NetSuite and Zip for Procure-to-Pay

As businesses scale, they need to balance resources needed for growth with maintaining profitability. Finance and procurement teams are feeling this tension as they face crowded markets, evolving consumer preferences, and evolving regulatory compliance requirements. 

At this stage in the business lifecycle, companies require a formalized procurement process, in order to gain better visibility of stakeholder buying activity, broader oversight of spend, and streamlined risk management. Growing businesses typically solve part of this by adopting an ERP system, like NetSuite, but getting full adoption of a formal process may require more than establishing a system of record.

In this article, we’ll examine why both Zip and NetSuite are effective procurement software platforms for streamlining the procurement process and gaining control over spend management. These systems are designed as excellent standalone solutions or can be combined for top-level efficiency.

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NetSuite ERP

NetSuite ERP is a central business management solution designed to improve operational and financial performance. The procurement capabilities of Oracle NetSuite are designed to help companies purchase goods and services at the best price available, in a timely manner. The easy-to-use platform allows brands to centrally manage vendors, procurement, and the approval process. 

NetSuite enables a business to route POs to approved suppliers and pre-negotiated contracts, improve visibility by generating real-time views into spend, and enable clear communication throughout the entire process.

All procurement-related data (from transaction records to vendor performance) is consolidated in the procurement dashboard. Expect key features like:

• Sourcing management equips teams with the tools needed to select the right vendors to maximize profits.
• Purchase management to track purchases and effectively manage inventory, including quantities and shipment dates.
• Invoice processing to manage vendor payments by automating the receipt of ordered items, planning payments, notifications, and processing bills.
• Vendor management to centrally oversee all aspects of vendor relations from communication to performance.

NetSuite Procurement helps to solve challenges like poor vendor communication, compliance issues, rogue spending, and manual processes.

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Why companies choose NetSuite

Companies choose NetSuite for procure-to-pay tasks because they gain better visibility into spend, with increased profitability. With procurement data readily accessible, teams can better negotiate contracts, closely collaborate, and capitalize on economies of scale. All supplier information and related projects are located in a single user interface, ensuring buyers can quickly access complete datasets.

There is also a self-service supplier portal where vendors and buyers can communicate in real time allowing them to easily share documents and ideas. Three-way matching is also available to highlight variances between the purchase order and receiving and billing records.

NetSuite has a score of 4.0 out of 5 (2,361 reviews) on G2.

NetSuite has a score of 4.1 out of 5 (1,227 reviews) on Capterra.

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Zip intake to procure: modern spend approvals

Zip Intake to Procure provides a seamless user experience, guiding teams to preferred suppliers, while automatically routing the approval workflow for every new purchase or vendor to the appropriate party. 

Zip procurement processes are easy for users to follow, quickly eliminating “after-the-fact” purchase requisitions. The universal purchasing tool helps to increase employee adoption while improving spend management and mitigating risk.

ZIP integrates with a variety of ERP and P2P solutions (like Canva), and creates a positive end-user experience, while adhering to business processes. Anticipate features like:

• Best-in-class procurement intake management
• De-risk your business and ensure compliance and data security with a full audit trail
• Spend less time manually tracking approval requests across teams
• Easily configure the intake process to guide employees and loop in stakeholders
• Enhanced supplier management to avoid redundancy and boost negotiations

Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, Zip enables procurement to focus more on strategic sourcing with easier budget management, greater spend visibility, and a more involved user experience.

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Why companies choose Zip

A business can deploy in eight weeks or less through a no-code implementation with Zip. The system was recently recognized as a 2022 ProcureTech100 Company for Its modern intake-to-procure solution. 

The procurement intake management solution provides a single source of truth for today’s decentralized purchasing processes. Zip reduces your administrative burden by up to 40%, enabling procurement teams to focus on more value-driven tasks.

Companies love Zip because it sits on top of their existing ERP and P2P systems and functions as a single buying channel for software, services, and other forms of indirect spend. The SaaS procurement platform enables any team member to initiate a purchase or vendor request in minutes, creating a collaborative ecosystem that improves the employee experience.

People rave about ZIP’s ease of use, and the platform integrates with CLMs like Ironclad, ticketing solutions like Jirra, GRC tools, and communication apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Zip automatically routes purchase requests for significantly faster approval workflows across IT, legal, HR, finance, and more. The purchasing solution enables real-time visibility throughout the entire procurement process and is a solid system to help teams scale.

Zip has a score of 4.8 out of 5 (37 reviews) on G2.

Zip has a score of 4.8 out of 5 (21 reviews) on Capterra.

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The overlap between NetSuite and Zip

Zip is built for high-growth companies and is the perfect solution for everyone from startups to midmarket and enterprise growth organizations. NetSuite is used by small to mid-size organizations as their financial backbone and to standardize procurement processes. 

There is some overlap between the two systems and they often work well together. You will find that both offer superb customer support and a pricing model built to suit your business.

Zip and NetSuite share features that include:

• Contract management
• Purchase order tasks
• Spend management
• Supplier management
• Requisition management

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Why do enterprises integrate Zip with NetSuite to modernize BSM and procurement?

Zip has created a best-in-class intake-to-procure management system that integrates with NetSuite to tackle complex procurement issues like rogue spending and compliance risks. 

Zip helps NetSuite users drive employee adoption and quickly set up new suppliers with ease. NetSuite users can connect with Zip to generate a purchase request or purchase order in just a few clicks, and automate cross-functional approval for legal, finance, security, IT, and more. Zip drives adoption because its UI requires zero training.

Companies integrate Zip with NetSuite because a business can better manage risk with a central repository of vendor data, increase visibility into their pipeline of requests and contracts, eliminate emails from curious purchasers, and reduce rogue spend.

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How fast growing business use Zip intake-to-procure to take the place of traditional BSM

Traditional business spend management (BSM) can take 7 or more approvals before a purchase order is issued. The process is lengthy and prone to human error.

In the past, a PO was routed through a multitude of processes that touch every department, from finance to IT. Requesters would lack visibility, and there was often confusion about the workflow. This, in turn, caused teams to miss important deadlines and opportunities.

Zip is the first (and only) intake-to-procure solution that automates the entire upstream procurement process. Unlike traditional business spend management, Zip provides a single spot for teams to initiate a purchase or vendor request. They are a front door for clearer visibility into all parallel and serial cross-functional reviews, before connecting to your ERP or P2P.

Data and AI company Databricks had a challenging user experience across the board. When an employee wanted to engage with a particular vendor or supplier, the process was slowed by common bottlenecks. They had to reach out to the vendor multiple times, work with security, speak with legal, etc. This can be frustrating when the employee knows what they need and just wants to get it.

Zip helped Databricks change its entire procurement operation. Simplifying the intake process, data is gathered on the front end, eliminating the need to reach out multiple times or waste manual labor. It speeds up the entire process. 

Zip is the one-stop shop for an employee to submit a request. It integrates with their various systems like contract lifecycle management and purchase order creation and allows Databricks to customize their workflows based on what’s being purchased.

Zip Intake-to-Procure can help your business manage spend, gain visibility, streamline operations, mitigate risk, and much more. Ready to get started? Click here to speak with an expert today.