Making complex financial information straightforward

Designed with the public in mind, spotlightonspend makes complex financial information straightforward for everyone to access and interpret. Standardised metrics make comparison possible between public bodies of differing sizes provided they are of the same type. Should you wish to provide background information to aid interpretation and understanding we provide a mechanism for you to publish a supporting narrative. 

Quick access to key facts and people

Quick access to organisational facts and background information where available.

Clear, consistent and meaningful categories

Suppliers are classified and allocated to clear and consistent categories, with terms for goods and services that the public will recognise and understand, such as 'building supplies' or 'taxis'.

spotlightonspend includes tools that allow you to easily reallocate suppliers to a different category where that category might better reflect what you purchase from them.

How much is spent and with whom

It is quick and easy to discover who supplies you by category and how much you spend with them relative to other suppliers in the same category.

Meaningful summary contract information

Easy and intuitive access to summary information about the contracts you currently have in place.

Animated, interactive charts and graphs

Animated, interactive charts and graphs designed to make your spend and related information engaging as well as informative.

Standardised, consistent and meaningful comparison

Standardisation and consistent classification make meaningful comparison possible between public bodies of differing sizes where they are of the same type.

Should a public body wish to provide background information to aid interpretation and understanding we provide a mechanism for publishing a supporting narrative (‘Spend in Context’).

Machine readable 'raw data' download

spotlightonspend enables download of the transactions above £500 in value (£25,000 in central government) before data transformation has been undertaken by us other than;

• identification and redaction of payments made to individuals,
• standardisation of the file format (including column headings and positions).

The raw download files are policy compliant and machine readable. We take care of publishing your download file and updates to www.data.gov.uk.

Publishing to www.data.gov.uk

We take care of publishing your download file and updates to http://data.gov.uk under the terms of the Open Government Licence to as defined by the Public Sector Transparency Board and delivered by The National Archives.

Accessed through your own website

spotlightonspend is hosted by us but accessed by the public through your own organisation's web site. Integration is straightforward – we supply your web master with a line of HTML that auto-generates the link through which the public can access your data.