Supplier management and payments
Managing suppliers shouldn’t be a headache, but it often is. Especially when teams are caught between financial jargon, processes aren’t aligned, and communications are scattered and uncoordinated.
At Framework, we bridge businesses to their suppliers’ finance teams. Speaking their language of accounting, which can seem foreign to outsiders, we understand how they operate, what they expect, and implement efficient systems to ensure timely, hassle-free payments.
What is supplier management and payments?
In a nutshell, supplier management is how organisations keep on top of payments for external suppliers. Doing it right keeps cash flow steady and predictable, and records up to date. This helps with various business functions.
It can be quite a comprehensive service, and often includes the following:
Coordinating and executing supplier pay-runs
Approving invoices and matching them to relevant purchase orders
Reconciling discrepancies and managing enquiries
Communicating with external finance and accounting teams
Ensuring accurate ledger and cash flow tracking for businesses.
As with many aspects of finance, it’s often underappreciated but hugely important. Not only can it save a business time, but it can also protect relationships with suppliers and remove a massive internal headache.
Why is supplier management and payments an important aspect of business accounting?
Missed payments are, in a word, a nightmare. They put unnecessary strain on important business relationships, delay projects, and can damage business reputation and cash flow.
Efficient supplier management works to avoid all of this and helps businesses plan more accurately for the future. It also helps reduce manual workload and delays, and overall, can streamline an organisation’s bookkeeping, VAT, and audit preparation.
From invoicing to forecasting, bookkeeping, and financial reporting, supplier management and payments are a key cog in any finance function and help connect the dots across an organisation.
Five mistakes businesses make with supplier management and payments
There are many reasons businesses don’t quite get supplier management right. In our experience, here are some of the most common pitfalls for businesses in various industries:
1. A lack of organisation
Invoices get lost and emails get missed if supplier management isn’t up to scratch. This means delayed payments and delays in business progression. Centralising this system efficiently reduces bottlenecks and frees internal teams to focus on higher-value work.
2. Missed payments
If a business is handling supplier payments on the fly, ad-hoc payments can be missed and cause issues with important suppliers. For those in the construction industry, for example, missed or late supplier payments can result in project delays and strained relationships with contractors.
3. Poor communication
It’s not just missed payments that can annoy suppliers and do damage to relationships. A lack of communication can also result in tensions that could have been avoided. With direct contact to finance teams, we help businesses keep these relationships healthy.
4. Slow, manual processes
Found teams relying solely on spreadsheets and inboxes? They’re amplifying risk without even realising it. Automation is probably the answer, and when done right, it reduces admin time and significantly improves consistency.
5. Lack of visibility
Cash flow can take a hit if you aren’t sure what’s due when. It’s that simple. Fully integrated systems reduce this problem and result in fewer surprises.
How we can help
At Framework, our experienced, professional team of experts takes full responsibility for managing supplier payments and all relevant communications. Knowing it’s all being taken care of enables leadership teams to focus on the bigger picture.
Here are the services we provide to businesses across the country in a wide range of industries:
Scheduling and executing supplier pay-runs in line with business cash flow
Reconciling invoices accurately against purchase orders and approvals
Handling supplier onboarding and finance team questions
Identifying and resolving discrepancies before they become bigger problems
Integrations with your organisation’s existing systems to keep things running smoothly and easily audited
Providing dashboards and reporting for complete visibility.
Wherever your business sits in the supply chain, we make sure payment functions are one less thing to worry about.
Find out more
We take supplier management seriously at Framework and provide clarity and control. With an uncanny ability to spot issues early, resolve them quickly, and keep things running smoothly, think of us as your outsourced finance team.
Get in touch to discover how we can help your organisation manage supplier relationships with confidence.