Finance System Implementation: Time to Review Your Suppliers

When your trust upgrades its finance software, everyone focuses on the new system's features. But trusts that use implementation as a trigger for auditing their suppliers consistently report larger-than-expected savings.

Why Implementation Creates the Opportunity

Your finance system implementation forces you to examine every supplier relationship. You're reviewing how money flows through the organisation, which contracts exist, and how purchasing happens across different schools.

Most trusts accumulate suppliers over time. Each school joins with its own vendors. Different academies use different providers for maintenance, stationery, and IT equipment. That fragmentation persists because everyone's too busy managing current operations to review it.

The implementation of a finance system creates the trigger. You're touching every aspect of purchasing anyway.

What to Evaluate

Do you have too many suppliers for the same service?

If three schools use different maintenance providers, you're fragmenting your spending. That means a weaker negotiating position and administrative overhead that doesn't add value.

Consolidating suppliers increases purchasing power. Bulk ordering unlocks volume discounts that fragmented spending can't access. You're also managing fewer relationships and getting spending data that isn't scattered across different systems.

Trusts that consolidate maintenance, stationery, or equipment suppliers across their academies typically see double-digit percentage reductions in those categories.

Are suppliers delivering good value and service?

Some suppliers coast. Their products don't last. Their support is slow. They've raised prices gradually without improving what they provide.

A finance system implementation gives you leverage. Suppliers know you're reviewing everything and need to compete on quality and price to stay on your approved list.

If a vendor's products fail regularly or their service creates more work for your team, that's costing money even if their prices look reasonable.

Can you improve contract terms?

Gather current pricing, volume discounts, and payment terms for each major supplier.

Trusts often discover they're on outdated contracts. A new finance system and trust-wide supplier review signal you're serious about efficiency. Vendors will offer better terms to remain your preferred partner: extended payment periods, bulk discounts, or value-added services at no extra cost.

How Savings Offset Implementation Costs

If you review ten supplier agreements and save £5,000 on each through better pricing or consolidation, that's £50,000 back in your budget.

Those savings aren't one-time. With better pricing locked in, your schools get more value for every pound spent in subsequent years.

The Implementation Timeline

Run supplier reviews in parallel with system implementation.

While your implementation partner configures the system, your finance team audits supplier contracts. While they're training users, you're negotiating with consolidated vendors. By go-live, you have both a better system and better supplier agreements.

Most trusts find the supplier review takes 4-6 weeks spread across the implementation timeline.

Making the Decision

A new finance system implementation is a strategic moment to review, refine, and renegotiate supplier agreements. Done properly, you get streamlined operations, improved service quality, and budget savings.

The alternative is implementing a new system that records the same inefficient spending patterns, just with better reporting on them.

Better visibility into existing problems, or fewer problems to have visibility into.