The Best Purchase Order Software
Drawing on 20+ years of expertise, this guide highlights top purchase order systems with key features like invoice matching and multicurrency support.
- Offers auditable record of all purchases
- Auto-converts requisitions to emailed purchase orders
- Consolidates one-page checkout screen
- Integrations for most accounting systems e.g. QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage, Xero
- Offers light budgeting, project, and inventory features
- Intuitive, modern interface
- Offers insights into spending patterns
- Monthly subscriptions offer low per user cost
- Upcoming AP automation feature
Purchase order software automates the creation of purchase orders so teams can get ahead of potential stock shortages.
To help you choose the right solution for your business, we used our review methodology to test out the best purchase order software on the market.
- Coupa: Best Overall
- Tradogram: Best for Accounting Integration
- Fraxion: Best for Automation
- Procurify: Best Financial Tools
- Precoro: Best Supplier Management
- Tipalti Approve: Best ERP Integrations
- Bellwether: Best for Small Businesses
- Airbase: Best Spend Management Integration
1 Coupa - Best Overall
Why we chose it: Coupa is a complete spend management program providing purchase orders and purchase requisition capabilities. The software can be as simple as something you use to create purchase orders, or as complicated as handling anything that relates to your purchasing process.
Coupa has a variety of products you can purchase depending on your needs, such as Procure for e-procurement, Invoice for AP automation, Expense to monitor travel/employee expenses or Pay for B2B payments. They can also be fully integrated to operate as a complete spend management platform, making Coupa stand out as being one of the most versatile purchase order software options available.
2 Tradogram - Best for Accounting Integration
Why we chose it: Tradogram procurement software is particularly suited for small to mid-sized businesses due to its user-friendly interface and cost-effective pricing plans. It goes beyond procurement by including some basic tools to help manage budgets, inventory, and expenses. Main capabilities include vendor management, purchase orders, and invoicing.
During our review, we were most impressed by the many native and API integrations available, including:
- QuickBooks Desktop and Online
- Xero
- Oracle Netsuite
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Sage 50cloud Accounting
- And more
These integrations make Tradogram a good option for businesses that require connectivity with the top ERP and accounting systems.
3 Fraxion - Best for Automation
Why we chose it: We recommend Fraxion to growing companies looking to automate procurement processes. We found it easy to add new users and expand into other departments to provide end-to-end coverage of purchase order processes. The customizable approval paths and email notification system help users stay on top of purchasing tasks.
Fraxion also integrates with several third-party systems like Amazon Business, Oracle NetSuite, and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
4 Procurify - Best Financial Tools
Why we chose it: We picked Procurify due to its streamlined procurement processes and efficient financial management. We were impressed by its automated approval flows and real-time budget tracking. It also has a mobile app that allows users to manage catalogs and streamline order processes remotely.
Procurify has three pricing plans to fit businesses of all sizes. The first, intended for small businesses, starts at $1,000 per month. The medium plan starts at $2,000 per month. Enterprise-level companies must request a custom quote. We found its pricing makes it a better fit for mid-sized to large businesses.
5 Precoro - Best Supplier Management
Why we chose it: Precoro offers streamlined PO creation, approval workflows, and notable integrations with popular accounting systems like QuickBooks and Xero. The real-time budget tracking and centralized supplier management platform are significant assets for effective procurement management.
We liked the cloud-based nature, which made it accessible for in-office and remote work. And its adaptability to organizational needs makes it a good choice for businesses that need a custom purchase order solution.
6 Tipalti Approve - Best ERP Integrations
Why we chose it: Tipalti Approve, previously known as Approve.com, enhances business spend control by simplifying purchase order requests and approvals. The software integrates well with ERP systems and operates on a secure AWS cloud infrastructure. It is also SOC2 compliant, ensuring high standards of security and reliability. Tipalti Approve is particularly effective in automating manual processes and maintaining electronic records of purchases, approvals, and interactions.
