Frequently Asked Questions

BuyingStation is the Procurement Intelligence Platform for the office of the CFO. It gives organisations clear visibility and control over their suppliers, contracts and spend across the full Source to Contract lifecycle. Built by procurement professionals, it replaces spreadsheets and fragmented tools with a single structured environment where buying decisions remain visible, governed and auditable. Source it. Contract it. Manage it. With BuyingStation.

BuyingStation Procurement Intelligence is built for any organisation that wants to bring structure and control to how they source suppliers, manage contracts and oversee spend. It is particularly valued by CFOs and finance teams who need visibility of commercial commitments, procurement teams running sourcing and tendering activity and operations and legal teams who need access to contracts and compliance documentation.

Visit our pricing page to see our affordable plans.

You can subscribe monthly using a debit or credit card or annually via invoice.

Absolutely! Check out our BuyingStation PlayBox which lets you have a go in a safe environment. We’ve already added some dummy suppliers and information to get you started.

Sign In | BuyingStation PlayBox

Anyone in your organisation. You control the access and who needs it. Legal teams value the contract register and document version control, finance teams benefit from spend visibility and savings tracking and operations teams appreciate the compliance and risk oversight. Everyone loves BuyingStation!

As many as you want. Subscriptions include up to 50 users and if you need more, no problem. Most of our customers do not need more than 50 users but if you do, you can purchase additional licences for £19.99 per user per month.

BuyingStation is currently available in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French. If you have a particular language requirement, please let us know.

We have customers across a wide range of sectors including elite sport such as Premier League football clubs, national and local charities, finance companies and manufacturing businesses.

Procurement Intelligence is the discipline of using structured data, governed processes and platform technology to make buying decisions that are visible, defensible and auditable. BuyingStation delivers Procurement Intelligence through a single Source to Contract platform, giving CFOs and finance teams the confidence that supplier decisions, commercial commitments and spend are always under control.

Source to Contract (S2C) refers to the end-to-end procurement process, from identifying a need and sourcing the right supplier, through tendering and evaluation, to contracting and ongoing supplier management. BuyingStation manages the full Source to Contract lifecycle in one place.

Most procurement platforms are built for large enterprises with dedicated procurement teams and long, complex implementations. BuyingStation was built from the ground up to be accessible, affordable and fast to deploy, without sacrificing governance or auditability. It is Procurement Intelligence designed for organisations that are growing, not just organisations that have already arrived.

BuyingStation was designed with your organisation and users in mind, so you can carry out implementation entirely yourselves. If you do not have the time, inclination or resources, we can help. All new customers receive two training sessions to get you underway. If you want more support, we can run a bespoke project to deploy the platform and onboard your suppliers. Call us on +44 (0) 330 139 7969 or email support@buyingstation.com.

As quickly as you can make a cup of tea! BuyingStation is designed so that you can deploy it yourself if you wish. Once you subscribe, you can start implementing and customising BuyingStation to suit your organisation. If you would like our help, ask us about our projects.

Yes! BuyingStation Procurement Intelligence is designed to help you fix that. We can run a project to cleanse and classify your data, build a category taxonomy and identify the sourcing priorities that will demonstrate the return on investment your organisation can achieve. But please note that this will be a part of BuyingStation Implementation at an additional cost.

No. BuyingStation is designed to be used by the whole organisation, not just procurement specialists. Finance, legal, operations and procurement teams all use it day to day. If you are building a procurement function, BuyingStation gives you the structure to do it properly from the start.

Yes, and that is exactly what most of our customers use it for. BuyingStation replaces fragmented spreadsheets and visibility-based processes with a single governed environment where supplier records, contracts, eTenders, Projects and spend are all visible in one place.

Yes. BuyingStation is built to scale with your organisation. Whether you are managing a handful of suppliers or hundreds, the platform gives you the structure and visibility you need without the complexity or cost of enterprise procurement systems.

