Purchase order software for service businesses, agencies and consultancies
Procurer is purchase order software for US service businesses with 20 to 300 staff, such as agencies, consultancies, IT and managed service providers, staffing firms and professional practices. Most of your spend is not boxes on a dock. It is freelancers, subcontractors, software seats, media and travel bought for a client job. Each request is coded to a client or project, approved before the commitment, and paid only after someone confirms the work was delivered. Pricing is per company from 149 USD a month.
On this page
- 01What is the best purchase order software for a service business?
- 02Why service firms lose margin on purchases nobody approved
- 03How purchase orders work for a firm that buys services with Procurer
- 04What service firms use every week
- 05What Procurer covers for a service firm and what it leaves to other tools
- 06Choose a plan for how you buy
- 07A first month for a 50 person agency
- 08FAQ
What is the best purchase order software for a service business?
The best purchase order software for a service business approves a commitment before work starts, codes it to a client or project, and records acceptance of the service instead of a warehouse receipt. Procurer does that with approval rules, project budgets, line by line receiving used as service acceptance, and bill export to QuickBooks Online or Xero.
Why service firms lose margin on purchases nobody approved
A service firm sells time and expertise, so the money that leaks is usually the cost it buys on top of that time. The pattern repeats.
- A project lead hires a freelance designer or developer on a chat message, and the invoice arrives at twice the number everyone remembers.
- A subcontractor starts work before a scope and rate are written down, and the dispute happens after the client has already been billed.
- Software seats, stock media, ad spend and travel go on cards and get coded to a client at month end, if anyone remembers whose they were.
- Pass through costs are not recovered because the invoice cannot be matched to the client job that should carry it.
- Several people can approve their own spend, because the rule is a sentence in a handbook.
A purchase order does not slow a lean team down when it takes two minutes. It fixes the order of events. Approval first, then the commitment, then acceptance, then payment.
How purchase orders work for a firm that buys services with Procurer
1. A project manager raises a request, picks the client project and GL account, attaches the quote or statement of work and chooses the vendor or contractor.
2. The request goes to the partner or operations lead, and above your threshold to finance. Approvers see the remaining budget on that project before deciding.
3. The approved request becomes a PO and goes to the vendor as a PDF by email, with the scope and rate on it.
4. When the work is delivered, the requester records acceptance line by line, including partial milestones. Accounts payable matches the invoice to the PO and the acceptance, then exports the approved bill to QuickBooks Online or Xero.
Read more about approval workflows and project budgets.
What service firms use every week
- Project budgets per client engagement, with commitments and actuals, on Business and above.
- Approval rules by amount, department and vendor, so nobody approves their own request.
- Quotes, statements of work and rate cards attached to the request and kept with the PO.
- Partial receiving that works for milestones and monthly retainers, not only physical deliveries.
- Three-way matching of PO, acceptance and invoice on Business, so an invoice above the agreed amount is held.
- A read only audit log of requests, approvals, PO changes and edits with the person, time and previous value.
- Approved bill export to QuickBooks Online and Xero.
What Procurer covers for a service firm and what it leaves to other tools
Procurer controls what you buy. It does not run what you sell. It is not a professional services automation suite, so it does not track billable hours, build client invoices or forecast utilization. Keep those in your PSA or time tool and use Procurer for the cost side.
| Need | Procurer | A professional services automation suite |
|---|---|---|
| Approval before a contractor or vendor commitment | Yes | Sometimes, light |
| PO sent to the vendor with scope and rate | Yes | Often no |
| Project coded cost and remaining budget | Yes, on Business | Yes |
| Acceptance of services before payment | Yes, line by line | Rarely |
| Invoice matching against PO and acceptance | Yes, three-way on Business | Rarely |
| Time tracking, billing, utilization | No | Yes |
| Published company price | Yes, from 149 USD a month | Usually per user or quote |
- Approval before a contractor or vendor commitment
- ProcurerYesA professional services automation suiteSometimes, light
- PO sent to the vendor with scope and rate
- ProcurerYesA professional services automation suiteOften no
- Project coded cost and remaining budget
- ProcurerYes, on BusinessA professional services automation suiteYes
- Acceptance of services before payment
- ProcurerYes, line by lineA professional services automation suiteRarely
- Invoice matching against PO and acceptance
- ProcurerYes, three-way on BusinessA professional services automation suiteRarely
- Time tracking, billing, utilization
- ProcurerNoA professional services automation suiteYes
- Published company price
- ProcurerYes, from 149 USD a monthA professional services automation suiteUsually per user or quote
Many firms run both. The PSA owns revenue, Procurer owns the approved cost that comes back to the project.
Choose a plan for how you buy
- Team, 149 USD a month or 888 USD yearly: requests, approvals, POs, receiving, department budgets and accounting export for a single company.
- Business, 299 USD a month or 1 788 USD yearly: project and GL budgets, conditional approval rules, three-way matching and spend analytics.
- Scale, 699 USD a month or 4 188 USD yearly: up to 300 user accounts, 5 legal entities and the supplier portal for firms with several practices or subsidiaries.
A firm that needs cost by client usually needs Business. Compare the details on the pricing page.
A first month for a 50 person agency
1. Add your active client engagements as projects with a cost budget, and import the GL accounts your ledger uses.
2. Name the approver for each practice and the amount above which finance signs off.
3. Put freelancer, subcontractor and media buys on POs first. Leave small card spend for a second phase.
4. Ask project managers to record acceptance when work is delivered, then turn on invoice matching.
5. At month end review spend by project and vendor, and check what was bought outside a PO.
What is the best purchase order software for a service business?
Pick the tool that approves the commitment, codes it to a client project and holds an invoice that does not match what was agreed. Procurer suits firms that want that at a published company price. A professional services suite suits firms that also need time, billing and utilization in one system.
Do service companies need purchase orders?
Yes, when they buy contractors, subcontractors, software or media for client work. A PO records the agreed scope and rate before work starts, which stops disputes over an invoice later. Service firms often skip it because they sell time, but their costs on top of that time are the part that erodes margin.
How do you handle purchase orders for services with no delivery?
Record acceptance instead of a warehouse receipt. In Procurer the requester marks the delivered work against the PO line, in full or by milestone, and accounts payable pays only what was accepted. This works for freelancers, retainers and fixed fee projects.
How much does purchase order software for a service business cost?
Procurer starts at 149 USD a month per company on Team, or 888 USD billed yearly. Business, with project budgets and three-way matching, costs 299 USD monthly or 1 788 USD yearly. Scale costs 699 USD monthly or 4 188 USD yearly. Price does not change with the number of clients or projects.
Can I tie purchases to a client project?
Yes. Each request carries a project and a GL account, and the approver sees the remaining budget on that project. Project and GL budgets are on Business and above, with commitments and actuals for each project.
Does it work with QuickBooks Online and Xero?
Yes. Approved bills export to QuickBooks Online or Xero with the vendor, project and GL coding, so accounting does not rekey them. See QuickBooks Online purchase order approval.
Approve the contractor before the work starts
Create your account, add your client projects and put the next freelancer or subcontractor through a request, an approval and a PO. Try the demo to see the process before choosing a plan.