coupa-vs-gep-smart

Coupa and GEP SMART are both procurement software. They are most commonly used by large businesses and enterprises. Coupa is sometimes adopted by smaller organizations as well. 

Beyond general procurement processes, Coupa has some additional capabilities like inventory management, and it also is heavily used for its invoicing management features. GEP SMART focuses on its spend visibility features, unifying spend processes and expense management across disparate financial systems within the enterprise. 

Features

Both Coupa and GEP SMART have various specializations that help them stand out among users. 

Coupa excels in its invoice management capabilities. The platform’s flexibility around invoicing capabilities makes it a viable option beyond traditional procurement industries like manufacturing. It also has excellent integrations with other financial systems organizations use, such as Enterprise Resource Planning platforms. 

GEP SMART stands out for its visibility into enterprises’ global spend, allowing for a unified view of expenses within the procurement process. Additionally, reviewers highlight the vendor’s excellent customer support throughout GEP SMART’s implementation and product lifecycle. GEP SMART also has robust customization abilities, particularly around workflows and reporting. 

Limitations

There are also drawbacks to Coupa and GEP SMART alike that buyers should keep in mind. 

Coupa’s excellence around invoicing trades off with lackluster expense support. Expense management processes have been bottlenecks and points of frustration for some users, particularly managing and reporting on expenses as an administrator. Related to these frustrations, Coupa’s mobile application is also far weaker and less efficient than the desktop application, limiting on-the-go expense reporting. The interface is also not user friendly for administrators and end-users alike. 

On the other hand, GEP SMART can require more manual actions than users might be used to. There is limited automation in certain areas, especially when sending data between various procurement processes. There are also some limitations in e-invoicing in certain geographic areas. 

Pricing

Coupa does not specify pricing publicly. Pricing is instead quoted on a customer-by-customer basis. 

GEP SMART pricing is also offered by quote from the vendor.