Accurate and insightful reporting is essential in public procurement because it ensures transparency, accountability and assesses value for money, along with a variety of other important metrics. Effective procurement reports can ultimately lead to better decision-making in the future and improved outcomes for communities.
In this article, we look at the benefits of procurement reporting and key elements to include in your reports to maximise the learnings and positive impact for the future.
Jump to:
● What is procurement reporting?
● Why accountability in public procurement matters
● The benefits of effective procurement reports
● Areas to consider for your procurement reports
● Challenges when compiling procurement reports
● How Procurement Hub can help with effective reporting
What is procurement reporting?
Essentially, procurement reporting is the regular gathering, analysis and presentation of data related to procurement activity. Typically, procurement reports include information on elements such as:
- Spending
- Supplier performance
- Contract compliance
- Value for money achieved
- Social value quantified
- Other relevant outcomes and considerations, such as procurement performance in relation to sustainability goals and greater supplier diversity.
Some public bodies have specific procurement reporting schedules in order to be compliant, such as annual reports, while others also take a proactive approach and also report on each project or phase individually.
Why accountability in public procurement matters
Being transparent about procurement processes, decisions and outcomes is a matter of ethical governance. Procurement reports should be able to show how the entire process was fair, efficient and highlight any monetary savings that were made, as well as the performance in terms of outcomes.
Being accountable to both the government and public scrutiny in this way helps to ensure that public funds are used effectively.
Alongside this, taking accountability for mistakes or inefficiencies in the procurement process also encourages continuous improvement and ultimately leads to better outcomes for public services and communities in the future.
The benefits of effective procurement reports
eporting on public procurement activity helps to:
- Prevent corruption and fraud, by opening up processes to public scrutiny.
- Ensure fair competition, by creating a level playing field for a diverse range of suppliers to bid on and be assessed for contracts
- Identify cost-saving opportunities, by learning from other project reports and past activity.
- Encourage innovation, by enabling bids from a wider range of suppliers with different ideas and approaches to deliver what is needed.
- Ensure high standards from suppliers, by assessing performance and taking action if standards are not met
- Improve future procurement strategy, by taking learnings on how to make the process more efficient without compromising on positive outcomes.
Areas to consider for your procurement reports
Every project will have its own specific goals and desired outcomes, so the individual procurement KPIs you include in your reports will vary. That said, a typical procurement report could include:
Spend assessment
Providing a breakdown of where, why and how money has been spent. This can help to highlight patterns of inefficiency, overspending, underspend or opportunities for reducing costs in the future.
Supplier performance
Tracking metrics such as delivery of service or goods to deadline, quality assurance, consistency of pricing and contact compliance, this part of the report helps to assess supplier reliability and value for money.
Contract status
Focusing on the terms, results vs expected performance and current status of the contracts in this specific project. This can show whether suppliers are in compliance with their specific contract or the promised outcomes and any upcoming renewals or contract end dates to be aware of. This can help manage risks in the supply chain and enables buyers to be proactive for ongoing projects.
Social value measurement
Looking at a variety of different measurements in relation to the social value of the procurement project. This could include elements such as:
- Environmental sustainability
- Job creation
- Skill development
- Community engagement
- Local SME involvement
The specific KPIs can vary, depending on the nature of your project and your social value goals, but reporting on metrics that matter in this area is always an important aspect of any procurement report.
Outcome evaluation
This part of the report looks at how well the project has met, or is meeting, it’s predetermined goals and outcomes. It’s essentially a topline view on overall performance and, when brought together with the other areas of data, can help to highlight any issues stopping the project from achieving its goals or any ways that it is exceeding expectations.
Challenges when compiling procurement reports
Dealing with the gathering and analysis of data from a variety of different sources involved in the procurement process can be a challenge. Some of the common issues can include:
- Data inaccuracies or inconsistencies, where information can come in a variety of formats, standards and may have errors, especially where manual input is used.
- Analysis paralysis, where there is so much data it’s difficult to find patterns, trends or other actionable insights.
- Out of date information, where it takes so long to gather the right data that it becomes less meaningful and actionable.
With the right approach, it is possible to create a way of compiling procurement reports that add a great deal of value to both the current and future projects. Taking challenges such as the above into account when planning your reports’ and taking measures to mitigate them early, will help to ensure reporting data is standardised, as accurate as possible, relevant to the project goals and compliant with your own reporting requirements.
How Procurement Hub can help with effective reporting
Procurement Hub is part of Places for People, the largest social enterprise in the UK. Through our extensive experience in developing and managing multi-sector procurement contracts and investing in communities, in partnership with public bodies, we understand the many challenges and requirements of public procurement.
Procurement reports can sometimes be complex to pull together, with many moving parts, which can make it difficult for public organisations to dig out the most useful information, insights and opportunities from their activity. This is where Procurement Hub can offer specialist support.
Our team offer a range of procurement consultancy services, including procurement audits, to help ensure that your strategy, reports and processes are efficient, effective and help deliver the best possible outcomes.
You can sign up for free to gain access to our solutions and enquire about expert support for procurement reports or any part of your strategy.