Affiliated Buying

Multi-Entity Procurement Made Simple

Manage Purchasing Across Multiple Billing Entities with One Login

Simplify Procurement Across Multiple Organisations

Managing procurement for multiple companies, schools, or NHS ICBs is complex - tracking separate orders, invoices, and procurement policies for each entity can quickly become time-consuming. The Probrand Procurement Platform simplifies affiliated buying by allowing a single login to manage purchases across multiple affiliated entities.

This key feature streamlines procurement while ensuring each entity’s spend visibility, invoicing accuracy, and procurement compliance. Assign and track purchases by Cost Centre, helping you maintain budget control and transparency across departments, locations, or affiliated organisations within a centralised procurement structure.

How Affiliated Buying Works

One Login, Multiple Entities

With Affiliated Buying, users can switch between multiple affiliated organisations without the hassle of managing multiple logins. Whether you’re part of a central procurement team, a Multi Academy Trust (MAT), or a growing business group, you can seamlessly manage procurement for all entities from one account.

Single Sign-On Access: Instantly switch between affiliated organisations.
Customised User Roles: Define user permissions per entity.
Seamless Entity Switching: Buy on behalf of multiple organisations with ease.
Cost Centre Allocation: Ensure spending is assigned to the correct department, location, or project.

A Smarter Way

To Handle Invoicing & Spend Management

Managing purchases across different billing entities can lead to invoicing errors, internal reconciliations, and financial inefficiencies. Affiliated Buying ensures that:

Invoices are automatically assigned to the correct entity at checkout.

Custom billing profiles align with each organisation’s financial setup.

Real-time spend tracking gives full visibility across all affiliated entities.

Cost Centres can be assigned per purchase, allowing organisations to track and report spending per function, department, or region.

Example Use Case

If a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) oversees 10+ schools, procurement managers can instantly switch between schools, place orders on their behalf, and ensure each school is invoiced correctly—without needing separate accounts.

Unlock Bulk Savings & Standardisation

Leverage Group Buying Power Across Affiliated Entities. When multiple organisations buy together, purchasing power increases. With Affiliated Buying, you can:

Unlock Special Bid
Pricing

Secure volume discounts by aggregating spend and consolidating orders across affiliated organisations.

Standardise IT Hardware & Services

Create pre-approved purchasing lists, making IT support and management more efficient.

Maximise Procurement Efficiency

Buy in bulk for major rollouts while allowing each entity to manage its day-to-day purchasing independently.

Centralise spend tracking via Cost Centres

Ensuring each organisation benefits from negotiated pricing and procurement oversight.

This flexible procurement approach enables both centralised and decentralised purchasing strategies within one system, helping procurement teams standardise processes while maintaining autonomy across billing entities.

Boost Financial & Procurement Compliance

Affiliated Buying helps organisations maintain full compliance and governance across multiple entities. This ensures procurement managers, finance teams, and IT departments have full transparency while reducing financial risk.

Finance & Budget Controls

Assign spend limits per entity to prevent budget overruns.

Automated Audit Trails

Track spend across affiliated entities in one reporting dashboard.

Vendor-Approved Supply Chain

Maintain compliance with framework agreements, procurement policies, and sector regulations.

Cost Centre Reporting

Generate reports based on spend allocation by department, project, or function, providing clear budget visibility.

Instead of manually obtaining three quotes for three different companies, buyers can complete purchases in minutes with all pricing, approvals, and invoicing handled automatically.

The Power of

Procurement Digitalisation

Many organisations have avoided digital procurement in the past due to the complexity of managing multiple billing entities. However, Affiliated Buying removes these barriers:

Time Savings: Customers using Affiliated Buying reduced procurement admin from days to minutes, ordering for three companies with 10-line items in under seven minutes.

Increased Efficiency: Avoid lengthy manual purchase requests, supplier price comparisons, and internal invoice reconciliation.

Cost Centre Alignment: Assign purchases to relevant Cost Centres for clear tracking of budget allocation and expenditure.

Key Benefits of Affiliated Buying with Probrand

Effortless

Entity Switching

Manage multiple organisations with a single login.

Automated Billing

& Invoicing

Ensure each order is assigned to the correct financial account.

Bulk Savings

& Standardisation

Access group-buying discounts and improve IT support efficiency.

Spend Visibility

& Compliance

Track purchases, maintain governance, and simplify financial reporting.

Flexible

Procurement

Enable centralised purchasing while supporting individual entity autonomy.

Cost Centre

Management

Assign purchases to the right category for precise financial oversight.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Affiliated Buying help large organisations?

It enables procurement teams to buy for multiple entities without separate logins, while ensuring correct invoicing and spend tracking.

Can I set different user permissions for each organisation?

Yes, user roles can be customised to define who can buy, approve, or manage procurement per entity.

Does Affiliated Buying support special bid pricing?

Yes, organisations can consolidate purchases across affiliated entities to unlock special bid pricing and volume discounts.

How does this benefit finance teams?

Finance teams gain accurate billing, automated spend tracking, and reduced invoice reconciliation effort across multiple entities.

Can purchases be assigned to Cost Centres?

Yes, Cost Centres can be used to categorise and track spending, providing financial clarity for budgets, departments, and procurement teams.

Is this feature available across all industries?

Yes, it is ideal for NHS Trusts, Multi Academy Trusts, corporate groups, and any business managing multiple entities.

Get Started with Affiliated Buying Today

Take control of multi-entity procurement with Probrand’s Affiliated Buying feature.