You can subscribe on a monthly basis with no long-term commitment or choose an annual subscription for better value. Visit our pricing page for full details.

You can cancel at any time (subject to the notice period of 3 months for yearly subscriptions and 1 month of monthly subscriptions). Before your subscription ends you can export your data.

Yes. You choose the type of access your users have, defined by the permissions you set and for each module.

Yes. You can add new fields for all the main modules like Suppliers, Contracts, Requests, Projects and eTenders. In other words, you can capture the information that is right for your specific needs. Want to add a supplier question about adhering to your Code of Conduct? No problem. Add it where it makes most sense to you. You can do it yourself without lengthy complex changes or needing to contact us. Point, click, type and save. Done. No additional cost.

Yes. We built BuyingStation with OpenAPI in mind, so we can develop the relevant API for your applications. Out of the box API integrations are coming soon. Watch this space.

Yes. The platform includes a dashboard giving visibility of spend, contract commitments, supplier compliance and risk. There is also a dedicated Spend Tracker so finance and procurement leaders can monitor performance against budget and identify unmanaged or fragmented spend.

Yes, but only if you want it to. AI is currently available within BuyingStation Procurement Intelligence in our Specification Generator in the Tenders module and you have full control over whether you use it. Simply switch it on or off. We are developing further AI capability to help with contract review, spend insight and market intelligence, always with human judgement and your team's oversight remaining central.

BuyingStation provides a centralised contract register where all your commercial agreements are stored, organised and shared across teams. Key dates such as renewal and notice periods are visible through dashboards and automated alerts so that you never miss a contract expiry again. This reduces renewal leakage and keeps your commercial commitments under control.

Absolutely! There is a dedicated supplier onboarding questionnaire generator so that you can add as many questionnaires as you need, including DQQs and PQQs. You can bulk assign these to existing suppliers or just assign one to a single supplier.

As many as you like. You can also access our Supplier Directory which lets you browse potential future suppliers that you may be considering for running projects.

There are three ways to set up your suppliers and contracts:

• Bulk upload using our template spreadsheet
• Invite suppliers to set up their own profile with just an email address and name
• Add them manually one at a time

Suppliers have a secure login so that they can maintain their own information. They also receive an annual reminder from us. You can also email suppliers directly from within BuyingStation, including bulk messaging or requests for updates.

An eTender is a fully digital, structured tendering process managed within BuyingStation. You can issue invitations to tender, manage supplier responses, ask clarification questions and evaluate submissions all within the platform, keeping the process transparent, consistent and audit-ready.

A QuickQuote is a lightweight, fast-turnaround quote request you can issue to one or more suppliers directly within BuyingStation. It is ideal for lower-value purchases where a full tender process is not required but you still want a structured, documented approach.

Yes. This is one of the most common and costly problems BuyingStation solves. The platform tracks all key contract dates and sends automated alerts before renewals and notice periods fall due, so you are always in control of your commercial commitments.

All data is stored and backed up in the UK. BuyingStation is built on AWS EU West 2. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit and backed up daily.

BuyingStation is built on AWS and we hold ISO 27001, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. We follow both SDLC and OWASP security standards in our development process. You can view our certificates here.

Yes. All data is accessed via username and password login or via MFA using Google or Microsoft SSO.

Yes, BuyingStation is Cyber Essentials certified.

Yes. BuyingStation complies with GDPR requirements and uses end-to-end encryption to protect data in transit. All data is stored in the UK on AWS EU West 2 infrastructure.

Upon termination we will delete your data. You can download your data at any point before termination. You can view our Terms of Use here.

Our UK based team are available during UK working hours, Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 5.30pm, excluding public holidays. Contact us on +44 (0) 330 139 7969 or email support@buyingstation.com.

• Navigate to Suppliers’ Users > Add New User and enter the user’s details and work email address.

• The new user will receive temporary login credentials.

