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Access Education Purchasing
School accounts payable software
Give your finance team the gift of time
Access Education Purchasing is the smarter, simpler way for maintained schools and Multi-Academy Trusts to run purchasing and accounts payable, without losing sleep (or spreadsheets).
Built to take the 'work' out of workflow
Manual invoice processing is more than just tedious. It’s expensive. Every approval to chase, every supplier statement to reconcile, every figure to recheck adds hours your finance team can’t get back.
Access Education Purchasing replaces that manual effort with intelligent automation.
- Invoices are captured automatically
- They're coded correctly
- They're routed for approval
- AND they're exported straight to your finance system
... With full audit trails built in.
The result? Up to 80% less time spent on admin, fewer errors, and complete visibility across every school, all while meeting DfE, ESFA and LA requirements.
Accounts payable software you can trust
Why choose Access Education Purchasing?
Go Paperless
All your supplier bills are emailed into your account for immediate data extraction. No more posting paper to head office or passing paper around for approval signatures.
100% Correct Pricing
Never manually price check your supplier bills again. Access Education purchasing compares each lines' product code with your supplier's agreed price list, flagging any overcharges.
Early Payment Discounts
By speeding up the data entry and approvals process, you can process your supplier bills faster, allowing you to take advantage of early payment discounts more often.
Multi-tiered 1 Click Approvals
Get sign-off from each of your approvers remotely or on the go. Our multi-tiered approvals allows you to get up to 8 levels of approval via browser, email and our mobile app.
Grow with us
As you bring on more locations, you can create new entities in your account for each new location in your franchise empire.
100% Accurate Real-Time Data
Having access to live data in a business is your new secret weapon to keep your business organised and agile.
What makes Access Education Purchasing different?
Every school has its own way of doing things. Which is fine, until you need to see the bigger picture. Access Education Purchasing brings order, clarity and control to finance operations across your trust, automating the admin so your team can focus on the numbers that really matter.
Integrate with leading solutions
Access Education Purchasing connects seamlessly with Access Education Finance and other leading systems. It removes duplicate work, keeps your data in sync, and gives your finance team time back to focus on higher-value work.
One system, all your schools
Access Education Purchasing brings every school in your trust together on one connected platform. See every purchase, supplier and approval in one place. No more spreadsheets, no more missing invoices.
Key features:
- Single dashboard showing real-time spend across all schools
- Centralised supplier management to reduce duplicates and simplify relationships
- Consolidated reporting for management accounts and board reviews
- Budget check integration with Access Education Finance
- Scalable structure that supports small, medium and large MATs
The result:
One version of the truth. Every school aligned, every transaction visible, and every approval accounted for.
Intelligent automation
Automation handles the admin so your finance team can focus on strategy. Access Education Purchasing removes manual data entry, chasing and rework with fast, accurate AI-powered processing.
Key features:
- Automatic invoice capture from PDFs and emails
- Smart GL coding and tax handling
- Up to 8 approval levels with custom routing
- Instant duplicate invoice detection
- Automated statement reconciliation
- Real-time approval tracking and status updates
The result:
Invoices processed in minutes instead of days, with 80% less manual effort and fewer errors across every school.
Built for the public sector
Access Education Purchasing is purpose-built for UK maintained schools and MATs. It supports your governance requirements and integrates seamlessly with your finance systems.
Key features:
- Approval workflows aligned with your scheme of delegation
- Full audit trails meeting LA, DfE and ESFA standards
- Procurement threshold monitoring
- One-click export to Access Education Finance and 40+ accounting systems
- Secure, cloud-based access for teams working across sites
The result:
Robust control, simple compliance, and total visibility, all in one place.
Speed up your manual processing time
Measurable impact across every school
Access Education Purchasing delivers measurable improvements in efficiency, accuracy and control. Proven across trusts and maintained schools nationwide.
%
saving
on AP processing with NO manual data entry
+
compatible accounting systems
%
data capture accuracy
approval levels
The psychology of zero
A CFO’s new favourite number: zero.
- Zero duplicate invoices.
- Zero missing paperwork.
- Zero hours wasted on manual reconciliation.
Access Education Purchasing uses automation and smart controls to make good financial behaviour the easy option.
Automatic approvals, real-time budget checks and central supplier management remove the friction that causes errors and delays.
When the right process is also the simplest one, compliance becomes instinctive and efficiency takes care of itself.
Why customers love Access Education Purchasing
The whole system has been really good
The visibility of invoices has helped enormously. Seeing the documents coming in, they're logged on the system, and we can see where they are. It makes processing much easier. It's a very intuitive system.
AP automation boosted efficiency by 85%
Before AP automation, the finance team experienced an average approval time of 15 days, aligning with the industry standard. Now, approvals take only three days - 80% faster than average!
We're no longer spending valuable time chasing invoices
We have much greater credibility on invoices in that we know why things haven't been paid, we have proof as to what happened and why, and we can communicate this easily with teachers.
Buying better in education
Procurement in schools: Why every school finance leader needs a modern procurement strategy
Making multi-academy trust spend visible and compliant
A practical guide to improved procurement and purchasing for schools and trusts
FAQs
What systems does Access Education Purchasing integrate with?
Access Education Purchasing integrates with over 40 accounting systems, including Access Education Finance, Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, and NetSuite. It supports API, CSV, KFI, and TXT connections — giving your team flexibility to work with the systems you already use.
Read our article: Procurement in schools: Why every school finance leader needs a modern procurement strategy
Is it difficult to set up?
No. Implementation is fast and guided by our support team. Most schools are fully set up within days, not weeks. Data flows automatically once connected to your finance system, so there’s minimal disruption.
How does automation improve accuracy?
Invoices are read automatically using AI data capture, removing manual entry errors. Duplicates are flagged instantly, GL codes are applied automatically, and approvals follow your school’s scheme of delegation — keeping every transaction compliant and auditable.
What kind of support is available?
You’ll have access to UK-based support from real people, available by chat, phone, or email five days a week. We also provide onboarding guidance, training resources, and ongoing updates to keep your system running smoothly.
Can it handle multiple schools or cost centres?
Yes. Access Education Purchasing gives you a single view across every school, site, or cost centre. You can assign budgets, delegate approvals, and produce consolidated reports at trust level — all from one platform.
Read our article: Making multi-academy trust spend visible and compliant
What if we’re an independent school?
Independent schools use Lightyear, our version of the platform designed specifically for their needs. It offers the same powerful automation with tailored features for VAT handling, school hierarchies, and board reporting.
Access Education Suite
Our education software is built by experts to help schools work more efficiently and engage staff and students more effectively. It’s designed to give educators more time to focus on great teaching, not admin.
At the centre is Access Evo, a secure, easy-to-use hub that brings your tools, data, policies and processes into one place. One login. One connected view of your school.
Our all-in-one bundles bring everything together under one contract and one per-school price. It’s not just software. It’s a simpler, more confident way to run your school, with better decisions, happier staff, and fewer day-to-day frustrations.