5-Steps for Successful Implementation of Expense Management Software
In today’s technologically driven digital world, most enterprises are investing in expense management solutions to automate their business processes and enhance overall productivity. With an average of $1.3 trillion spent solely on corporate travel expenses worldwide last year, organizations are trying to gain full control over their expense budgets.
The software streamlines tedious and time-consuming processes, while freeing-up employees to concentrate on more productive tasks. Fully automated Travel & Expense Management (TEM) solution simplify expense reporting, reduces fraud, and ensures company travel policy compliance.
To automate travel and expense management successfully, you need to make sure you select the right software and implement it correctly.
Here we’ve discussed a 5-step guide for a successful implementation of Travel & Expense Management software.
Analyze Pitfalls of the Existing System
Interact with employees to understand their pitfalls with the existing process and analyze which features you will need to overcome those. Gathering information on the existing system from key employees within your organization will help you select a solution that perfectly suits your company’s needs.
Whether you want to continue with the existing travel policy or are planning to create new policies, make sure the software has the capability to ensure policy compliance with expenses reports.
Determine Your End Goals
Determine what your requirements are and what you want to achieve by implementing a TEM software. Defining the issues you need to solve and the goals you wish to achieve enables you to evaluate the ROI of the implemented software afterward.
Some of the typical problems a TEM solution can solve are inaccurate employee expense reports, unstructured or duplicate data, and much more.
Define Technology Requirements
Business infrastructure consists of various ERPs and other applications which need to integrate for seamless data transfer. So, before committing to a software solution, check whether that software can integrate with your other third-party applications for seamless data transfer.
Also, consider the advantages and disadvantages of the cloud solution before choosing the right one for your company.
Understand the Features You Need
Every expense solution will have a unique combination of features and functionalities. While a few free online expense management software tools offer only basic functionality. Advanced solutions offer premium features such as OCR technology, mileage and per diem calculations, real-time analytics, mobile application, and so much more.
Consider using the demo version of the software to verify the features and functions will work for you before you purchase it. Both on-premise and on-cloud software’s comes with a set of advantages and disadvantages. So, consider checking which best suits your business requirements.
The Bottom Line
Determine how much you can to spend on TEM software. Estimating the potential cost-savings offered by a solution will guide you in setting a considerable budget for expense software.
Also, consider the costs associated in continuing to manually manage expense reports, like inaccurate data, duplicate reports, possible expense fraud, etc.; while also estimating the potential cost-savings of investing into software.
Research conducted by PayStream Advisors revealed that it would cost approximately $27 to submit a paper-based expense report manually. While submitting an expense report with an automated expense solution would only cost around $7.
Finally, when comparing the costs of the expense software, also consider any possible software installation and upfront costs along with the supporting hardware and software equipment costs.
Make sure the vendor and solution you choose to purchase will be available 24/7 to quickly resolve your support queries and help you utilize the full potential of the software.
