Approving purchases over email might feel like an old habit that doesn’t need fixing. After all, it’s simple: click “reply,” type “approved,” and hit send. But as your business grows and becomes more complex, this process quickly becomes a bottleneck, costing you time and money and potentially risking mistakes that could be avoided with a smarter solution like Purchase Approval Software.
If you’ve been relying on email approvals, it’s time to face the reality: this method is outdated, inefficient, and prone to errors.
What happens when approvals get missed? What if someone forgets to reply, or an email gets buried under a pile of others?
Worse yet, what if the data in those approvals is inaccurate, creating confusion or financial discrepancies? The risks to your business operations are high.
So, what is the answer? It’s time to take your buying process to the next level with dedicated purchase order approval software—a cutting-edge software solution that automates your approval processes, minimizes errors, and provides you with total control over your buying activities and company expenditures.
In this blog, we’ll discuss why email approvals are holding your business back and why implementing purchase approval software is the intelligent decision that can transform your entire buying process.
The Issues with Email Approvals: Why You Need a Change
You may have been using email approvals for decades, but it’s obvious that this approach is just no longer feasible as your business grows. Let’s get into the details of why email-based approval chains are doing more harm than good:
1. Unorganized and Difficult to Track
When you have several individuals approving purchases through email, it is a nightmare to keep track of everything. Some approvals are lost in the mix, and others are buried under a heap of unread messages.
Searching for the correct email or attachment within a long thread can waste time and make it more difficult to keep track of your purchase records effectively.
2. Slow Response Times
Email approvals are based on people reading and responding to emails promptly. Your purchasing workflow is suspended if someone is away from the office or just doesn’t see the email.
This kind of delay will delay your operations and hinder your business from acting swiftly when you need to generate purchase orders or approve order requests.
3. Risk of Missing Approvals
With email, it’s far too easy to overlook a vital purchase approval or approval request. The absence of an automated, centralized approval process results in high-value decisions slipping through the cracks and causing unwanted delays or errors in your purchasing order process.
These issues are not only frustrating—they can also have a direct impact on your company’s bottom line. In today’s business world, being ahead of the curve means being fast, accurate, and having the right software to manage.
That’s where contemporary purchasing systems and purchase approval software enter the picture.
How Purchase Approval Software Like ProcureClix Solves These Issues
Making the shift from email to purchase order software can eliminate these problems and make your operations more efficient. Let’s dissect how this shift can streamline purchasing and yield better outcomes for your business:
1. Simplified Approval Process
Purchase approval software streamlines the entire purchasing process so that every stage of the approval process is efficient and seamless. Here’s why:
- Automated reminders and notifications for approvers.
- Reusable workflows to direct purchase request routing to the proper individuals.
- Fewer opportunities for missed or delayed approvals.
Automating the purchase approval function eliminates the logjam of waiting for a response to an e-mail and the risk of human mistake.
With purchase order approval software, every step is well-defined and automated, so requests are sent to the proper individual on time.
Customizable approval workflows specific to your business needs ensure that purchase orders are sent directly to the appropriate individuals, eliminating unnecessary back-and-forth communication. This results in quicker approval times and ensures the generation of purchase orders without delays. It also ensures efficient tracking of purchase approvals, avoiding mistakes that usually occur in a manual approval process.
Related: Best Purchase Order Management Software: Automate and Streamline Purchase Order Process
2. Increased Transparency and Tracking
With a centralized purchase approval process, you have complete visibility into the status of all approvals. Here’s what that entails:
- Real-time visibility into approval status.
- Centralized management system to control purchase orders.
- Ability to report on approval trends and KPIs.
One of the strongest aspects of purchase order management is the transparency it offers. In an email-based setup, you’re left scrambling to check who approved what and when. Purchase order management systems centralize all requests and review, and authorize purchase actions in one portal.
You can track the creation process of purchase orders in real-time, and thus you are able to recognize where the bottlenecks occur and enhance the step of the purchasing process. In addition, auditing requests and purchase orders is less complicated, and this results in better compliance.
3. Better Accuracy and Fewer Errors
Software for purchase order creation ensures your approvals have better accuracy and:
- Ensures that each purchase request has all the details required.
- Reduces error possibilities arising from incomplete or ambiguous requests.
- Implements seamlessly integrates into your accounting system and AP automation software or move a requisition to an RFQ/Auction, followed by pushing the award data to the AP software.
Emails tend to be missing information, which can result in expensive errors. With a digital purchase order system, every request is normalized. Automating the entry of purchase requests guarantees that essential details are never omitted.
Integration with the accounting system of your choice also ensures that your financial records remain accurate and current in real-time. This eliminates errors, facilitates budget forecasting, and enhances your internal controls.
4. Increased Security and Compliance
Security is important when dealing with sensitive information. Contemporary purchasing software solutions provide:
- Data encryption.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Role-based access for ultimate approval phases.
