Lacking perfect data? Don’t let that stop you. Modern spend analysis tools are designed to overcome data gaps, cleansing, normalizing, and classifying spend to deliver actionable insights. Even with incomplete records, these tools uncover trends and opportunities that inform high-impact decisions.
Start by building your analysis around these five steps:
- Aggregate data from financial systems, procurement tools, and business units.
- Cleanse and standardize supplier names, categories, and transaction fields.
- Classify spend into meaningful categories to support analysis.
- Review trends by category, business unit, and supplier.
- Prioritize actions based on savings potential, risk exposure, and strategic impact.
Treat spend analysis as an iterative process, not a one-time exercise. By continuously refining data quality and expanding visibility, organizations strengthen their ability to drive margin improvement and long-term financial resilience.