7 Bellwether - Best for Small Businesses
Why we chose it: Bellwether Purchasing and Inventory software is designed with the needs of small to medium enterprises in mind. Its intuitive interface and scalable features make it our top pick for SMBs looking to streamline their purchasing processes without the complexity often associated with larger systems. Bellwether offers modules for eProcurement, inventory management, and requisition management, allowing for a tailored approach to business needs.
The software’s strength lies in its ease of use, making it accessible for teams without extensive procurement training. Additionally, Bellwether’s commitment to customer support ensures businesses can maximize their use of the software with minimal downtime.
8 Airbase - Best Spend Management Integration
Why we chose it: Airbase combines spend management with an accounts payable system, offering a seamless solution for managing company-wide spending in one platform. This software integrates expense management, corporate cards, and accounts payable, streamlining the approval process and providing real-time visibility into spend analytics.
Airbase’s platform stands out for its ability to automate the entire spend management process, from requisition to reconciliation, reducing manual work and increasing efficiency. The software’s strong integration capabilities with major accounting systems like QuickBooks and Xero further enhance its value by ensuring a smooth flow of financial data across systems.
What is Purchase Order Software?
Purchase order software (also called PO software) helps create the financial document issued to vendors when buying supplies or services. Purchase orders typically include information such as product type, quantity, and pricing, along with other relevant data.
Purchase order management software functionality is a key part of any accounts payable process. Purchase order systems can help automate the creation of purchase orders, saving time when stock levels are running low by alerting your team before a shortage can start. Because of this, purchase order software goes hand in hand with inventory management software.
Purchasing workflows used to require a lot of manual processes, especially when it came time to collect signatures for approvals. PO software can also streamline the approval and requisition processes. Anytime someone in your company desires a purchase to be made, they will go through the approval process:
- Employee puts in a purchase request to the appropriate approval workflows
- Request moves up the chain to the corresponding management personnel
- Management evaluates the need and the current budget allowances
- The decision-maker either approves or denies the request
Key Features of Purchase Order Software
- Automated POs: Create purchase orders (POs) when certain conditions are met. Reduce manual dependency and eliminate duplicate data-entry. Automatically send these PO documents to the appropriate vendor.
- Approvals Management: Manage approvals and requisitions. Let employees submit pre-spend approvals. Route the document to the appropriate person for review. Set up email notifications to ensure the right people see the request in a timely fashion.
- Catalogs: Create digital catalogs to share specific pricing information with clients or customers.
- Electronic Approvals: Approve requisitions from anywhere they may be via a web browser, email, text message, or mobile app. Automatically create the PO and send it out upon approval to eliminate having the original requester step back to the computer to handle the next step.
- Multi-currency: Establish a default currency and allow POs to be converted to any applicable currency, depending on the vendor/client receiving the PO and their local currency.
- Invoice Matching: Attach POs to invoices for clients to ensure the appropriate party is paying for each task, service, or product.
- Real-time Reporting: View real-time financial data on spending and exceptions. Spot hold-ups in your processing and prevent delays from occurring.
Best PO Software Benefits
By automating your purchase order management, PO software offers many benefits to your business:
- Process automation: Avoid time-consuming manual processes when getting approvals for purchases
- Control spending: Limit unapproved company spending
- Gain visibility into purchases: Review all approved and denied purchase requisitions across every department for greater spending transparency
- Ease design with templates: Ensure your key purchasing documents are consistent with templates
- Track purchases for audits: Keep detailed records on all company purchases in the event of an audit
- Reduce paperwork: Use digital applications and signatures to cut down on paper
- Minimize human error: By automating your processes with software, you can limit human error in your accounting data entry
PO Software Integrations
Since purchase orders are only part of your business’s accounting system, it’s important you know when and how to integrate with other systems:
Invoicing Integration
If a job or service requires the purchase of additional goods, a purchase order can be attached to bills or invoices to pass the cost onto the customer. For this reason, purchase order software can be integrated with a variety of accounting software and invoicing solutions so your purchasing staff create POs and track the related invoices. Purchase orders can be created from requisitions or an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Invoices can be paid directly through the program rather than having to upload/attach the PO into an accounts payable solution.
