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How to reduce expenses with enterprise expense management software?
Published on June 21, 2023
Business expenses are inevitable, but they can also be a source of inefficiency and waste if not managed properly. For example, according to a report by The Aberdeen Group, the average cost of processing a single expense report is $20.65, and it takes 11 days to reimburse an employee. That’s a lot of time and money spent on a tedious and error-prone process.
Fortunately, enterprise expenses software is a better way to handle business expenses. This software simplifies and automates the expense management process, from capturing receipts to approving reimbursements. By using enterprise expenses software, you can enjoy the following benefits:
Eliminate manual errors and paperwork
Enterprise expenses software allows you to scan receipts, upload them to the cloud, and automatically create draft expense claims. You can also set up rules and policies to ensure all expenses comply with your company’s guidelines.
Eliminate manual errors and paperwork
Enterprise expenses software allows you to scan receipts, upload them to the cloud, and automatically create draft expense claims. You can also set up rules and policies to ensure all expenses comply with your company’s guidelines.
- Auto detect and flag policy violations to approvers & finance team: The software can automatically check each expense claim against the company’s policies and flag any violations or discrepancies to the approvers and finance team for further review. This can help prevent unauthorised or excessive spending and ensure compliance with internal and external regulations.
- The auto-suggestion of policies by studying patterns (Machine Learning): The software can use machine learning algorithms to analyse historical expense data and suggest optimal policies based on patterns and trends. This can help managers adjust their policies to reflect changing business needs and market conditions.
Enhance employee experience with faster turnaround time
Enterprise expenses software streamlines the approval workflow by sending notifications and reminders to managers and employees. You can also integrate the software with your payroll or accounting system to expedite the reimbursement process. This improves employee satisfaction and reduces the risk of fraud and duplicate claims.
Ensure transparent approvals across the organisation
Enterprise expenses software provides real-time visibility into your spending patterns and trends. You can generate reports and dashboards to analyse your expenses by category, project, department, or employee.
- Duplicate receipts: The software can identify if the receipt is a duplicate of an existing receipt in the system and alert the user or the approver accordingly. This can help avoid double reimbursement or fraud.
- Handwritten receipt: The software can detect if the receipt is handwritten and require additional verification or approval. This can help prevent falsification or manipulation of receipts.
- Warning amount exceeded: The software can flag if the configured amount is exceeded for a particular expense category or item. This can help control overspending and ensure adherence to budget limits.
- Leaving Staff And Guest as blank in entertainment claims: The software can require the user to fill in the staff and guest details in entertainment claims. This can help justify the business purpose of the expense and ensure compliance with tax regulations.
Improve compliance and control over expenses
Enterprise expenses software helps you enforce your expense policies and comply with tax rules and reporting requirements. In addition, you can customise the software to suit your needs, such as multi-currency support, mileage tracking, per diem rates, or VAT reclaim.
- Forex rate override: The software can flag if the forex rate is modified from the default or market rate. This can help prevent manipulation or errors in currency conversion.
- Tax amount override: The software can flag if the tax amount is modified from the calculated or standard rate. This can help prevent evasion or errors in tax calculation.
- Mileage rate override: The software can flag if the mileage rate is modified from the preset or standard rate. This can help prevent inflation or errors in mileage reimbursement.
Integrate all processes seamlessly
Enterprise expenses software can integrate with financial systems like ERP, CRM, HRMS, or travel management software. This allows you to consolidate your data and workflows across different platforms and applications.
Tips for Reducing Expenses with Enterprise Expense Management Software
However, to maximise the benefits of this software, companies need to follow some best practices and tips on how to use it effectively. Here are some of them:
- Track expenses in real-time to identify areas where costs can be cut: The software can provide real-time data and analytics on expense trends, patterns, and anomalies across the organisation. This can help managers monitor and control employee spending, identify cost-saving opportunities, and optimise budgets. For example, the software can show which expense categories or items consume the most resources, which employees or departments are overspending or underspending, and which vendors or suppliers offer the best deals.
- Set up alerts and notifications to avoid overspending: The software can send alerts and notifications to employees and managers when certain thresholds or limits are reached or exceeded for a particular expense category or item. This can help prevent overspending and ensure adherence to budget limits and policies. For example, the software can alert employees when they have reached their daily meal allowance or notify a manager when an employee has submitted an expense claim exceeding the configured amount.
- Automate expense approval processes to reduce the time and effort required: The software can automate the process by applying custom rules and validations to each expense claim. This can reduce the time and effort needed for manual review and approval and eliminate errors and delays in reimbursement. For example, the software can automatically approve recurring expenses, flag policy violations or discrepancies, and route expense claims to the appropriate approvers based on predefined criteria.
- Integrate the software with other systems, such as accounting software, to streamline processes and reduce errors: The software can integrate with other accounting systems to ensure accurate and timely recording of expense data in the general ledger. This can streamline the accounting process and reduce errors and discrepancies between systems. For example, the software can automatically sync expense data with payroll software to calculate taxes and deductions or with invoicing software to bill clients for reimbursable project expenses.
- Use AI to segregate expenses so that only legit expenses are approved: The software can use artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to analyse historical expense data and segregate expenses based on their legitimacy. This can help detect and prevent fraud and abuse and improve compliance with internal and external regulations. For example, the software can use AI to identify duplicate or fraudulent receipts, handwritten receipts, forex rate overrides, tax amount overrides, mileage rate overrides, or override receipt options. The software can also use AI to suggest optimal policies based on patterns and trends.
Enterprise expenses software is not just a tool for managing expenses; it’s a strategic investment that can help you reduce costs and improve your bottom line. Here are some examples of how businesses have successfully used this type of software to achieve their goals:
- A global consulting firm used enterprise expense management software to track expenses across different regions, currencies, and projects. The software helped them identify areas where they could cut costs, such as travel entertainment and entertainment. As a result, they reduced their T&E expenses by 15% in one year.
- A large business used enterprise expense management software to use AI to segregate expenses based on their legitimacy. For example, the software helped them use AI to detect duplicate or fraudulent receipts, handwritten receipts, forex rate overrides, tax amount overrides, mileage rate overrides, or override receipt options. The software also helped them use AI to suggest optimal policies.
Conclusion
This article discusses how enterprise expense management software can help businesses reduce expenses and improve their bottom line. We have provided practical tips on using this software effectively, such as tracking expenses in real time, setting up alerts and notifications, automating expense approval processes, integrating the software with other systems, and using AI to segregate expenses. We have also provided some examples and case studies to illustrate how these tips can be applied in practice.
Enterprise expense management software, such as Reimburse, can bring many benefits to a business, such as reducing errors, saving time, increasing visibility, and optimising spending. It can also help prevent fraud and ensure compliance with tax regulations. This software allows businesses to streamline and simplify their expense management process and achieve significant savings.
Following these steps, you can leverage enterprise expense management software to reduce expenses and improve your bottom line.