When you're looking for the best workflow SaaS tool for your procurement process, it's important to keep a few key things in mind. 

1. Is it user-friendly? You don't want to spend hours trying to figure out how to use the tool or waste time training your team. 

2. Does it play nice with your existing SaaS stack? If your new workflow tool doesn't integrate with the apps you're already using, you'll end up with a disconnected mess. 

3. Can you make it your own? Every business is unique, so you need a workflow tool that can adapt to your specific needs. 

In this post, we'll take a closer look at 6 of the top workflow SaaS tools (as of 2024) out there and see how they stack up in terms of these key factors. 

1. Spendflo
2. Zapier 
3. Asana
4. Salesforce
5. Hubspot
6. Slack

Disclaimer: Spendflo is our own SaaS buying platform. We've done our best to present the information evenly because we want you to make an educated decision. That said, we are proud of our platform and built it with the features and ease that organizations would want to streamline their SaaS procurement and management processes (and we use it ourselves every day). Talk to our SaaS procurement experts and join dozens of companies who use us, like Wodify, Tabby, Drip Capital, Urban Company, and more…

But before that, let’s look at what a workflow Saas tool is and how it enables productivity in procurement

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What a Workflow Saas Tool Is and How it Enables Productivity in Procurement

Typical Definition: A workflow Saas tool is a cloud-based software application that helps teams design, execute, and optimize their business processes. The primary goal of a workflow SaaS tool is to streamline and automate complex workflows, reducing manual effort, improving efficiency, and minimizing errors.

But when you use these tools in procurement, you’d be surprised to see the way they can transform the way you manage your purchasing process, from request to approval to payment.

Here are the top three ways workflow SaaS tools can benefit your procurement process:

1. With a workflow SaaS tool, employees can submit purchase requests online, and the system automatically routes them to the right approvers. This eliminates the need for manual paperwork and email chains, speeding up the procurement cycle.

2. You can easily track the status of each request, monitor SaaS spending, and identify bottlenecks. 

3. By building your procurement policies into the workflow, these SaaS tools help ensure that every request follows the right steps and gets the necessary approvals. This reduces the risk of unauthorized or fraudulent purchases and helps you maintain compliance with internal policies and external regulations.

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Top 7 Workflow SaaS Tools: 2024's Best Collaboration Tools for Procurement

#1 Spendflo SaaS buying platform

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Best for: Organizations who spend more than $400k a year for SaaS tools

Spendflo streamlines your SaaS procurement workflows by providing a centralized platform that simplifies the entire process from request to renewal. Spendflo recognizes that organizations have diverse procurement needs based on factors such as industry, size, and maturity level.

Spendflo's customizable workflows allow you to address your specific business needs, such as:

- Streamlining purchase requests and approvals: 

By using Spendflo as your Workflow SaaS, you can create custom intake forms and approval workflows that match your organization's specific requirements. For instance, you can set up a simple, one-step approval workflow for small purchases under $1,000, while requiring multi-level approvals from department heads, finance, and legal for larger, more complex purchases. This ensures that purchase requests are routed to the right approvers based on predefined criteria, such as purchase amount, category, and business unit, reducing manual effort and preventing unauthorized or non-compliant spending.

- Automating vendor onboarding and qualification: 

Spendflo enables you to create automated workflows for vendor onboarding and qualification, based on your organization's specific criteria and risk profile. For example, you can set up a SaaS workflow that automatically sends out a standardized questionnaire to new vendors, assessing their financial stability, security practices, and compliance with regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Based on the vendor's responses and supporting documentation, Spendflo can automatically qualify or disqualify the vendor, or route them for further review by your procurement and legal teams. 

- Connect Spendflo with Your Accounting System: 

Automatically sync purchase orders, invoices, and payments between your procurement workflow software and accounting system like QuickBooks or Xero in real-time.

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Spendflo workflow SaaS tool Reviews

4.7 rating on G2

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Book My Spendflo Demo Now!

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#2 Zapier - SaaS workflow automation tool

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Best for: Automating repetitive tasks and integrating different SaaS applications to create seamless workflows.

Zapier is a powerful automation tool that enables you to connect various SaaS applications and create automated workflows without requiring any coding knowledge.

Here’s how Procurement teams can make the best out of this SaaS workflow tool:

— Easily connect your procurement workflows with other essential business applications, such as your ERP, CRM, and accounting systems.

— Streamline your invoice processing and payment workflows, from matching invoices to purchase orders to initiating payments and notifying vendors.

— Set up workflows to automatically route contracts for approval to the appropriate stakeholders based on criteria like contract value, type, or risk level.

