Swerdlove, a global legal technology and IT software and services organization, today announced the availability of OpenPurchase 2, a fully functional electronic purchase order system that meets the needs of law firms and other professional services organizations by offering centralized purchase and price control with distributed approval, requisitioning and ordering functionality. OpenPurchase enables firms to control their procurement process more effectively by ordering exactly what they need when they need it, examines usage, and determines waste as well as identifying bundled pricing discounts and order savings.
OpenPurchase 2 automates the predominately manual process of ordering bulk commodity products such as office supplies, furnishings, computer equipment, software and other facilities-related items. By providing a standardized order and procurement workflow, OpenPurchase gives firms better spend analysis options, and ultimately, the ability to negotiate better vendor relationships and terms based on a uniform and consistent purchasing method process. OpenPurchase, developed in the Microsoft .NET Framework and thoroughly tested by law firms over the past few years, is a stand-alone external software application tightly integrated with popular practice management systems, and as such, provides a wealth of financial and ordering data available outside of those systems. OpenPurchase is ideally suited and designed for use by law firms ranging from 10 timekeepers through to an unlimited number of users.
OpenPurchase 2 includes a number of useful features & functions:
• OpenPurchase installs quickly and once operational, pulls data directly (without uploads) from practice management systems (e.g., ADERANT Expert and Elite Enterprise) for key areas including vendor, general ledger, office, department, cost center, disbursement codes, client, matters and personnel
• OpenPurchase takes order requests from authorised personnel, consolidates those requests and converts them into purchase orders which are then approved, printed, and mailed or emailed to the vendor. Security controls allow data visibility to be as open or tight as the firm desires
• Set up to handle standard and blanket warehouse orders, re-orders with reminders, back orders and short shipments
• Produces an un-posted vendor invoice automatically into the practice management/accounting system, when the invoice is matched to the purchase order in OpenPurchase. Also provides full details of the invoice in OpenPurchase to assist in locating the invoice and payments
“We are very excited about making OpenPurchase 2 available to the legal and professional services market,” stated Derek Giles, Director, Swerdlove. “Purchasing is an important, yet largely ignored component to effective law firm operations. While some firms have purchasing automation in place, many others follow manual, time consuming processes, while others have struggled trying to use non-legal, enterprise scale systems that are difficult to use and very expensive to purchase and support. OpenPurchase is a simple software application that runs unobtrusively in the background, automates purchasing for the firm, and integrates with existing accounting systems to provide accurate ordering and purchase information. “
OpenPurchase delivers measurable business value to law firms:
• Provides centralized control in reducing risks in over/under ordering common inventory, and facilitates accountability around vendor relationships where price per unit is important (i.e., commodity office product purchasing)
• Eliminates double entry, data errors and duplication of effort because it integrates directly with practice management/accounting systems
• Formalizes ordering and procurement processes by providing for the electronic authorisation of procurements upfront, saving considerable time later when trying to get vendor invoices approved
• Speeds up the ordering process and reduces the overall number of orders by consolidating requisitions for same goods or goods from the same vendor
• Allows individual requisitioners to see the status of their request all the way through from ordering, to delivery, at a glance or in detail, and in one place
• Includes built-in reporting that enables those responsible for purchasing to compare orders, pricing and make informed decisions on future purchases.
For more information, contact Swerdlove at info@swerdlove.com or go to www.swerdlove.com.
