Procurement System for Municipalities and the Public Sector — Complete Guide
Norwegian municipalities spend over 600 billion NOK on procurement every year. Yet in many municipalities, purchasing is still managed through email, phone calls, and Excel. The result? Lack of traceability, breaches of procurement regulations, and millions lost to uncontrolled spending.
This guide is written for you who work with procurement in a municipality, county, or other public sector organisation – and who know there is a better way.
Did you know?
- • The Office of the Auditor General has repeatedly identified shortcomings in public procurement processes
- • Municipalities lacking traceability risk compensation claims from overlooked suppliers
- • Manual procurement handling costs on average 3–5 times more than digitalised procurement
Requirements for public sector procurement
Public sector organisations are bound by the Public Procurement Act and DFØ's guidelines. Here are the key requirements a procurement system must fulfil:
All government agencies and most municipalities are required to receive electronic invoices in EHF format via the PEPPOL network. The system must support this.
Who ordered what, when, from whom, at what price – and who approved it? Everything must be documented with timestamps.
Purchases above threshold values require formal approval. The system must have built-in approval routines with authorisation management.
Users should only see approved suppliers and agreed prices. The system must enforce framework agreements automatically.
More and more public sector organisations require electronic orders via PEPPOL. A future-proof system should support this already.
Want to dive deeper into DFØ's specific requirements? Read our practical guide to DFØ's procurement requirements.
Common challenges in municipal procurement
After working with municipalities for years, we see the same problems time and again:
Decentralised purchasing without control
Schools, care homes, technical departments, and administration – everyone buys their own way. Nobody has an overview of total spend, and framework agreements are ignored.
Too many users, too little training
A municipality can have hundreds of people placing orders. If the system requires extensive training, it simply won't be used.
No link to framework agreements
Employees don't know which agreements apply and end up buying from suppliers the municipality has no agreement with – so-called maverick buying.
Audit anxiety
When the municipal auditor asks "can you document this?", the stressful hunt through emails and file shares begins.
What should a procurement system for municipalities include?
Based on our experience with the public sector, these are the features that actually make a difference:
- Usability first. If a care home employee can't place an order without training, the system has failed. A simple interface and mobile support are absolute requirements.
- Built-in framework agreements. Users should only see products and suppliers from current agreements. No temptation to buy outside the agreements.
- Automatic audit trail. Everything is logged automatically – without the user having to think about it. Who, what, when, approved by whom.
- EHF and PEPPOL support. The system must send and receive electronic documents via PEPPOL without manual handling.
- Flexible approval workflows. Different departments have different authorisations and threshold values. The system must handle this automatically.
- Reporting and insights. Management needs real-time overview of spend per department, supplier, and category.
Case: How Asker municipality solved their procurement challenges
Asker municipality had over 700 users who needed a procurement system. Of the previous solution the municipality says nothing was standardised, much of it stalled in the message flow to suppliers, and the system was not intuitive for the end user.
The requirement was clear: Usability was the top priority. The system had to be adopted without extensive training, while all compliance requirements were met automatically in the background.
"We have many hundreds of employees who need to make purchases, and many do it alongside their primary duties, so we needed a system that is intuitive and easy to use."
– Mona Omli Landsrød, procurement adviser, Asker municipality
Read the full story: Asker municipality: Usability was the top priority
PEPPOL and Vieri Connect: DFØ-approved access point
Vieri is registered as a DFØ-approved access point in the ELMA registry. This means public sector organisations can send and receive all EHF document types directly through Vieri – without the need for third-party providers.
- EHF invoices, credit notes, and reminders – automatic matching against orders
- Electronic orders – send purchase orders digitally to suppliers via PEPPOL
- Catalogue integration – supplier product catalogues are updated automatically
- Ready to go – no extra configuration or integration costs for PEPPOL
Learn more about Vieri Connect and PEPPOL connectivity.
What sets Vieri apart from other procurement systems?
There are several procurement systems on the market. Here is what makes Vieri particularly suited for municipalities and the public sector:
- Built for Norway. Norwegian system, Norwegian support, Norwegian integrations. Developed by people who know the public sector and Norwegian regulations.
- Usability in focus. 700+ users at Asker municipality is the proof. Employees don't need training – the system is intuitive from day one.
- Compliance built in. Audit trails, approval workflows, and framework agreement controls run automatically. No room for human error.
- DFØ-approved PEPPOL access point. All electronic commerce is built in – no extra providers or integration costs.
- Rapid implementation. Most municipalities are up and running within weeks, not months.
Sources
Want to see how other municipalities use Vieri?
We'll gladly show you how Asker municipality and other public sector organisations have digitalised their procurement – and ensured full compliance.
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