It's inevitable that accountants and finance directors will have to deal with problems like expense reports, reimbursement requests, and fraud. Companies' approaches to T&E management haven't changed much over the years, but travel expense automation has made it possible to finally break the unending loop of paperwork.
The automation of tedious, time-consuming tasks related to managing and submitting expenses from business trips is made possible by travel and expense management software. It streamlines the approval and reimbursement procedures and helps ensure that companies stick to their cost policies.
When a company has a significant number of employees who must frequently travel for purposes such as sales, marketing, research, and other business responsibilities, managing their travel expenses can quickly become a burdensome administrative burden.
The more staff ventures out to meet with potential customers, the more the company expands, and the more frequent business trips become necessary. Requesting, settling, approving, and being reimbursed is a perpetual loop.
Travel and spending procedures in large organisations should be kept current at all times. Reimbursements may be delayed for a long time if there are bottlenecks in the system or occasional delays. Then, unexpectedly, numerous disgruntled workers end up footing the bill for a corporate expense that they had no business bearing.
Where Do Manual T&E Procedures Fall Short?
The travel and expense process may appear straightforward at first glance, but it really consists of several different, intricate procedures. Let's take a look at the most typical problems that arise at each stage of the process for both employees and financial departments.
1. Making Reservations
Workers put in a lot of time and effort to find affordable flights and lodgings within their travel budget. There is a lot of possibility for misunderstanding because every booking-related communication takes place via separate channels like emails and phone calls. Ultimately, this leads to lost productivity and postponed decisions that could have had serious consequences.
2. Reporting of Expenses
The reporting of expenses is a laborious task that requires employees' full attention. All miscellaneous expenditures incurred on the trip must be itemised and receipts kept for reimbursement. This is a major time sink for workers, especially those who are frequently on the road.
Also, there is a lot of room for fraud and receipt manipulation with manual expenditure reporting. Many employees get away with expense scams because the finance department has so little time to verify the invoices.
By increasing spending transparency and allowing real-time tracking of expenses, automation technologies can cut down on fraud. The company benefits greatly from this.
3. Acceptance
Managers' time is better spent on strategy and decision-making than on administrative tasks, yet manual approval adds unnecessary time and stress. By automatically detecting inconsistencies in reports and notifying managers of potential violations, automating this step of spending management speeds up the approval process.
The Finance Team Reviews and Approves All Reports
The accounting staff verifies all purchases and expenses against the company's policy and manually qualifies all expenses and receipts. Validating reports and gaining approval for payment might take a lot of time.
5. Compensation
Expense management has reached its last stage. Sometimes the final payments take longer than expected because of delays in the verification and approval processes. The frustration and loss of productivity this causes among your staff is understandable.
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