Expense management software helps firms adopt a data-centric approach to managing spend

Understanding corporate spend is an important aspect of expense management. Prioritizing expense reporting is a good way for organizations to ensure savings and build revenue. But what does it take to achieve a sustainable expense solution that benefits both the employer and employees?  Data assimilation is the answer. Organizations must use a robust solution to manage corporate expenses in real-time. Adopting a data-centric approach to solving management issues is key. The same holds true for expense management.

Clean and relevant data helps build predictive analytics; data visualization tools and intelligence gathering enable organizations to improve their decision efficiency. Technology platforms must ensure capture of expense reports at the source to enable a seamless transition from receipt processing and approvals to reimbursement.

Best-in-class organizations have data environments that enable them  to make critical business decisions by converting raw data into deliverable insight. Information delivery must be time bound if organizations are to gain an analytical edge in managing expenses. Expense management software helps organizations capture transaction information at the source. Robust integration with a T&E system automatically brings source data into the corporate expense database.

Data processing and analytics help organizations solve compliance issues, which are considered a keystone in many source-dependent business processes. Analytics help data-rich organizations build insight, which in turn enables planning and strong execution in a volatile economic climate. According to the April 2015 Aberdeen report on Data Analytics, best-in-class organizations are actively embracing data integration and cross-functional information sharing to reduce departmental silos and have management access data more easily.

Expense management holds strategic importance in today’s economic climate as the Aberdeen 2011 report illustrates, with best-in-class firms being 40% more likely to use expense management solutions. Data analytics helps organizations manage expenses in a strategic and efficient manner, leading to significant cost and operational benefits. The end result is an increase in savings and a healthy build up of revenue flow.