With a function-rich platform like Unit4, it’s easy for individual features – including potentially very useful add-ons – to fly under your radar. This is especially pertinent to long-term users of Unit4 Financials by Coda: courtesy of Unit4, enhancements have come thick and fast over recent years, and there may easily have been some you’ve missed!

If you first encountered Coda a few decades ago, you may have noticed a procurement and invoice matching module was available. However, built by Science Systems and badged as a Coda product, this was a separate application from the core Coda system. Interfacing ensured data exchange between Coda and the procurement module, but they were essentially two independent systems.

The significant change came in 2011 with the release of Unit4 Financials by Coda, Version 11. From then on, Unit4 offered (and still provides) two separate optional modules, one for procurement, and one for invoice matching. Unlike the previous app, these modules are both integrated within the core Unit4 Financials platform, sharing the same database and business logic.

For users, this means seamless processes with no duplication of effort. You create a new supplier, fill in the relevant details, and the new record feeds through automatically to the procurement and invoice matching modules.

Purchase order processing and the need for invoice matching often go hand-in-hand. So why is there a separate module for each one?

First off, let’s take a look at what each module covers:

‘Why wasn’t I made aware of this spend before the budget was set? Why am I only being told of it now? Why are we still using this supplier?’ With manual or ad-hoc approvals, there’s the constant risk of maverick spend, i.e. employees committing to purchases without approval and without budget holders being able to control what’s happening.

A procurement module empowers you to standardise and streamline the approvals process. Once a PO has been issued, it is immediately routed to the relevant budget holder or manager. Different levels of approval can be applied based on, for instance, spend category or amount. Meanwhile, integration with Unit4 Financials means you can check whether sufficient budget is available before allowing the request to proceed. The result? You decide on the approval rules you want to apply, and the system ensures they are adhered to.

For inventory, it’s not always a simple case of placing an order, receiving the items in one neat dispatch, and settling the invoice. Multiple shipments, partial deliveries, swaps, and supplementary orders are all to be expected. But they all create additional variables in terms of keeping track of what has been received and paid for. It’s also where the scope for error and wasted cost is greatest.

An invoice matching solution makes it much easier to handle these complexities through customised controls. This includes the ability to track and manage partial shipments, ensuring that the invoiced amount matches the quantity of items received. It is also possible to apply fine-grained matching rules to handle multiple layers of conditions, such as different tolerance levels for different product categories, separate rules for high-volume or low-volume items, and differentiation between full and partial deliveries.

For any finance manager charged with cutting out wasted spend, Unit4’s Procurement and Invoice Matching modules can offer easy wins in multiple areas.

As we’ve seen, the implementation of tightly controlled approval workflows makes it easier to control budget overspending. It reduces the chances of employees going off-piste and ignoring your procurement policies.

Beyond this, accurate and error-free invoice matching makes it much easier to ensure that payments made are a reflection of goods actually received, avoiding not just overpayments but also penalties for late payments.

The other big advantage from a costs management perspective relates to visibility. Linking to both the wider Unit4 ecosystem and any other applications you have in play, with enhanced procurement and invoice matching capabilities, you are much better equipped to track purchasing activity in real time. This can give you valuable intel on areas where costs can be reduced, whether it’s by adjusting purchasing volumes or switching to more cost-effective and reliable suppliers.