We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Finance

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What is Procurement Training?

By Carol Francois
Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 12,799
Share

Procurement training is available from a wide range of community colleges and universities. Procurement is another term for purchasing or buying. It is used to describe purchasing activity on behalf of a business or organization. There are three different levels of procurement training: basic data processing, procurement analysis, and management.

Data processing is an important area of procurement training. The vast majority of procurement activity is completed using computer software programs. The ability to correctly enter the required data is an essential part of the procurement process. This type of procurement training is available at the community and career college level. This course may be focused on a specific software program or general enough to be applied to the most commonly used products.

Procurement analysis training is available through either a college or university degree program. Data analysis is used to determine where the company or organization can save money or improve the business process. The primary concepts used in this type of training include data management and normalization, statistics, outliers, and data cubes. All these skills can be utilized for any other type of data management or analysis programs.

Management procurement training incorporates both procurement analysis and financial reporting. The training required for a position in management is typically a post-graduate program or certificate. These one-year programs provide the additional training required in this important business function.

Within a large company, everyone who is processing purchase requisitions or purchase orders is typically required to complete procurement training. This training is divided into three areas: internal procurement policy, finance obligations, and data quality. Compliance with procurement policy is essential to avoiding costly lawsuits and disputes.

Training on finance obligations related to procurement activity is a crucial aspect of budgeting and cash management. Large firms typically create a spending budget for different products or activities. The accurate training of purchasing activity against this budget is absolutely necessary to properly track spending. It is important to remember that a purchase order is a binding contract. Once the materials have been delivered, the customer is obligated to pay the value on the purchase order. Mismanagement of procurement can result in cash flow problems and over-commitment of funds.

Data quality and integrity is very important in a procurement system. A commonly used example is the creation of vendor master records. Ideally, one vendor account is created for every supplier. All purchases, invoices, goods receipts, returns, and credits are recorded against this vendor account. Reports can be run on the account to determine the total dollar value of spending with the supplier over a period of time, and the materials purchased. If multiple accounts are created for the same supplier, the reports are all incorrect, and the company will miss opportunities to negotiate pricing contracts, based on a specific dollar value of purchasing activity.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.wisegeek.net/what-is-procurement-training.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.