Streamlining expenses the easy way

Organizations must structure a robust program that brings greater visibility and business intelligence into their spend management. In order to build a strong ROI, expense management solutions must take into account economic challenges and productivity concerns. There is also need for arranging surplus budget to support research and development within firms. If companies are to advance their business interests, investment in business travel becomes necessary.

This facilitates client outreach and business development. According to the March 2013 Aberdeen report on T&E Management, organizations set aside at least 10% of their corporate budget to manage all their travel expenses. The report further elaborates the key challenges faced by organizations in the corporate spend category. Of the respondents, 51% cited poor visibility into T&E spending and compliance issues. An effective spend management program must ensure transparency and visibility. Corporate forecasting and budgeting cannot be actualized if organizations fail to structure a spend management program.

Expense management software will categorize spending and provide visibility across departments. The system provides valuable insight into a company’s spend patterns. The software helps streamline corporate expenditures and automatically regulates spending. Automation enables employee self-service. Employees can scan, upload and send receipts within minutes for review. Pre-trip approvals, travel booking, receipts and reimbursements can all be processed online.

Because of real-time integration and expense reporting, employees can submit reimbursement requests at any time and from anywhere. Each receipt can be immediately matched for authenticity and compliance. This saves the employee and management valuable time having to sift through paperwork before figuring out whether the requests are covered under corporate policies.

Expense management software provides add-ons such as auditing and advanced analytics, mobile functionality, OCR receipt capture, and credit card integration. The cost to process a single expense report amounted to $11.28 for organizations deploying end-to-end expense management solution. For those that didn’t, expense reporting amounted to $18.03 per report (Aberdeen March 2013). Greater visibility and streamlined processes help reduce costs, thereby providing a win-win solution for businesses.