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Discover our solutions for insurance companies
In short: If new procurement software is arriving at your insurance company, this guide covers what to expect day to day (creating requisitions, catalog ordering, approval workflows, order tracking, and invoice reconciliation), along with practical fixes for the problems users hit most often. It also covers what makes insurance procurement genuinely different: Solvency II outsourcing rules for critical or important functions, DORA's requirements for ICT third-party contracts and the Register of Information, and the claims-related procurement processes that follow their own path. The system will take some learning, but most of the friction it removes is friction you're currently absorbing manually.
If you work at an insurance company and have recently been told that new procurement software is being implemented, you probably have questions. How will this affect your daily work? What will you need to learn? Will it make your tasks simpler or more complicated?
This guide covers what to expect from a modern enterprise procurement system, from an end-user perspective: the functions you'll use most, the benefits you should see, and the practical workarounds for common problems.
Tip: At the end of the article, you'll find an evaluation checklist.
Modern procurement systems typically offer a dashboard with key information and quick access to common tasks, a top navigation menu, a search field, and a notification area for pending approvals.
Tip: most systems allow dashboard customisation. Spend a few minutes after your first login putting your most-used functions where you can reach them.
This is the task you'll perform most often. The flow is generally: find "New Requisition," select the procurement type, search the catalog (or enter details for non-catalog items), enter quantity and shipping information, attach supporting documents, and submit for approval.
Tip: use "save as draft" for complex requisitions you can't finish in one session. Most systems also let you copy a previous requisition, a significant time saver for recurring purchases.
Requisitions route automatically to the appropriate approvers. You'll get notifications on status changes, see who the next approver is, and be able to add comments or request more information.
Tip: if approval is genuinely urgent, most systems let you notify the approver directly or flag the request's urgency. This works better than an out-of-system email.
Catalog-based procurement is one of the biggest practical advantages of a modern system: browsing by category or keyword, filtering by price, supplier, or delivery time, and comparing products side by side.
Tip: search by model number or product code rather than general description when you have one. It's consistently more accurate.
The system tracks the full order lifecycle: current status, expected delivery dates, delay notifications, and recording receipt of goods or services.
Tip: if there's a mobile app, installing it lets you track shipments and approve urgent requests away from your desk.
Modern systems automatically match invoices against purchase orders and receipt confirmations. Where data matches, the invoice moves forward automatically; where it doesn't, the system flags it to the responsible people.
Tip: if you're responsible for invoice verification, record receipts in the system promptly. Automatic reconciliation depends on it, and late receipts are the most common cause of stuck invoices.
Discover our solutions for insurance companies
Try alternative search terms and synonyms, browse by catalog category, or ask the procurement team to add the item to the catalog. If it genuinely isn't there, use the non-catalog option, but provide a detailed description, since a vague one will come back to you.
Check the current approver in the system and send a reminder through the platform rather than by separate email. If the approver is away, ask the procurement department about substitute approvers. Most organisations have delegation rules that people forget exist.
If it hasn't been approved yet, you can usually withdraw and edit it. If it's approved but not yet sent to the supplier, procurement can help. If it's already with the supplier, you'll need a formal modification request.
Check whether the system has an emergency procurement path, and learn the rules for exceptional cases before you need them. Under time pressure is the worst moment to discover what the expedited process requires.
This is where insurance departs from other sectors, and where the system's constraints will make most sense once you understand what sits behind them.
Insurance procurement operates inside two overlapping regimes, and both shape what the software asks of you.
Solvency II governs outsourcing. Article 49 of the directive and Article 274 of the Delegated Regulation set requirements for outsourcing critical or important functions, which include underwriting in the name of and on account of the insurer, compliance, internal audit, accounting, risk management, actuarial support, and the ORSA process. Where a function falls into that category, a written outsourcing agreement is mandatory, and under EIOPA guidance, the supervisor must be notified before outsourcing begins, not after.
DORA applies to insurers too. This is frequently missed, because DORA is often discussed as banking regulation. In fact it covers all Solvency II insurance and reinsurance undertakings, along with IDD insurance and reinsurance intermediaries, supervised by EIOPA. For procurement, two obligations matter most: contracts with ICT third-party providers must contain specific mandatory clauses, and the organisation must maintain a Register of Information covering every ICT third-party arrangement, including subcontracting chains, not just the direct supplier.
