Business spend management is the company's spend against the company's budget, every month, by department and rolled up. What is business spend management, asked by the finance lead of a company with three departments, is answered by one figure: the year-to-date variance across the departments and the run rate that follows from it. Business spend management software keeps the lines, commitments and actuals that produce the figure; enterprise spend management software and enterprise spend management are the same record for a company with procurement teams, supplier programs and card controls, which is a different buyer. This page is about the small company's version, and the free departmental roll-up sheet on this site works the figure from the company's own numbers with no account.
The monthly figure
Three departments with annual budgets of $600,000, $400,000 and $200,000 and year-to-date actuals of $320,000, $180,000 and $110,000 at month six are $10,000 over year-to-date budget, rolled up, and $20,000 over for the year at the run rate, on the worked example. Department A is $20,000 over on its own. That is business spend management as a number; the sheet works it in a minute.
What the software keeps
Each department's lines with their annual budget, the commitments raised against them, the actuals posted, and the approvals that let a commitment be raised; the roll-up is a query over that record. Software that keeps the actuals in the accounting package and the budget in a spreadsheet keeps the variance a month late.
Why enterprise spend management is another buyer
Supplier onboarding, sourcing events, card programs and procure-to-pay workflow are the enterprise's spend problem, and enterprise spend management software prices them by the user and the supplier. A small company's problem is the variance, and Opexvo Pro keeps the record that produces it at one flat price.
Questions people ask about business spend management
What is business spend management?
The company's spend against its budget by department and rolled up, every month: the variance and the run rate, worked from lines, commitments and actuals.
What must business spend management software keep?
Departments with their lines, commitments, actuals and approvals against a named holder, and the roll-up as a query over them.
Does a small company need enterprise spend management software?
No; that solves procurement teams' problems at enterprise prices. The free roll-up sheet works the small company's figure.