Spreadsheets aren’t free if they cost you millions. Discover the hidden costs of manual contingent workforce management and the smarter alternative.
If you're still managing your contingent workforce using spreadsheets and email threads, you're not alone. Many companies continue to rely on manual processes simply because “it’s how it’s always been done.” But here’s the reality: spreadsheets could be quietly costing your company millions of dollars each year.
In this article, we’ll uncover the hidden costs of managing contingent labor manually and show how a modern vendor management system (VMS) can dramatically reduce spend, boost compliance, and save your internal teams hours every week
1 - Human Error and Inaccurate Data
Manual data entry in spreadsheets leaves the door wide open for errors: mis-entered hours, incorrect rates, and duplicate payments are all too common.
How a VMS Helps:
A VMS automates the entire contingent worker process, including time tracking, validating rates on invoices, and flagging discrepancies in real time - all preventing errors before they happen. One of the most frustrating time wasters is chasing suppliers on invoice errors. Quite often they go unnoticed meaning money lost forever.
2 - Rogue Markups and Rate Inconsistency
Without centralized oversight, staffing agencies can apply inconsistent markups or charge inflated rates. When rate benchmarking is manual - or nonexistent - you’re likely paying more than you should.
How a VMS Helps:
A VMS offers centralized rate cards and automated vendor comparisons, providing visibility into rate disparities and empowering procurement to negotiate more favorable terms.
3 - Lost Time and Productivity
Spreadsheets don’t just cost you money - they burn internal resources. HR, procurement, and finance teams spend dozens of hours each month chasing down timesheets, reconciling invoices, and managing back-and-forth emails.
How a VMS Helps:
With automated workflows and centralized dashboards, a VMS reduces admin time, freeing up your teams to focus on strategy, not spreadsheets.
4 - Compliance Risks and Audit Failures
Managing worker classification, contract terms, and documentation in spreadsheets is a compliance minefield. One missed detail can result in failed audits, regulatory fines, or worse - reputational damage.
How a VMS Helps:
A VMS securely stores all contracts, agreements, and worker data in one searchable, auditable location - ensuring you’re always compliance-ready.
Final Thoughts - It's Time to Ditch the Spreadsheet
Managing your contingent workforce through spreadsheets may seem like a simple solution, but the hidden costs add up fast. From overpayments and rogue vendor markups to hours of wasted admin time and compliance risks, spreadsheets create more problems than they solve.
Instead, organizations (yes, even those with smaller contingent workforce budgets) should use a VMS to automate and consolidate their contingent workforce program and the staffing agency management process.
The Benefits of a Vendor Management System
A vendor management system acts as a mechanism for your business to consolidate all processes and data associated with the procurement and management of your contingent workforce and the staffing vendors you partner with.
By consolidating your entire contingent workforce program in one centralized location, your company will have clear visibility and control over vendor relationships, vendor analytics, pay rates and much more.
A VMS will bring a huge ROI to your company’s contingent workforce management program, and that’s because it’s capabilities will significantly improve your processes, reduce costs and lead to far greater visibility into your program.
Improved efficiencies:
The automation of processes such as onboarding, time entry and approval will save your organization countless hours and lead to better internal efficiencies across your company.
Complete visibility into your program:
Since your entire contingent workforce management program is now stored in one location, instead of being fragmented across different departments and hiring managers, you’ll have complete visibility into where you may be overpaying vendors or mismanaging contingent workers.
Vendor consolidation:
With your vendors consolidated into one location, your VMS will act as a central hub that gives you all the information you need to evaluate whether each staffing agency you use is helping you to meet your company’s unique workforce targets. This leads to more insightful and strategic vendor choices.
Reduce costs:
By helping you to get the lowest prices from vendors, cut down on rogue spend in your contingent workforce management program and save money on process efficiencies, a VMS can help your business improve its contingent workforce management expense - to improve your bottom line and become more profitable.
Learn More on the Benefits of a VMS
Cost Savings: How you can save 20% on your contingent workforce costs
Reducing Risk: 5 Ways to reduce contingent workforce risk with a VMS
Improving Compliance: 10 Ways a VMS helps improve contingent workforce compliance
Managing Shift-Workers: 5 Ways a VMS helps you manage shift-based workers
Improving Invoicing: 5 Ways a VMS streamlines and improves invoicing
Increasing Visibility: 5 ways a VMS gives you visibility into your contingent workforce program
Measuring Staffing Agency Performance: How a VMS improves staffing agency performance
Getting Started with a VMS
At Conexis, we make it easy to get started with your first Vendor Management System with our "Easy Start" program.
If you’ve never had a VMS before, you may not even realize what’s possible. Not only do we build the roadmap to get you there, but we work with you every step of the way.
With Conexis, you’re not just getting a system, you’re getting a partner who helps you define success before we ever write a line of code.
Conexis "Easy Start" Program
Our "Easy Start" program has been designed specifically to help you and your team implement a VMS in the easiest possible way.
Step 1: We Help You Build Your Requirements and Workflows
We begin with a collaborative discovery process. Our experienced team sits down with your key stakeholders—procurement, HR, finance, and operations—to understand how your current process works and where the pain points are. We ask questions like:
Step 2: We Configure the System to Meet Your Requirements
This is where the real magic starts to happen. Because we’ve already captured your goals and processes during discovery, we now turn those insights into a working VMS that mirrors how you operate—only faster, more automated, and way more efficient.nd onboarding steps based on worker type.
Step 3: We Complete Any Integrations
When you’re bringing in your first VMS, the last thing you want is to be forced into a six-month IT project just to make systems talk to each other. That’s why we’ve made it simple to connect Conexis with the platforms you already rely on.
Step 4: Test and Accept
The goal here isn’t just to verify the system is “working.” The goal is to ensure it’s working for your business, exactly the way we mapped it out. This isn’t just a demo environment with sample data—it’s a replica of your real-world operations.
Step 5: Training & Hyper Care
The most elegant system in the world won’t deliver results if no one knows how to use it. Our training and hyper care process bridges the gap between go-live and full adoption. We offer live sessions (virtual or onsite), self-paced training materials, and user guides designed in plain language.
Not sure if a VMS is what you Need?
Learn more about Vendor Management Systems, the benefits of a VMS and what to look for when choosing the best VMS for your organization. Download our Free VMS Buyer's Guide here:
Discover the Power of Conexis VMS
Conexis VMS is purpose-built for organizations seeking to manage their contingent labor spend effectively. Here’s why we're the right choice:
- Fast Deployment: Get up and running in weeks, not months
- Transparent Pricing: Flexible pricing with no hidden costs
- White-Label Ready: Customize the platform with your brand
- Real-Time Insights: Make faster decisions with built-in analytics
- Audit-Ready Compliance: Store contracts, worker data, and rates in one secure hub
About Conexis VMS
Conexis is an award-winning Vendor Management System built for organizations that want the power of enterprise software without the complexity or cost.
Leveraging the latest technology, Conexis delivers the expertise, reliability and security of enterprise systems, while offering the flexibility, user friendliness and tailored, personal service you require. Learn more about our Company and why organizations Choose Conexis VMS.
Give us a call - we will help you launch your first VMS
Whether you are looking to Switch your VMS, or just Getting Started, we are here to help. Contact Us for a Free No-Obligation Consultation, See how Easy Conexis is to use by taking a quick 2 minute Self-Guided Online Demo, or Book a Personal Demo Today!
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