Are you struggling to get accurate spend information because of incorrectly classified data, unclassified data or limited visibility? Without it, it’s difficult to negotiate better rates with suppliers, track KPI’s, reduce spend, check compliance or make good business decisions.
That’s why you need a Guru. A Classification Guru to be exact. And one with a cloakroom full of services to make sure you are basing your business decisions on the most accurate data available, plus prevent costly mistakes.
You could automate your data classification, but this isn’t fool proof. The Classification Guru has developed a method to efficiently and accurately classify, cleanse and verify data to minimise the errors in the same amount of time.

It’s a simple and effective method: you need to make sure your data has its COAT on. This simple principle is applied to all The Classification Guru’s services AND your data.

So, what is a data COAT? Well, it’s…

Consistent – Generally data is used by many people or teams, which can lead to multiple classifications of one product. For example, one person might put DHL as a ‘courier’, while another might log it as ‘logistics’ or ‘warehousing’. Or it could even be a simple as units of measurement. One person may use ‘Litre’, another ‘Ltr’ and another ‘L’ – but these should all be one format. This means everything can be reported accurately, you get a true picture of what’s going on and better business decisions can be made.  

Organised – Data is only useful if it’s organised. Think of a messy cloakroom, you’re looking for your favourite top but can’t find it as everything has been thrown in there. And, much like your cloakroom, you can organise your data in different ways, depending on what you want to get out of it and that will produce different reports/analytics.  

Accurate – This can mean different things to different people. At its most basic level, accurate data is correct. In more detail, this could be no duplicate information; correct invoice descriptions; correct classifications; no missing product codes; standard units of measure (e.g. ltr, l, litres); no currency issues; correctly spelled vendors; fully classified data; or the right data in the right columns. 

Trustworthy – This is critical. Business decisions around jobs, staffing, budgets, cost savings and more are all based on data. Data is used by everyone from the bottom to the top of an organisation. You have to be able to trust that what you’re looking at is the right information, and you need it to be accurate in order for your teams to use the data in their daily jobs. 

And, The Classification Guru’s services are exactly the same.  

I couldn’t tell you to how to maintain your data without living and breathing the same practices myself. I am:

Consistent – in communication, work ethic and results.
Organised – to make sure your data is returned when agreed.
Accurate – so you can make better business decisions.
Trustworthy – so you know the decisions you make are correct.

These ideals are also applied to the services I offer. The COATs in my cloakroom, if you will. There’s… 
COAT Data Classification

Data can be classified from an existing or customised taxonomy. This can be from single or multiple file sources and the preferred format to receive the file is Excel.
The level of detail in the classification will be dependent upon the amount of information in the invoice description, where possible this will be as detailed as possible. For example, if the description is a keyboard it will be classified as a keyboard, not just IT equipment or accessories.

Although you may already have your data classified, if it’s not been carried out using the correct taxonomy you won’t be able to report on the information you need, and if there have been multiple parties involved in the process, there will be less consistency and more chance of inaccurate and misleading data. An example of classification.

COAT Supplier Normalisation

Suppliers will be normalised to a common standard name. For example: I.B.M, IBM Inc, IBM Ltd will all be normalised to IBM in a new column. 
It’s important to normalise your suppliers to get a true picture of how much you are spending with them, once this is completed you can view this on a global, regional or local level easily.

This also helps with maintaining more accurately classified data to make better business decisions.

COAT Taxonomy Customisation

This is built as the data is classified so that all spend can be accurately classified, and as an organisation you can report on exactly what you need to as a business. 
You can choose how to break down your spend, for example, split the spend by organisational unit (ops, retail etc.) or direct/indirect at level 1 before breaking down by categories. 

Data is cleansed, deduplicated and reformatted to allow you or your team to work more effectively and accurately.

So, why don’t you get your data a COAT from The Classification Guru’s cloakroom today? Get in touch to find out more – it’s susan@theclassificationguru.com.