-built templates

Kissflow Free Trial: Available

Kissflow Pricing: Paid plan starts from USD $1,990/month

What is a Procurement Lifecycle?

A procurement lifecycle can be defined as a sequence of steps that consists of the following:

• Identification of the goods and services that the company needs
• Submission of the purchase request
• Assessing and selecting the vendors
• Negotiating the price
• Creating a purchase order
• Receiving and inspecting the delivered goods
• Approving the invoice
• Arranging the payment
• Recording all the essential data

These are the basic steps of a procurement cycle that will lead you to the final purchasing of goods and services. As a small business owner, it is important to identify all the stages of a procurement lifecycle and devise different ways to optimize the process.

An efficient procurement lifecycle will help organizations maximize their returns on investment and establish a long-term healthy relationship with vendors.

What are the Different Types of Procurement?

In today’s dynamic business world, procurement plays a vital role in the overall success of an organization across different industries.

Having a basic understanding of the different types of procurement will help you optimize your sourcing strategies, reduce costs, and achieve sustainable growth. Let’s look at the different types of procurement that small businesses should know about.

• Direct Procurement: It can be defined as a process of acquiring goods and services directly from suppliers and manufacturers. Direct Procurement allows organizations to have more control over the quality, cost, and delivery of their purchases and establish a healthy relationship with suppliers. 
• Indirect Procurement: Refers to acquiring goods and services not directly linked to a company’s final product. Indirect procurement purchases help support the company’s operations. Indirect procurement examples include office supplies, IT equipment, and services such as legal and consulting services.
• Goods Procurement: Refers to physical items but can also comprise software subscriptions. Effective goods procurement will rely upon supply chain management, and it can include both direct and indirect procurement.
• Service Procurement: This type of procurement places a lot of emphasis on people-based services. Depending on your business requirements, such services often include hiring individual contractors, labor, law firms, and on-site security services.

Benefits of Free Procurement Software

Free procurement software can be useful for your business as it offers better visibility over your spending patterns. It stores all the procurement-related data in one place, and you can easily handle invoicing. Mentioned below are some of the primary benefits of free procurement software.

• Increased Productivity and Efficiency

One of the major benefits of using free procurement software is increased productivity and enhanced efficiency by minimizing the overall time required to complete a procurement cycle.

It streamlines processes like ordering, generating invoices, carrying out payments, and approvals for purchasing. With process automation, employees will be able to focus more on vendor relationships, and make strategic business decisions.

• Reduced Costs

Free procurement software will give businesses a complete overview of where their money is being invested and how much.

The software will help business owners monitor and keep a tab on how much money they are spending on purchasing goods and services, which services are being purchased, who the suppliers are, and which vendor is offering the best solution. Moreover, it will also help reduce the cost of errors and the rework.

• Automated Processes

Automation will play a key role in enhancing the overall customer experience as the customers can easily track their orders on mobile devices themselves.

Procurement software will help generate files automatically, send timely notifications and updates about the due dates and many other things. Automation of procurement processes will result in higher productivity and error-free output.

• Enhanced Visibility

E-procurement software offers robust features for reporting and analytics that provide insights into overall spending patterns, supplier performance, and other essential metrics. This real-time visibility will help businesses make informed decisions, identify cost-saving opportunities, and optimize their procurement strategies.

Comparison Between Top 5 Free Procurement Software

Purchasing the best procurement software for your business can be an overwhelming decision. So, to help you make an informed choice, we have curated a comprehensive table that will give you an in-depth analysis on the best procurement software based on the parameters mentioned below-

Key Takeaways

Free procurement software has benefited small businesses to a great extent by providing them with reliable and cost-effective solutions for managing their procurement processes.

Top procurement software mentioned above offers a wide range of features, allowing small businesses to streamline their purchasing activities, improve vendor management, and enhance overall operational efficiency.

By leveraging free e-procurement software, small businesses can easily compete in the market, drive growth, and achieve their goals while controlling costs.

FAQs