4 Must-Read Benefits of Expense Management Software

If your organization is currently managing expenses manually, with spreadsheets, paper receipts and printed expense reports, then you must take into account the time and money you’re losing out on. Inconsistencies and frequent fraudulent practices might be adding on to the hassle. Automating expense management can help eliminate such issues because organizations can focus on profitability and scalability without worrying about the typical hassles of manual expense management.

Here are the reasons you should update your expense management software to benefit your employees and you:

1. Reduce Delays and Errors Caused by a Paper Process

Traditional approaches to managing expenses were paper-intensive and often involved filing paper reports with a bundle of attached receipts. Accountants and managers within the company often used shared spreadsheets to review, track, and monitor submissions. The result was paper overload, long delays and policy compliance errors.

An online expense management software allows companies to improve efficiency and reduce paper work. Online submission gives employees the flexibility to easily and quickly submit their expenses via computer or smartphone. Managers and accounting staff can quickly review submissions and move them to the next stage in the process from any Internet-connected device.

2. Control Expenses with Policy Enforcement

“Compliance with company policy increases by more than 31% with the implementation of automated expense management.”

Enforcing your company’s expense policy is an essential part of expense processing. Many companies have specific business or division-level guidelines, as well as parameters associated with particular projects or clients. Online expense management software allows companies to control spending by automating policy enforcement without comparing expenses and rules manually. Ensuring that all expenses complied with corporate policy often meant referring back to the employee handbook, and then confirming that meal costs, hotel categories and taxis are all valid and within bounds of the expense policy.

3. Fraud Minimization

“53% on a web-based system, automatically review and flag out-of-policy expenses.”

The accuracy of data is the key to effective expense management. Having an integrated Payroll software system not only removes the need for of manual entry of expense claims but also helps mitigate fraud. Automated expense management software would ensure fair and consistent rules that could be applied within the organization, and the employees would not have any chance of entering the wrong data or out of policy claims.

4. Reimburse Employees Faster

A long delay between expense submission and reimbursement can be frustrating to employees. Expense management software can help reduce turnaround time by improving accessibility for faster submission, approval, and employee reimbursement cycles. Information sharing is instantaneous, so employees can initiate the process by submitting expenses while still on the road, and managers and accountants can immediately review and approve expenses or send them back with questions. Online expense systems even allow these tasks to be completed on a mobile device.

The Takeaway

Granted, human behaviors don’t always change as fast as technological advances. When you turn from a manual process to a fully automated, end-to-end process, it’s essential to evaluate your expense management software options carefully.

As you consider your options for expense management software, consider factoHR. Our software makes tracking and reporting expenses easier than ever by automating and streamlining the expense reporting process so that you can leave spreadsheets and headaches behind. factoHR also provides mobile app where you can apply for any travel expenses to ease the process.