Why Hiring a Coupa Consultant Can Have a Huge Impact On Your Business

Coupa is a leader in the procurement industry because of its revolutionary SaaS platform that gives organizations the power to quickly and efficiently implement the best procurement practices and optimize spend strategies. A Coupa consultant is a knowledgeable expert in both the realms of technology and procurement that will provide powerful insight and skillful processes to the establishments that are wise enough to hire them.

What Exactly is Coupa?

Coupa is a comprehensive software platform that manages business spend. Imagine being able to pull data from multiple sources and get the help of an organized team of experts all in one great platform. Coupa uses the power of artificial intelligence with the element of human connection to create strategies that not only cut costs but save time and resources.

The Coupa SaaS platform will be able to help businesses:

• Collaborate across all departments
• Get a clear vision of all spend data
• Determine where to cut costs or gain returns

This platform has the capability to integrate with your existing enterprise systems and manage all of your transactions in one robust program that uses data from several sources.

Why Is a Coupa Consultant Necessary?

Technology is getting more and more sophisticated as the use of artificial intelligence is becoming more mainstream. Although most professionals would like to believe that they can figure out how to use an application on their own, the truth is that unless they are experts in the software, they will not easily learn how to use it to its fullest potential.

Maybe a person could learn to operate the basics of the application merely by following the instructions and using Google, but the basics are only the surface of the potential of the program.

A consultant that is an expert both in the realm of business spending and the Coupa software application can bring techniques and value to the table that might not be discovered by feeling the way through the program.

A consultant can help with:

• Connecting and integrating other platforms
• Setting up administration
• Showing how to implement processes
• Procurement strategies
• AP automation
• Payments

Finding, setting, and changing parameters on a new application system can take a considerable amount of time. It would cost less to hire an expert to show the company how the application how works than to pay hourly wages to a team that is just trying to figure it all out.

What Can Coupa Do?

Coupa is a business spend management application that has several functions that assist in the entire spending management of the enterprise. Some of the functions that businesses rely on for everyday productivity are:

• Procurement
• Invoicing
• Expense management
• Payment
• Supply chain planning
• Sourcing
• Contract management

The entire source-to-pay process can be initiated and carried out within the Coupa platform. For example, in order to find the best sources possible for a product or a service the platform can use artificial intelligence to scour the database for the best matching sources that fall within specified parameters.

Each company will have its own needs and characteristics, so the scope of furnishing perfect sources for every business will depend on millions of varying details that can be taken into consideration by the software within a few seconds.

For instance, say a company buys and sells electrical components. There are countless variations of what these components could be. In addition to the number of items, the price of each item and the availability of the items on a continual basis will all be factors that will make an impact on the amount of money that will be spent, or not spent, in an order.

The technology that runs the Coupa platform is equipped with the ability to search the marketplace and compare numbers regarding vendors that are available and of the most value to the company.

The software can seek out the best deals, find the best prices, locate the best sources, and keep track of all of the details that it finds so that it can continue to improve its sources as it moves forward.

• Find best sources
• Acquire best prices
• Create contracts and agreements
• Manage and monitor contracts
• Initiate orders
• Facilitate payment
• Schedule next round

How Does Coupa Work?

Coupa, on its own, is merely a sophisticated digital platform that helps companies get the most out of their money. In order for it to be completely useful and expand its capabilities beyond the needs of the company, it has to be properly administered.

The software is there, now a conscious human being has to direct the program in the direction that will be most beneficial to the company.

• Administration
• Permissions
• Administrators
• Users

In the administration phase of the implementation, the first admin will install the platform in the place where the business is most suited for it. For example, some applications will be used in a private network that does not connect to the internet or is protected behind a sophisticated firewall. In other applications, the software will be based in a cloud that is off-site but runs on the local network.

Once the software is installed the administrator of the platform can begin creating permissions for different types of users on the platform. The person can create different types of users for different types of access to the software.

A user with administrative permissions will be able to have full power over the platform where they can create and change passwords, block people, set parameters for functions, and much more.

Each user will be assigned their own credentials to log in and work where they have permission to be. Some users will have access to particular information, while others will not.

Since the software is designed to work with many different types of businesses and has such a plethora of functions, it will have to be dialed in to specifically match the needs of the business.

The functions of each business will consist of variables such as:

• Available funds for budget
• Costs of goods and services
• Tax costs depending on location
• Number of people using the platform
• Minimum spending costs
• Maximum spending costs

Once the software is properly formatted to run in a way that will best benefit the company, it can be implemented and used on a daily basis.

Training Employees

Most employees will not know how to use Coupa properly unless they are trained by a professional. Although many people can figure out how to use the MS Office Suite, the Coupa platform is much more advanced and training will be the best way to show people how to use it in a manner that allows it to work to its full potential.

The beginning stages of a Coupa implementation will be the best time to have a consultant around to help the transition run smoothly and efficiently. A consultant will be able to bring the employees through the entire system and show them how to use it.

Some employees will have a natural knack for software use, while others might struggle a little bit. However, the easy-to-follow user interface coupled with the expert training of a certified Coupa consultant will allow for a powerful shift in the production of business for the entire company.

Conclusion

The way that hiring a Coupla consultant can have a huge impact on your business is simply that it is a platform that is designed to give businesses the best possible routes towards beneficial and effective spending on a global level. Just by cutting back here, and spending less there, a company can save millions of dollars a year. Now, all companies can get the most out of their spending with the help of a powerful platform, and an expert to show them how to use it.