A conventional email-based approach can’t match the security features of specialized management software.
With automated workflows, procurement teams can securely review and approve each transaction, manage access to sensitive information, and meet regulatory needs. This safeguards the company and secures your goods or services transactions.
Based on a 2023 IBM Cybersecurity Report, 60% of data breaches are attributed to unsecured communications, such as email. A robust purchase approval software solution eliminates this risk substantially.
5. Smarter Decision-Making with Real-Time Data
Automated purchasing systems deliver real-time purchasing information to facilitate:
- Intelligent budgeting.
- Accelerated approvals.
- Strategic vendor management.
Having access to buying information is key to making informed decisions. Rather than working with old data buried in email threads, top purchasing software provides you with immediate visibility into recent and historical buying activity.
When paired with supplier management software, it also gives businesses the ability to evaluate vendor performance, manage contracts, and ensure consistency in supplier relationships—resulting in stronger procurement strategies and better outcomes.
This enables companies to create tailored approval workflows, optimize vendor negotiations, and enhance long-term planning based on real-time buying trends.
Related: All-In-One Procurement Software – Best Procurement Software Solution – ProcureClix
Why It’s Time to Switch to a Better Approval Workflow
Updating to the top-of-the-line purchase order software might sound like a large leap, but the payoff is exceptional:
1. Time Savings and Efficiency Gains
Eliminating redundant tasks by automating the purchase order management system reduces the time required to complete procurement cycles. Businesses adopting automated approval processes typically achieve 30-50% time reductions in the procurement process.
2. Improved Decision-Making
When you apply purchase order systems with real-time dashboards, you can make your purchase decisions more manageable and predict future needs with accuracy.
3. More Powerful Vendor Relationships
Quick, error-free purchase order generation provides timely confirmations to suppliers, making vendor relationships stronger and overall business operations smoother. Embracing smart procurement practices ensures that every purchasing decision is backed by data, speed, and accuracy, helping your team make proactive choices instead of reactive fixes.
Related: Boosting Supplier Engagement and Performance with ProcureClix’s Supplier Management System
The Takeaway: It’s Time to Make the Change
If you’re still using email for approvals on purchases, it’s time to choose a purchase solution that enables you to move quicker, wiser, and safer. Placing an investment in purchase approval software or buying system solutions will streamline purchasing, facilitate transparency, minimize risks, and ensure that every purchase order goes through a managed, automated system.
It’s not a step forward—it’s a step necessary to survive in today’s business world.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why should businesses stop approving purchases over email?
Approving purchase requests via email may seem simple, but it creates disjointed approval chains that are hard to track and audit. As your business operations grow, using a digital approval system becomes essential to ensure accuracy, accountability, and faster processing.
2. What are the benefits of switching to purchase order approval software?
A dedicated purchase order approval software offers real-time visibility into each approval stage, streamlines communication, and drastically reduces errors, making it a smarter choice than outdated email threads.
3. How does purchase order software improve the approval process?
By integrating automated workflows, the software simplifies each step of the procurement process—from the initial purchase requisition to the final approval, ensuring consistency, control, and reduced delays.
4. Can this software integrate with my accounting system?
Yes, leading purchase order management systems integrate seamlessly with platforms like QuickBooks Online, ensuring all transactions are reflected instantly in your accounting system for better financial planning and audit trail maintenance.
5. What if different teams need to approve different purchase requests?
ProcureClix’s purchase requisition module comes with customizable approval workflows, allowing you to route purchase requests to the right stakeholders, whether it’s the finance team, operations, or procurement, ensuring no step in the approval workflow is missed.
6. How does automation help with the procurement process?
Automating the purchase and approval times reduces bottlenecks, improves efficiency, and enables teams to focus on more strategic tasks instead of manually handling each purchase order creation or chasing down responses.
7. Can I manage approvals on the go?
Absolutely. ProcureClix’s purchase requisition module offers mobile compatible interface, empowering procurement teams to review and approve purchase requests anytime, anywhere—ensuring the entire purchasing process stays on track without unnecessary delays.
8. What’s the difference between a purchase requisition and a purchase order?
A purchase requisition is an internal document submitted to request the acquisition of specific goods or services. Once it passes through the necessary requisition approval processes including price/quote collection, the team can then create purchase orders, which are external documents issued to vendors. This structured flow supports the purchase approval process, improves tracking, and ensures alignment with the overall steps of the procurement process.
9. How can purchase order approval software improve my business operations?
Implementing purchase order approval software streamlines the purchase order process by automating approvals, reducing approval times, and ensuring that all purchase orders are tracked efficiently. The software centralizes purchasing activities, provides full visibility into company spending, and helps manage purchase order creation. With features like automated approval workflows and integration with your accounting system, it simplifies the creation of purchase orders and ensures timely approval for every purchase, improving the efficiency of your purchasing system.