• Any additional users will receive the same notifications as the supplier administrator, including eTender invitations, QuickQuote notifications, contract expiry reminders and supplier onboarding requests.

• You can submit questions within the Clarification section of the relevant eTender or QuickQuote.

• Go to Action > Clarification against the active eTender or QuickQuote.

• Please note: if the clarification option is no longer visible, the clarification window has closed and further questions cannot be submitted.

• Your password may have expired. For security purposes, passwords expire after 7 days.

• You can request new login details via the password recovery page.

• Alternatively, contact your client to request that your login details are resent.

Visit the following password reset page to reset your password.

• When completing your primary supplier details, you will have the option to join the BuyingStation Global Supplier Directory.

• This directory is accessible to BuyingStation clients, allowing them to view and import supplier profiles into their own supplier directories.

• When logging in, select the client account you would like to access.

• If you are already logged in, use the account toggle at the top of the screen to switch between client accounts.

• Yes. If a document in the Supplier Minimum Requirements section is approaching its expiry date, both you and your client will receive a notification 7 days before expiry.

• If your contract is nearing expiry, you may also receive reminders if your client has enabled contract notifications.

• Ensure you are logged into the correct client profile for the organisation that invited you.

• If the issue continues, contact your client to confirm that the correct supplier details and email address have been used.

• Use the Have a Question button and select Procurement Help as the query type.

• Please note: Procurement Help queries are sent to your client. Technical Help queries are sent directly to BuyingStation Support. BuyingStation Support cannot assist with tender specific or client specific procurement queries.

• This usually means one of the uploaded files is empty, corrupted or has triggered a security validation issue.

• Upload files individually and click Save Changes after each upload to identify which file is causing the error.

• For further assistance please contact support@buyingstation.com

Yes. You can log in to BuyingStation at any time to continue updating your information. Please ensure you click Save after completing each section.

You must complete all mandatory fields within the Primary Details section. Your client may also request additional onboarding information such as references, compliance documentation and additional questionnaires.

• Standard file uploads: 20MB maximum.

• eTender specification document uploads: 200MB maximum.

• If you would like to add additional files, you can compress them into a ZIP folder and upload them individually.

No. BuyingStation does not process supplier payments and does not require bank information.

Yes. There are no costs for suppliers using BuyingStation.

No. To ensure fair and compliant procurement practices, submissions cannot be edited or resubmitted once submitted.

Select the colour palette icon on the right-hand side of the screen and choose your preferred colour scheme.

• Select your profile picture icon.

• Navigate to the current language. By default, it will be English.

• Select the language you would like to change to.

• My Suppliers contains suppliers that are actively connected to your organisation.

• The BuyingStation Supplier Directory is a broader directory of suppliers that may be considered for future sourcing or procurement activity.

• Please perform a hard refresh of your browser by pressing Ctrl + Shift + R.

• You should also clear your browser cache regularly.

Supplier notifications are sent to the user who created the supplier, the client administrator account and any users assigned to the Procurement Lead role.

• Navigate to: Profile Picture > Assign Delegation Authority.

• Select the delegation date range and choose the user who will receive delegated authority.

• During the selected period, the delegated user will be able to approve projects and eTenders and access the same areas and permissions as the delegating user.

• When a supplier is created, the email address entered automatically generates a secure supplier account.

• The supplier can then log in to respond to eTenders and QuickQuotes, complete supplier onboarding questionnaires and upload compliance and due diligence documentation.

• BuyingStation includes configurable features within the Settings, including:

• Custom Fields: add organisation specific fields across modules such as Contracts, Project Pipeline, Suppliers and eTender.

• Categories: create your own category taxonomy for contracts, suppliers and sourcing projects.

• Email Templates: customise system generated emails sent to suppliers, including tender invitations and onboarding communications.

Yes. You can bulk upload your existing supplier and contract data using our template spreadsheet, or we can run a project to support the migration. Most customers are up and running far faster than they expect.