Many stand-alone purchase order solutions will not have invoicing capabilities built into the solution and will require you to integrate with an accounting or invoicing solution for that purpose. Fortunately, any accounting solution with an accounts payable module should allow for an easy transition from purchase order creation to invoice generation.
Inventory Management Integration
Many businesses use purchase order software to track stock levels to stay on top of replenishing inventory. POs hold the information on needed parts or products from vendors your company has a relationship with. If your inventory stays well stocked with raw materials or assembled spare parts, you can fulfill any manufacturing or distribution jobs that come your way.
Integrated inventory software can save information on which vendors you’ve purchased from previously, who has the most affordable costs, who has the best turnaround time, and more. Then, the PO software can automatically generate a PO when the inventory level hits a certain threshold, called the “reorder point,” and send it to the vendor without any needed user interaction.
Procure to Pay Integration
Purchase order software shares many similarities with procure to pay solutions, which is generally seen as a subdivision of the procurement process. When integrated, these two provide a full overview of purchasing by clearly showing buying habits, cash flow, and financial commitments.
Best Small Business Purchase Order Software
What are the best purchase order software solutions for small businesses? We’ve researched to find a few options that are continuously affordable, simple to use, and easy to set up.
Bellwether
Bellwether has a variety of PO products that can work for your business:
- PMX: A free desktop solution to record purchases, payments, and simple inventory tracking.
- BPM: Intended for small businesses, provides a simple cloud-based approach with standard functions such as requisitions, approvals, purchasing, receiving, invoice matching, self-service order status, inventory management, and mobile capabilities.
- EPMX: Includes all the features of BPM but is intended for companies with a higher PO volume. Additional features include e-Catalogs, RFQs, asset management, and contract management.
QuickBooks Pro
Creating a purchase order can be done with ease in the accounts payable workflow of QuickBooks Pro. QuickBooks has long been one of the leading small business accounting solutions to provide a general ledger with accounts payable and receivable. A part of the account payables process is the ability to create a purchase order.
Quickbooks can help track items ordered and received, plan expenses, and manage your funds wisely. Combining these factors and a strong audit trail will make QuickBooks a great choice for small businesses looking for PO capability with full accounting.
Sage Intacct
Growing businesses looking to jump to a mid-sized accounting solution with a strong purchasing functionality will want to consider a product such as Sage Intacct. The purchasing module automates purchasing transactions using dashboards and reporting tools so your staff can monitor merchandise and service acquisitions in real time.
Sage Intacct lets you implement best practices for purchasing supplies and create custom templates for requisitions, requests for quotations, purchase orders, and adjustments. It also lets you database your vendor prices. Anytime you pay a price on a purchase order, you can automatically update your vendor costs with those figures for future POs.
Price: Varies depending on the number of users and functionalities needed. Typically starts at $400/month/user.
Free and Low Cost Purchase Order Software
For new and growing businesses, it may be hard to budget for purchase order software to meet your needs. Luckily, free and affordable options exist. These can be in the form of forever-free packages, limited-use packages (usually capping business owners at a specific number of purchase orders each month), or a limited number of multi-day trial versions of paid options.
SpendMap
The Free-Procurement Project by SpendMap is a true free purchase order software. It does not provide limited functionality or only a trial version of their paid version. Your business can automate the purchase order process with unlimited POs in the Free-Procurement Project solution from SpendMap.
Key features include professional-looking POs, email integration, supplier management, and budget tracking. Paid versions of SpendMap are available starting at $20/month/user, which offer a wider range of functionality.
Zoho Inventory](/crm/zoho-crm/)
Zoho Inventory is a free solution in the Zoho suite of applications. Zoho Inventory includes the Purchase Order Generator, which can create simple purchase orders with editable fields. You can add your billing and vendor’s addresses, enter a PO number, and even include descriptions of the items bought.
While Zoho Inventory is free to use, it is in the inventory management solution and is not necessarily the best for all your purchasing processes. It will mostly act as a simple tool to create a quick purchase order, but it will not allow for a level of automation, collaboration, or customization of a paid version. You are also limited to only 20 orders/month with the free version. The price for paid versions of Zoho Inventory starts at $39/month and includes the capability to handle up to 1,500 orders a month.
