Online procurement management systems let you handle the entire procurement process from a centralized, cloud-based dashboard, bringing greater cohesion and efficiency. A high-quality online procurement software solution should: 

• Let you create a controlled purchasing flow by choosing approved vendors and setting budgets and purchasing rules; this automates PR and PO approvals and enables proactive spend control. 

• Make the purchasing process simple and convenient for employees. After building shopping carts, orders are checked against budgets and purchasing rules so they’re automatically approved or routed to the right team member for review. 

• Provide reporting dashboards to track real-time company spending; this way, you can see new purchases, pinpoint spending patterns, and monitor and optimize budgets. 

• Offer customer support and guided onboarding to help you migrate software solutions and hit the ground running. 

Not only that — you should also think about how the software connects with and supports accounts payable workflows. Most procurement teams work hand-in-hand with AP to manage supplier relationships, reconcile invoices, make timely payments, and oversee company expenses; for this reason, it can be helpful for both parties to work in a shared, centralized system. 

That’s why many online procurement software brands also offer AP features and categorize themselves as procure-to-pay (P2P) systems.

In this article, we include a list of eight top-rated online procurement systems that check our boxes above and offer features to support AP workflows. We start with a review of our P2P solution, ProcureDesk, and explain the features to manage purchasing flows, give employees shopping freedom, and streamline AP processes. 

1. ProcureDesk

Automated Online Procurement Functionality for Small & Growing Companies

We built ProcureDesk to automate the entire P2P lifecycle. Our software:

• Supports procurement teams by controlling and automating the purchasing flow.

• Lets employees shop independently, track orders, and log receipts in the system.

• Connects AP workflows to automate the payment process and provide real-time spend visibility. 

Our platform includes advanced features like e-invoicing, vendor portals, three-way invoice matching, and integrations with ERPs, accounting software, and business intelligence tools. That said, we designed our platform for simplicity; all features are user-friendly and you can easily add users without formal training. 

In addition, we offer free white-glove onboarding so you can get up and running without long implementation times. We’ll walk you through our online platform, showing you how to manage vendors, set the approval process, and configure the system to match your existing procurement process. Our team is available to help anytime you need (and as a SaaS provider, we always handle maintenance like updates and bug fixes).  

Features to Save Procurement Teams Time

During setup, we show you how to add approved vendors and create an “online catalog” for employees — limiting who they can shop with. Then, you can set budgets (by department, person, supplier, or spend category) to control spending proactively. 

You also set purchasing rules, with approval criteria and workflows, to prevent maverick spending. Employees are prompted to answer questions about their order, justifying why it’s necessary (and all purchase requests contain all relevant order information). 

Then, our automated system can check orders against purchasing rules and budgets to either (a) approve purchases without manager intervention, or (b) route the purchase to the right procurement team member for review. This prevents procurement teams from being hit with dozens of purchase requests and allows them to focus on the ones that truly require managers’ attention. 

We also make reviewing and approving purchase requests easy through our mobile app, email, or desktop. We’ll send a notification when a new order requires review.

After orders are approved — whether by our system or a member of the procurement team — ProcureDesk automatically converts the purchase request to a purchase order and routes POs to vendors. 

After the initial legwork during set-up, our system lets employees place orders with vendors, manages purchase approvals, and sends approved POs for fulfillment — drastically reducing the time and effort to manage the purchasing process. Then, procurement managers can spend their time on more valuable tasks, like establishing and negotiating vendor relationships for greater cost savings.  

Features to Allow Employees to Shop and Place Orders Independently

You can add employees to our dashboard — regardless of where they’re located — so they can shop with approved vendors at their convenience. 

ProcureDesk uses single-sign-on (SSO) to authenticate users during login, allowing employees to access the platform easily and securely. Upon logging in, employees can see all approved vendors and choose who they wish to shop with. Vendor sites open within the ProcureDesk dashboard so employees can browse products, build orders, and check out — all without leaving our system. 

After orders are approved and sent (using the automated approval process discussed above), vendors can note when they receive the order and update the fulfillment status in ProcureDesk. Once the vendor has shipped the order, ProcureDesk users can add tracking numbers to monitor when orders will arrive. 

Finally, employees can confirm they’ve received orders by uploading a receipt picture and logging the details. Here is where they can note any issues with the order, like an incorrect quantity, damaged product, etc. 

Orders from different employees, departments, or worksites are visible to all team members, allowing companies with multiple locations or distributed teams to manage the shopping and procurement processes in a centralized dashboard. 

Everyone can track order status, see which products have been ordered, and avoid overlap or duplicate orders. This visibility removes unnecessary emails between team members and lets managers handle issues with orders as they’re reported.

Features to Connect Procurement & AP Teams (and Facilitate the Payment Process)

As mentioned in the intro, ProcureDesk has a suite of features to support AP automation. This is beneficial for procurement teams because AP teams can access order information without contacting them to confirm invoices, and it’s helpful for AP teams because they can anticipate expenses and understand how the company is spending — and our software automates the majority of their workflows. 

Let’s show you how this works. 

AP teams receive invoices through ProcureDesk via e-invoicing or vendor portals (you can also connect your email accounts or upload paper invoices — though this process requires you to review new invoices before our system can initiate matching). 

Then, the system automatically initiates matching by using optical character recognition (OCR) technology to extract data from new invoices and find the corresponding PO and receipt in the system. 

Once matched, ProcureDesk adds the correct accounting codes and pushes the invoice to your accounting or ERP system — ready for payment. ProcureDesk connects with dozens of ERPs and accounting systems to facilitate this process. 

Note: If an invoice needs further attention before it can be prepped for payment, our system will automatically route it to the correct member of your team for review. 

After payment is issued, the payment status is automatically updated both in your ERP and in ProcureDesk, keeping everyone in the loop.

Automatic invoice reconciliation saves time by removing the need to manually track down and match invoices, POs, and receipts; it also reduces matching errors, helps teams avoid double payments, and maintains compliance.

Features for Real-Time Spend Visibility & Control for all Teams 

ProcureDesk’s reporting dashboard provides real-time spend visibility — you can see what teams are purchasing, who they’re purchasing with, how much budget is used (and still available), and look back at past order history. 

We provide spend analysis tools to identify spending patterns, understand where your budget is going, and identify areas to improve savings. AP teams can also use this information to strategize with procurement teams and assist in supplier management.

For example, in the screenshot above, users can see spending by category, vendor, and user — so they could use this information to make informed decisions about budgets, identify preferred suppliers, dig into individual employee spending, and negotiate contracts with vendors they frequently shop with.

These reports are easily shareable so you can send them to others and collaborate in decision making. 

ProcureDesk Pricing

We offer a few packages to suit different team requirements:

• Our purchasing automation software — exclusive to the tools to support purchasing flows — is available for $518/month.

• Our full P2P solution — that connects procurement and AP workflows — is available at $850/month. 

• We offer add-on modules including expense report management, contract management, and inventory management. 

• We also offer custom packages and pricing for enterprise teams that have a higher volume of users or specialized requirements. 

2. Order.co

Order.co is a unique online P2P tool designed for smaller teams. What differentiates Order.co from competitors is its custom catalog feature — procurement managers can create a centralized catalog containing all approved products across vendors. Then, employees have one portal to shop: they can view approved products, build carts with everything they need, and submit orders.

Order.co’s software automatically sends POs to vendors and simplifies AP workflows with features to consolidate bills and send mass payments. 

However, it’s worth mentioning that this solution is best for teams that primarily order from popular online sites, like Amazon or Walmart, as Order.co does not connect with all vendors. 

Notable Features

• Custom purchasing catalogs  
• Purchasing management tools, to view & approve new orders
• Reporting tools
• Integrations with accounting software
• Virtual cards (with spend controls) 
• Payment features to consolidate bills & automate vendor payments

Pricing

Order.co does not provide pricing information. You must contact them to schedule a demo and receive a custom quote.

3. Tradogram

Tradogram is a procurement management solution designed for small and medium-sized businesses. They offer a freemium model to get started (limited to a single user and five monthly transactions) and simple packages for small businesses to upgrade afterwards. 

They appeal to small businesses because they offer affordable pricing and dozens of features, but reviews mention that learning the software can be tricky, certain modules need further development, and that Tradogram lacks certain customization options. For those reasons, larger teams might find this solution insufficient.    

Notable Features

• Inventory management
• Expense management
• Unlimited number of suppliers and catalogs
• Invoice tracking
• Purchase order management
• Project management
• Approval routing (Premium Plan)
• Integrations (Premium Plan)
• Budgeting tool (Premium Plan)
• Report builder (Premium Plan)

Pricing

Tradogram offers a free version that serves one user and five transactions per month. Their Premium plan starts at $168 per month and supports teams of up to 19 people. Larger teams must contact the company for a custom quote.

4. ProcurementExpress.com

Procurement Express — as the name suggests — is designed to automate procurement workflows and save you time. They let you centralize purchasing in their cloud-based platform and create punchout catalogs for quick, convenient shopping. As a full P2P solution, Procurement Express also offers a suite of AP tools, including invoice scanning and three-way matching, to simplify those workflows.  

Procurement Express works with small and large businesses — with packages to suit different team sizes — but they’re mostly recommended for mid-size and growing teams because the small business packages lack essential features (like reporting and integrations). 

Notable Features

• Approval workflows
• Supplier portals
• Punchout catalogs
• Budget tracking
• Reporting (with customizable dashboards)
• Invoice scanning & matching (with three-way match)
• Purchase request management (with custom fields for POs)
• Integrations (via Zapier) with ERPs, accounting systems, & other business applications

Pricing

Procurement Express offers four packages: 

• The Basic Plan ($365/month) can serve one business and up to $10,000 in monthly spend. Note this plan offers very basic functionality. 