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Zapier workflow SaaS tool reviews

Rating 4.5 on G2

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#3 Asana SaaS Workflow Project Management tool

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Best for: Collaborative project management and task automation for procurement teams.

Asana is a leading project management tool that helps procurement teams streamline their workflows, collaborate effectively, and automate repetitive tasks.

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Here’s how Procurement teams can make the best out of this SaaS workflow tool:

— Create dedicated project spaces for each procurement initiative, allowing team members to collaborate, share files, and track progress in one place.

— Set up automatic task assignments and due dates based on predefined rules, such as assigning contract review tasks to legal team members when a new contract is uploaded

— Collaborate with team members, stakeholders, and vendors directly within Asana using comments, mentions, and attachments, eliminating the need for lengthy email chains.

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Asana workflow SaaS tool review

Rating 4.3 on G2

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#4 Salesforce workflow SaaS tool

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Best for: Streamlining and automating procurement processes, from requisition to contract management.

Salesforce is a comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) platform that offers powerful tools for managing and optimizing sales workflows. 

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Here’s how Procurement teams can make the best out of this SaaS workflow tool:

— Maintain a centralized database of suppliers, with detailed profiles that include contact information, performance metrics, and contract details

— Manage the entire RFx process within Salesforce, from creating and distributing RFPs/RFQs to evaluating supplier responses and selecting the best bid, with automated scoring and ranking features.

— Collaborate with team members, stakeholders, and suppliers directly within Salesforce, with real-time updates and file sharing capabilities that ensure everyone is working with the most up-to-date information.

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Salesforce workflow SaaS tool review

4.3 Rating on G2

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#5 Hubspot workflow SaaS tool

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Best for: Automating supplier engagement and stakeholder communication.

HubSpot is an all-in-one inbound marketing, sales, and customer service platform that offers powerful tools for managing and optimizing marketing workflows. 

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Here’s how Procurement teams can make the best out of this SaaS workflow tool:

—  Segment and target suppliers based on their capabilities, performance, and strategic importance

— Align procurement and internal stakeholder communication with shared contact records and performance tracking that ensure consistent messaging and stakeholder buy-in.

—  Integrate HubSpot with other procurement tools, such as e-sourcing, contract management, and supplier performance management software.

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Hubspot workflow SaaS tool review

4.4 Rating on G2

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#6 Slack Workflow SaaS tool

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Best for: Real-time stakeholder and vendor engagement

Slack is a popular team collaboration and communication platform that can be effectively leveraged to support procurement collaboration workflows. 

💡PRO TIP: You can now Integrate Slack with Spendflo (your SaaS Buying Platform) and improve the way your procurement team collaborates and communicates.

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This Spendflo-Slack integration allows you to:

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— Instantly notify relevant stakeholders in Slack when a new purchase request is submitted in Spendflo, eliminating the need for manual follow-ups and ensuring that everyone is on the same page from the start. 

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— With the power of Flo AI, you can approve or reject spend requests without ever leaving Slack. This means your approvers can manage their approval queue directly from Slack, reducing the time spent switching between applications and increasing the speed of your procurement process.

— Onboard new suppliers and invite them to a dedicated Slack channel automatically when they are added to Spendflo. This creates a centralized communication hub for each supplier, where your team can easily share documents, discuss terms, and resolve issues in real-time.

— Keep your team informed about key metrics like spend trends, savings opportunities, and supplier performance, all within the context of your daily conversations. 

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Slack Workflow SaaS tool reviews

4.5 Ratings on G2

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You do NOT want to miss out on this killer integration between Slack and Spendflo!

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Book My Spendflo Demo Now!

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Fast-Track Approval Workflow SaaS With Spendflo

Let's face it – coordinating approvals across multiple teams and stakeholders can be a nightmare. Endless email threads, constant follow-ups, and lack of transparency can quickly derail your procurement timeline and leave you frustrated.

Spendflo is designed by procurement experts who understand your pain points and have crafted a solution that truly works.

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Tailor-Made Approval Workflows

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No two procurement processes are alike, and we get that. Spendflo allows you to create custom approval workflow SaaSs — define the right stakeholders, set approval thresholds, and establish clear rules to ensure that every purchase request follows the proper path.

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Approve on the Go

We know you're always on the move, juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities. That's why Spendflo makes it easy to request and grant approvals from anywhere, at any time.

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Transparency at Your Fingertips

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Say goodbye to the black hole of approval requests. With Spendflo, you can track the status of every request in real-time, giving you complete visibility into the approval process. 

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Try Spendflo Now

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