What this means at your desk: when the system asks you to classify a supplier, flag whether a service is ICT-related, or complete additional due diligence fields, it's building the evidence base these regimes require. Those fields aren't bureaucratic padding: an incomplete one becomes a gap in a regulatory register.
Insurance companies run procurement processes tied directly to claims handling, and these often follow a different path from general purchasing.
You may need to provide claim numbers or customer IDs, and cost allocation may route directly to the claim rather than to a departmental cost centre. Expedited processes typically exist for claims settlement, since a delayed repair, medical assessment, or loss adjustment has direct policyholder consequences.
Tip: if claims-related procurement is a regular part of your role, ask for specific training on it. The general system training usually doesn't cover these paths in enough detail.
Insurance is particularly exposed to third-party risk, and the system will reflect that with more detailed supplier evaluation data, data protection and security certifications, and warnings where a supplier doesn't meet sector requirements.
Tip: before investing time in a procurement process with a new supplier, check whether they already meet insurance-sector requirements. A supplier that can't produce the necessary certifications will stall late in the process, after the effort is spent.
To see how these requirements can be handled inside the workflow rather than alongside it, explore Fluenta One's insurance procurement solution.
Save what you repeat. Store frequently used requisitions as templates and add regularly ordered products to favourites.
Use bulk operations. If you handle many similar items (approving multiple invoices, for instance), check whether the system supports batch actions.
Tune your notifications. Configure alerts so you get immediate notice of what matters and digest the rest. Notification overload leads to ignored notifications.
Always check before submitting. Quantity, unit price, shipping details, and especially cost centre assignment. An incorrect cost centre creates administrative work weeks later.
Use the comment field properly. Give approvers the context they need to decide without coming back to you.
Avoid duplicate requisitions. If one is already in progress, track and expedite it rather than raising a second.
Find your local super-user. Most departments have one or two colleagues with deeper training who can resolve daily problems faster than the helpdesk.
A new procurement system takes some learning, but the friction it removes is largely friction you're currently absorbing by hand. In insurance specifically, much of what feels like extra administrative burden (supplier classification, additional due diligence, ICT service flagging) is the system capturing evidence that Solvency II and DORA require anyway. Doing it inside the workflow is considerably less work than reconstructing it before an audit.
As an end user, your feedback matters for improving both the system and the processes around it. If something is consistently awkward, say so. That's usually how the awkward parts get fixed.
Does DORA apply to insurance companies, or just banks?
It applies to insurers. DORA covers all Solvency II insurance and reinsurance undertakings, as well as insurance and reinsurance intermediaries under the IDD, with EIOPA as supervisor. For procurement, the practical consequences are mandatory contractual clauses in ICT third-party agreements and the obligation to maintain a Register of Information covering all ICT third-party arrangements, including subcontracting chains.
What counts as a "critical or important function" under Solvency II outsourcing rules?
Examples include underwriting carried out in the name of and on account of the insurer, compliance, internal audit, accounting, risk management, actuarial support, and the ORSA process. Where a critical or important function is outsourced, a written agreement is mandatory and the supervisor must be notified before the outsourcing starts.
Why does the system ask for so much extra supplier information compared to other industries?
Because insurance procurement generates regulatory evidence. Supplier classification, due diligence documentation, and ICT service flags feed the outsourcing and third-party registers that Solvency II and DORA require. An incomplete field at requisition stage becomes a documented gap later.
My requisition is stuck in approval. What actually works?
Check the current approver in the system and send the reminder through the platform, so the chase is recorded alongside the request. If the approver is unavailable, ask procurement about substitute approvers. Most organisations have delegation rules in place that people forget to use.
Is claims-related procurement handled differently?
Usually yes. It may require claim numbers or customer IDs, cost allocation often routes to the claim rather than a departmental cost centre, and expedited paths typically exist because delays have direct policyholder impact. If you handle it regularly, request training specific to those processes.
Procurement software evaluation checklist: a checklist for evaluating procurement platforms against insurance-sector requirements. It covers:
