OmniCard: Why do Indian businesses need spend management

Spend Management enhances operational efficiency by streamlining procurement and payment processes, reducing errors/delays, and saving businesses time.

Indian start-ups and SMEs commonly face challenges with their cash flow management. Despite having a promising business model and appealing products, businesses may fail if they do not manage their finances effectively. To improve their performance, businesses need to align their Spend Management with their business operations, which will help them address bottlenecks, optimise expenses, and achieve success.

As an entrepreneur myself, I can understand and relate to the daily challenges that we face while running a business.

Expense Management vs Spend Management
Expense management is frequently mistaken for spend management, and vice versa. Let us understand both concepts.

Expense management is the manual or digital process of tracking and controlling day-to-day business expenses, such as employee travel expenses, office supplies, and equipment purchases. It involves managing the expense reporting, reimbursement, and approval processes, as well as budget and policy compliance. It is a limited and tedious process since it is cut off from the rest of the company’s spending.

On the other hand, Spend Management is a broader concept that encompasses all aspects of a company’s spending, including the above-mentioned expenses, procurement, and supplier management. It involves managing spending across all categories, analysing patterns, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and optimising finances to achieve strategic objectives.

While expense management is an important component of Spend Management, Spend Management is a more comprehensive and strategic approach to managing spending.

Spend Management & Technology
By leveraging technology, businesses can streamline their spending and operations processes. Automated Spend Management systems can also reduce manual errors, eliminate paper-based processes, and increase efficiency. Consolidated payment systems can also help businesses manage their payments more efficiently and reduce processing costs. AI/ML can be implemented to improve predictive analytics, spend forecasting data analysis, fraud detection and numerous other use cases that ensure data-driven decisions by business leaders. Building tech-based solutions is crucial for sustainable growth and proving practical solutions to businesses in today’s age.

Benefits of Spend Management
Spend Management essentially helps you cut costs while maximising value. Implementing a Spend Management platform during the early stages of a business can yield long-term benefits for growth and success. Spend Management improves operational efficiency, allowing businesses to streamline their procurement and payment processes, reduce errors/delays, and save time. Effective Spend Management can also enhance compliance and mitigate risk – businesses can ensure adherence to regulatory guidelines, prevent fraud and misuse of funds, and maintain financial transparency and accountability.

This is where OmniCard comes in with its Spend Management for businesses across India. OmniCard answers the questions of how, when, why, what amount, and where a company spends.

OmniCard is designed to help businesses efficiently manage their expenses and streamline their financial operations. With a user-friendly interface and a range of powerful features, OmniCard Business Spend Management is positioned to revolutionise the way businesses handle their spending. For OmniCard, technology is a crucial enabler of effective Spend Management, helping businesses gain strategic insights into their spending. With OmniCard, businesses can streamline their Spend Management process and focus on what really matters: growing their business.

The author is, the COO & Co-Founder of OmniCard

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members

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