As schools and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) continue to adapt their processes to use more digital solutions, the process of ordering supplies can often still feel like a maze of steps, paperwork and manual administration. That's where e-procurement and punchout come in; readymade, simplified options to use your existing systems to place orders.
But what is e-procurement and what is punchout, and why are they becoming so important for schools? Let's break it down in a simple, helpful way.
What is e-procurement and why should schools care?
E-procurement is the process of purchasing products (and services) using software or IT systems, sending and receiving product and order information electronically. It will typically allow you to centralise and automate some or all of your ordering, removing the need for paper-based activity, repetition and manual intervention. In most cases e-procurement works within your existing software and is now a very common form of procurement that most suppliers will support as standard.
What is punchout?
Punchout is a method of e-procurement that allows schools and MATs to order directly from suppliers’ websites without leaving their financial management system. In simpler terms, it lets you "punch" the order details out of your system, make your selection online, and then "punch" the order details back into your system for processing. It’s a seamless integration between you and your supplier.
E-procurement and punchout really refer to the same thing; the goal is to make purchasing easier, faster, and more accurate.
Why is punchout important for schools?
In schools, managing purchases isn't just about picking out supplies. It's about keeping track of everything within your Financial Management System (FMS), which helps you monitor budgets, shipments, invoices, and payments. Systems like SIMS FMS, PECOS, IRIS Financials, Bromcom, Arbor, and Hoge100 are commonly used in schools and MATs to help organise and track these processes.
The problem? Every order made needs to be manually logged into these systems, line by line, to reconcile what was ordered with what was received. In larger schools or MATs, where hundreds or even thousands of orders are placed, this can be extremely time-consuming and repetitive.
With punchout, orders are automatically transferred from the supplier’s website directly into the FMS. This saves time and reduces errors by eliminating the need for manually entering each order twice. It’s especially beneficial for larger schools and MATs, where the volume of orders can be overwhelming.
Furthermore, many schools also have approval workflows in place, where a finance manager has to approve an order before it can be processed. Punchout makes this process easier by allowing approvals to be handled directly within the finance system, streamlining the entire approval and ordering process.
What is IRIS Financials?
IRIS Financials is a Financial Management System (FMS) for the education sector, and is widely used by schools and MATs as the largest FMS in the UK, supporting over 11,000 locations.
IRIS Financials and KCS Partnership
KCS has partnered with IRIS Financials to offer a tailor-made punchout integration to schools and MATs with the IRIS Financials system. We're delighted to be the first education supplier to support Punchout with IRIS Financials, and are excited to be able to work more closely with schools and MATs who are eager to simplify their ordering processes.
When will punchout be available?
Punchout is already live for customers using Iris Financials, as well as SAP/Ariba, Hoge100, and PECOS. Simply register your request to integrate and our team will contact you to initiate testing.
What is Order Link?
Order Link is simply our name for the punchout functionality. It might sound technical, but it’s designed to make purchasing as simple as possible. You can learn more about Order Link here.
For those who prefer a hands-on demo, we’ve created a short video to show how Punchout works in action. You can watch it here.
What is EasyOrder?
To make things even easier for larger schools and MATs, we’ve pulled together all the functionality and specially-developed solutions into EasyOrder, our tools made specifically to help large organisations. You can find more about other EasyOrder solutions on our website here.
Why should schools embrace punchout?
In a nutshell, punchout makes the process of ordering supplies faster, more accurate, and much less time-consuming. It’s especially valuable for larger schools and MATs who need to manage a high volume of orders, approvals, and budgets. By reducing manual entry and integrating everything into one system, punchout helps school staff save hours of administrative work – so they can focus more on what really matters: supporting students and teachers.
If you're ready to streamline your procurement process and save valuable time, punchout is a solution worth considering.
We hope this blog has made the benefits of punchout clearer. If you have any questions or want to learn more, just click here, we’re here to help.
