“Do what you can with what you have. Maximise and leverage what you have really well, before you then start thinking about stepping up”.

– Jun Yan, Director at Ravit Insights

“Engage with those operations people upfront and understand those pain points that they have and how it relates to collecting revenue or improving the finance side”.

– Laurel Grey, National Manager, Digital Advisory at RSM Australia

“Do your research and touch as many systems as you can. If you’re doing an expense management system, do a demo with sales. People would love to talk to you to show you the product. But don’t waste their time. Don’t be rude or dismissive. Be really interested. And, if it’s not a fit, feel free to say ‘This is not a fit, but thanks'”.

– Tyler Caskey, Partner at The Bean Counters

Today I’m sharing a panel discussion from the Weel CFO Summit ‘23.

This discussion covered key considerations for finance technology procurement strategies, including expense management solutions, revenue collection processes, and spreadsheet vs. reporting apps. The panellists provided advice on touching multiple solutions, negotiating pricing, and engaging stakeholders to understand pain points and maximise existing tools.

The topic was Finance Technology ROI 2023: Where to invest?

The panel participants were:

In this episode, we talk about . . .

  • The typical procurement strategies
  • The key elements to developing a procurement strategy.
  • Challenges in the B2B market.
  • Procurement process for larger purchases.
  • Navigating step-up costs as part of a procurement strategy.
  • The state of the fragmented expense management space.
  • How painful is the expense reimbursement process in your business?
  • Challenges businesses face when implementing expense management solutions.
  • The Magic Change Management Playbook.
  • How to convince the board to make a change

Summary

  • What are the key elements to developing your procurement strategy?
    • How painful is the expense reimbursement process in your business?
    • Key elements to developing a procurement strategy.
    • Why procurement is important for small businesses.
  • What is the typical procurement strategy that you see businesses undertaking and how do you convince the board to make a change?
    • Challenges in the B2B market.
    • Procurement process for larger purchases.
    • Navigating step-up costs as part of a procurement strategy.
    • Typical procurement strategy for businesses.
    • Recruitment and HR, hidden charges and payment charges.
    • Expense management solutions.
  • What’s the state of the expense management space?
    • The expense management space is still fragmented.
    • The overarching theme is no one wants to adopt new things.
    • The role of Amex in finance businesses.
    • How to get the best of both worlds.
  • What other solutions are they exploring for clients?
    • The magic change management Playbook.
    • Other solutions to consider for clients.
    • Other expense management tools.
    • Challenges that businesses face when implementing expense management solutions.
  • How painful is the revenue collection process in your business?
    • Adoption and smooth implementation of new systems.
    • Revenue collection in Australia.
    • Xero and QuickBooks have clean, automatic reminders.
    • 5 out of 10 businesses are receiving payments wrong.
    • Automating connections with member management systems and bank feeds.
    • SaaS solutions for credit collection.
  • How do we look at these solutions when selecting solutions?
    • Stripe is the infrastructure for most companies in Australia and New Zealand.
    • Looking for forward-thinking operations solutions.
    • How to reconcile payments in Xero.
    • The gap between small and medium businesses.
  • What is a member management system and how does it work?
    • Xero can outperform most big business systems.

Read more similar blog post at https://heathersmithsmallbusiness.com/blog

Read more about Weel here: https://letsweel.com