According to Statista, in 2022, the average number of SaaS applications used by organizations was 130. Not only are those a lot of subscriptions to manage, but it is also a far cry from the eight subscriptions companies used to have in 2015. That’s an increase of 1,525%!
If this is the evolution we’ve seen in seven years, what can we expect in 2024? And the next decade? Managing this amount of subscriptions is not only complex, it’s inefficient, potentially dangerous, and can cost a business lots of money.
‘We've got front and back-end teams, product people, project managers… And everyone has their own ways to work and their own software.’ Adam Paxton, VP of Operations at Carbon.
The Software Spend Struggle
With so many subscriptions to manage, finance teams often struggle to understand what tools have been purchased, by whom, and when. And even if they know, they find themselves chasing teammates for purchase details and invoices. Here are just some of the challenges finance teams face when it comes to software spend management:
- Invoice chase: The monthly scramble to collect invoices from various team leads and tool owners is time-consuming and frustrating.
- Mystery payments: Unexplained software charges appear on statements, leading to a detective mission to identify the tool, purchaser, and invoice details.
- Manual reconciliation: Hours are spent matching payments with invoices and updating spreadsheets.
- Lack of visibility: It's difficult to get a clear picture of overall software spend and usage across the organization.
- Scaling pains: As companies grow, these manual processes become increasingly unmanageable.
Since this is a relatively new issue SMEs are facing, many are not aware that there are solutions and platforms to help them manage this.
What is SaaS Management?
SaaS management is the process of managing the cloud-based software applications for your company. This includes managing your spend, performing the necessary admin tasks like onboarding, bookkeeping, and monitoring risks linked to third party tools.
What are the benefits of a SaaS management tool?
The goal of SaaS management is to improve the value people get from the apps they use, reduce the risk of uncontrolled tools in a company, and increase the effectiveness of the teams who rely on it to drive success.
SaaS management platforms like Cledara give you the peace of mind that people have the right software in their hands and that things are under control.
How Cledara Automates SaaS Management
Cledara is an online platform that allows finance teams to manage all software subscriptions from one place. It provides visibility over purchases, renewals, and expenses.
The platform helps businesses identify opportunities to spend smarter by spotting underused, duplicate, or similar tools. It can also automate day-to-day work including access requests, budget changes, and accounting tasks.
Centralized Invoice Capture
Cledara automatically collects and organizes invoices from all software subscriptions in one place. It can integrate a Gmail or Microsoft Outlook inbox account and scan for invoices, which are later automatically uploaded to the platform.
Payment Matching
Links payments to their corresponding invoices, eliminating the need for manual matching. Cledara’s matching system links the invoice to the transaction that was made with the platform and makes it available in the application with a single click.
Spend Visibility
Cledara provides a comprehensive view of all software subscriptions and associated costs. Its reports tab surfaces your team's historical spend and sorts it by Team, Category, and Tag in graphs and tables. No matter if the application is active, disabled, or deleted, all pending and settled payments are included in the tables.
Virtual Cards
They offer better control over software purchases and make it easier to track spending. Cledara’s are virtual debit cards powered by Mastercard or Visa. These work in the same way as physical cards, and can be used to make online payments wherever Mastercard or Visa are accepted.
Approval Flows
Cledara makes it easy to approve new tools and control budgets to avoid unexpected purchases and excess spend. With this feature, requests require the approval of Admins or the corresponding Team managers before a new application can be created, or a budget detail can be changed.
Integrating Accounting and SaaS Management
While a SaaS management platform alone can save a considerable amount of time for finance teams, integrating it with an accounting system takes efficiency to the next level. For example, Cledara is compatible with NetSuite, Xero, and Quickbooks.
Automated Sync: Transactions and invoices are automatically synced, eliminating manual data entry.
Accelerated Reconciliation: Month-end reconciliation become a breeze with pre-matched payments and invoices.
Enhanced Accuracy: Automation reduces human error, ensuring financial data integrity.
Scalability: The integration grows with your business, supporting your evolving accounting needs.
Time Savings: Finance teams can redirect hours previously spent on manual tasks to more strategic activities.
“Thanks to Cledara, we don't need to have someone full-time managing subscriptions for us. And because there is a lot of automation, workflows, and you can push everything to our accounting system right away, so it makes things a lot easier on the bookkeeping side as well.” Eric Nadalin, CTO and co-founder of tru.ID.
Take control of your SaaS management
In an era where efficiency and accuracy are paramount, solutions like Cledara integrated with robust accounting systems like NetSuite are game-changers for finance teams.
By automating the tedious aspects of software spend management and accounting, businesses can focus on growth and strategic decision-making rather than getting bogged down in manual processes.
Ready to transform your finance operations? Explore how Cledara's NetSuite integration can streamline your software management and accounting processes today.