• The Small Business Plan ($730/month) includes upgraded procurement tools, like Amazon punchouts, standard reporting, and ERP integrations. This plan supports up to $1M in monthly spend. 

• The Standard Plan ($1,825/month) includes access to more punchout suppliers, up to five dashboards, and guided onboarding. This plan supports up to $10M in monthly spend. 

• Enterprise businesses must contact Procurement Express for a quote. 

5. Procurify

Procurify is a popular P2P solution that boasts hundreds of features. They have strong procurement tools, such as: PR and PO management, automated approval workflows, vendor and contract management, and spend control. Procurify also offers virtual spend cards for employees to shop independently. 

Starting at $1,000/month, Procurify is more expensive than other competitors on our list. While small businesses may be put off by the price, mid-sized businesses may like the included features to manage operations and drive savings.  

Notable Features

• Approval workflows
• Purchase request management
• Purchase order management
• Virtual spend cards
• Budget control & tracking
• Reporting
• Vendor & contract management
• Invoice processing
• Mobile apps
• ERP integrations
• Bill management
• Payments

Pricing

Procurify offers multiple pricing levels based on business size. Their Small Business plan starts at $1,000 per month, and their Medium Business plan starts at $2,000 per month. Enterprise businesses must contact Procurify directly for a custom quote. 

6. Airbase

Airbase is an online P2P solution that advertises strong expense management tools and corporate spend cards for employees. Airbase offers packages for all businesses, though they commonly work with mid-sized and growing brands (100+ employees) with a particular interest in cost control, managing financial risks, and improving savings. 

Airbase’s guided procurement features allow managers to create a controlled purchasing flow for employees shopping online. Spend cards have controls to restrict where employees can shop and how much they can spend; they also provide easy features to lock cards if users don’t log receipts. Then, Airbase reporting tools and AP features let teams see where budget is going and automate invoice processing. 

Though they offer a full P2P solution with convenient procurement features, this tool tends to receive better reviews about its AP functionality. 

Notable Features

• Mobile app
• Receipt management
• Security & fraud detection
• AP automation
• Expense management
• Corporate cards
• Automatic audit trail
• Integrations with ERPs & accounting systems
• Integrations with project management software to support workflows
• Spend controls
• Advanced approvals & workflows
• Real-time reporting
• Accounting automation
• Three-way invoice matching

Pricing

Airbase does not disclose pricing, but their site displays three packages for users to choose based on company size. The Standard plan is designed for businesses with around 200 employees, the Premium plan is for businesses with up to 500 employees, and the Enterprise plan supports up to 5000 users.

7. Kissflow

Kissflow is a general workflow tool designed to help teams automate a number of different business processes. In addition to providing software solutions for finance, human resources, and administrative teams, Kissflow also provides a module to manage procurement operations. 

Kissflow’s low-code software allows teams to modify the procurement platform to meet their specific procurement processes. Organizations that have a unique procurement cycle may find this flexibility attractive. The downside is that Kissflow may take more time and effort to set up; however, they provide customer service to help customers get started.

Teams that need a procurement management solution in addition to other workflow automation features may benefit from Kissflow’s range of offerings. If your team does not have development experience or limited resources to get the software off the ground, you may want to consider one of the above options. 

It’s also worth noting that Kissflow’s software falls on the expensive side, so it’s mostly reserved for larger companies. 

Notable Features

• Purchase order management
• AP automation, including three-way matching
• Strategic sourcing
• e-Procurement tools, including assisted buying
• Hosted & punchout catalogs
• Webhooks & API
• Inventory management
• Mobile apps
• Reporting & spend analytics
• Contract & vendor management
• Integrations with Xero & QuickBooks

Pricing

Kissflow offers a Basic plan that supports simple use cases and internal teams — this costs $1500/month. They also offer custom enterprise packages; these provide full platform access and let you invite external users. Kissflow offers custom pricing for these plans.

8. Coupa

Coupa is a P2P software brand that primarily works with enterprise teams — some brands include Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Salesforce, and AstraZeneca. 

In addition to expected procurement and AP management tools, this platform also has advanced features like strategic sourcing, cash management, supply chain management, and risk management solutions. They also offer consulting services and resources to solve complex business problems and drive growth. 

Many businesses may find they don’t require all that Coupa offers; as mentioned above, this option is reserved for bigger brands that need support in other areas like monitoring compliance and supply chain risks or reinvesting in growth strategies.

Notable Features

• PO collaboration tools
• AP automation with two- & three-way invoice matching
• Open Buy
• Purchase requisition tools
• Purchase order management 
• SOW-based spend management
• Budgets
• Spend guard
• Mobile apps
• Reporting
• Inventory management
• Contract management
• ERP integrations

Pricing

Coupa does not provide pricing information on its website. You must contact them for a custom quote.