KPIs that drive a margin multiplier effect

This report provides CFOs and finance and procurement leaders with actionable insights based on Coupa community performance. Find out how you can use Coupa’s AI Total Spend Management platform as a margin multiplier.

2024 Benchmark report cover

Access exclusive data and insights to free up capital for growth

Structural cost pressures. Tighter financial conditions. Cost volatility. Supply chain disruption. Today’s economy is fundamentally different. And in this new era, the ways that most companies are continuing to do business aren’t designed to build margin-multiplying capabilities that drive profitable growth. The companies that can’t adapt are the ones that close their doors forever.

To guide business transformation, CFOs and finance and procurement leaders can look to best-in-class performance in total spend management. How are top performers using AI, data, and advanced technology to improve margins and make smarter decisions? This report features community-powered benchmarks across 22 KPIs to help leaders answer questions like:

  • To what extent is my business capable of stopping margin erosion?
  • How can I transform our company’s spend management to gain a margin multiplier? Where will I need to invest?

What makes Coupa benchmarks unique?

5.8% overall savings

What it means

Traditional spend management approaches typically yield 2% to 3% in savings relative to overall spend. Top performers this year saved far more by applying total spend management best practices.

Why it matters
  • Total spend management is emerging as a reliable, sustainable, and comprehensive approach to ensuring profitable growth. Sales forecasts may stay unpredictable, so CFOs and finance leaders are paying closer attention to what they can control – spending practices across their organizations.
  • An investment in a total spend management platform gives CFOs and finance leaders the visibility they need to understand how resources are being used across the company.
  • Increased visibility across all spend types, from cost of goods sold (COGS) to operating expenses, helps leaders fund their company’s growth through ongoing and disciplined spend control.
How to improve

91.6% pre-approved spend

What it means

The total amount of invoiced spend linked with approved POs.

Why it matters
  • Finance teams can inspect each transaction before the spend is committed and control costs in real time to meet targets and increase working capital.
  • AP generates accurate accruals without follow-up when teams have greater and earlier visibility into spend that’s committed but not invoiced.
  • It helps lower operating expenses since it’s more likely to go onto negotiated contracts, resulting in lower prices and better terms.
  • Virtual cards help streamline pre-approved spend. Teams can increase liquidity by driving card rebates and optimizing the card’s payment cycle.
  • Fraud prevention is more robust when more invoices are matched against POs automatically.
How to improve

95.8% invoices paid digitally

What it means

The percentage of invoices tied to digital payments out of all the total electronic invoices processed on the Coupa platform.

Why it matters
  • They enhance risk mitigation. Digital payments improve payment security and fraud detection through additional control mechanisms and AI-driven learning.
  • AP teams work much more productively with touchless operations. Digital payments reduce manual work to increase SG&A efficiency, and they enable automatic reconciliation.
  • Teams can also see which payment to make when, without error. This creates more opportunities to optimize working capital and manage cash through virtual cards and early-pay discounts.
  • It’s easier to strengthen relationships with suppliers when they know they’ll be paid – in the right amount, on time, and consistently.
How to improve