Spendanalyse

Spendanalyse is a structured approach to examining an organization’s procurement and related expenditures to improve spend visibility and drive value. It combines data from ERP systems, procurement platforms, invoices, contracts, and supplier information to reveal spending patterns across departments, locations, and time. In German usage, the term denotes the same concept as spend analysis in English.

Key tasks include collecting, cleansing, and categorizing data; normalizing currencies; and reconciling spend with contracts and purchase orders. A standard taxonomy, such as UNSPSC or Global Product Classification (GPC), is often used to classify purchases and enable cross‑category comparison. Data quality, data integration, and consistent coding are central challenges.

Typical steps are data gathering, data cleansing and normalization, spend categorization and mapping, analysis and reporting, insights development, action planning, and governance. Analysts generate dashboards and reports that highlight top spend categories, major suppliers, and maverick spend, as well as trends and seasonality.

Outcomes of spend analysis include enhanced spend visibility, identification of opportunities for supplier consolidation, contract compliance improvements, cost savings, and more accurate budgeting. It serves as a foundation for category management, supplier risk assessment, and procurement transformation initiatives, and informs negotiation and policy decisions.

Challenges include data quality issues, multi-system integration, localization and currency conversion, and maintaining ongoing governance. Effective spend analysis requires clear ownership, standardized data practices, and collaboration among procurement, finance, and business units.