Case Study: TES – Transforming TES’ Procure-to-Pay Capability with Coupa

17 Jun
Posted by: Matthew Hardaker
Category: Case Studies
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Close-up of professionals working on laptops resting on their laps, with faces cropped out, symbolising focused digital collaboration and procurement transformation enabled by technology.
Tes Global logo representing education sector client partnership.

As TES continued to expand globally, the need for a modern, scalable procure-to-pay capability became critical. Partnering closely with TES, we supported the organisation in moving from a largely manual environment to a fully digitised solution.

TES enable great teaching worldwide by providing intelligent digital products and services that support schools at every stage of their journey. Working in partnership with teachers and school leaders, TES deliver trusted education solutions that span safeguarding and compliance, staff and pupil management, and wider operational needs.

With a strong focus on innovation and flexibility, TES help educators work more effectively, empowering them to focus on what matters most — delivering the best possible education to their students.

Today, TES support a global community of more than 13 million educators and work with over 25,000 schools across more than 100 countries, bringing the scale, experience and insight needed to make a meaningful and lasting impact on education worldwide.

CHALLENGE

TES faced a number of challenges as the organisation continued to grow and evolve:

  • There was no established procurement or commercial function within the organisation.
  • The Finance and Technology teams had limited experience deploying Coupa and supporting the NetSuite integration bundle at pace.
  • Recent acquisitions had introduced new entities, creating additional complexity and change management challenges.
  • Procure-to-pay processes were largely manual, with no prior experience of digital P2P tools across the organisation.

Together, these challenges made it difficult for TES to gain visibility, control and consistency across their expenditure landscape.

SOLUTION

To address these challenges, we provided senior procurement expertise to help TES define and structure its approach to supplier expenditure across the organisation.

Alongside this, our procurement and technical specialists led the deployment of Coupa, working closely with the NetSuite team to design and implement the required integration layers. This ensured the solution was aligned to TES’ existing ERP landscape while supporting future scalability.

Delivery was underpinned by the Barkers methodology, structured around a phased approach — mobilise, model, validate and deploy. This framework embedded supplier enablement, change management and robust project governance throughout the programme, ensuring progress was controlled, measurable and sustainable.

Key elements of the delivery included:

  • Deployment of Platform Solution Architects with deep experience supporting low-maturity procurement and accounts payable automation environments.
  • Deployment of Coupa and Barkers technical architects to deliver the Coupa–NetSuite integration.
  • An end-to-end change management and project management service to support adoption, business readiness and long-term success.

RESULTS

The programme delivered a step-change improvement in TES’ procure-to-pay capability:

  • AP Automation: Legacy manual invoice approval processes were fully digitised, significantly improving efficiency and control.
  • Visibility and Control: Charts of accounts, budgets and ledgers from all entities and countries were consolidated into a single platform.
  • Integration: Seamless integration was achieved with key systems and buying channels, including NetSuite ERP and credit card issuing banks.
  • Procurement Enablement: TES now has a strong foundation to build procurement maturity, introducing visibility, compliance and control where previously there was none.
  • Compliance and Risk Management: Enhanced monitoring supports adherence to procurement policies and regulations, alongside improved risk assessment and mitigation capabilities.

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TES – Transforming TES’ Procure-to-Pay Capability with Coupa – Case Study

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Author: Matthew Hardaker
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