Top 5 Myths about Expense Management. Are misconceptions slowing down your business? Discover how automation can help.

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1 Top 5 Myths about Expense Management Are misconceptions slowing down your business? Discover how automation can help.

2 Top 5 Myths about Expense Management Are misconceptions slowing down your business? Discover how automation can help. It s common practice these days for businesses to adopt software to address backoffice processes, like payroll, for example. However, when it comes to expenses, 41% of organizations are still using a paper-based process, and only 26% use any form of automation. If it is readily acknowledged that you wouldn t try to do your payroll without software, how is that when it comes to expenses more companies aren t taking the same approach? To better understand the reasons, we have identified a number of common misconceptions that may be slowing your business down and impacting your bottom line. Myth 1. If it s not broken, don t fix it. An automated expense management process can take hassles away; making the process more time effective and easier for employees while saving money for the business. If your systems are working, you might not be inclined to change them. Many in-house systems are designed to manage basic expense functions, however when it comes to more complex functions such as integration with credit cards, travel booking or ERP systems - they are often challenged or not proficient at all. By using a manual process you are forcing yourself to spend unnecessary time correcting errors, chasing employees for receipts and reports and managing the mis-categorization of expenses. An automated expense management process can take these hassles away; making the process more time effective and easier for employees while saving money for the business. Automated expense management tools can also interface with mobile technology and often have an app to input expenses. This greatly reduces inaccuracies, and speeds up approval times. In fact, research by the Aberdeen Group has shown that compared to their non-mobile peers, organizations using smartphone capabilities to manage travel and expense, experience 28% faster approval times 1. Myth 2. Expenses aren t a priority for the business. Heads of finance have multiple demands on their time, and, while expenses are necessary, they are not typically perceived to be a business priority. Despite this, expenses related to T&E encompass 8 to 12% of the average organizations total budget 2. This typically makes them the second largest controllable spend, after 1 T&E Expense Management in a Mobile Age, Aberdeen Group, T&E Expense Management: The Best-in-Class Pillars of Next-Generation Expense Management, Aberdeen Group,

3 salaries. The most concerning part is that 22% of T&E spend is out of policy 3, which means organizations are potentially adding a significant cost to their bottom line that could be better controlled. An automated cloud-based service can help increase productivity by streamlining the entire expense management process. Compared to a manual system, an automated expense management process can reduce expense claim processing time by 41% 4 freeing up countless hours that can be used more productively on other tasks. Bearing these figures in mind, taking charge of the cost of expenses could, and should, be a priority even for the busy senior executive. It also makes good business sense to reduce costs when one considers that every dollar saved in expenses goes directly to improve the bottom line. Myth 3. It s too expensive. There is a common perception that the adoption of software requires up-front set-up fees and involves long-term financial commitments. In turn, this leads businesses to think that the costs outweigh the benefits of implementing automated expense management solutions. However, this is not always the case. When calculating the potential returnon-investment for new technology, it s important to consider the financial costs of doing nothing. Cloud-based SaaS solutions allow you to control costs and scale the size of spend according to your needs. In addition, when calculating the potential return-on-investment for new technology, it s important to consider the financial costs of doing nothing. For expense automation, the time taken by finance teams to review, re-key data, pay, print, store, analyze and report on expense information may, upon further analysis, prove more costly than originally anticipated. The automation of T&E expense management can even enable organizations to reduce their expense processing costs by 60% 5, a significant saving for the organization. Myth 4. Implementation is time-consuming and resourceintensive. It s natural to believe that implementing a new software solution will require significant investment in both time and resources. However, cloud-based technology eliminates some implementation cost issues and allows program executives to focus on actionable strategies supported by automation 6. There are expense automation solutions that incorporate best-practice expense policies, rules, and templates. As a result, implementation is swift and painless. Myth 5. It won t help us control our expenses. You can t manage what you can t control. You ve established your T&E policies for a reason: to keep control of expenses. But with restrictions and regulatory systems constantly changing, maintaining control and compliance can be a daunting task, especially if you re relying on managers to administer your policy during the approval process. This may be a contributing factor to almost a quarter of all T&E spend being out 3 State of T&E Expense Management, Aberdeen Group, State of T&E Expense Management, Aberdeen Group, T&E Expense Management: The Best-in-Class Pillars of Next-Generation Expense Management, Aberdeen Group, T&E Expense Management: A Solution Selection Guide, Aberdeen Group,

4 of policy 7. Relying on the finance team to check every single expense or on the good nature or your employees to comply with policy is also not an accurate form of control. With an automated expense management system, you get consistent application of policy. Out-of-policy claims are automatically highlighted enabling managers to make decisions and enforce policy. In fact, automation can increase expense policy compliance by as much as 90% 8. It can also give you the ability to enforce policies, catch fraud and cut excessive business costs. Automated solutions can also provide data that enables the finance function to analyze costs and make appropriate changes to drive cost-reduction initiatives and improvements, to enhance future compliance with policy and add more money to the bottom line. With an automated expense management system, you get consistent application of policy. How Concur can help Whilst these concerns are perfectly reasonable, the fact is that there are huge benefits to be gained through the adoption of an automated solution such as greater efficiency, not to mention a swift return on investment. Concur offers a best-practice solution that gives businesses a flexible and scalable expense management solution. You get the advantage of our years of experience and customer deployments with companies of all sizes, without needing dedicated ITresources to implement or maintain the system. How Concur has helped others Here are a few cases where Concur customers have experienced increased visibility, improved efficiency and saved money by implementing automated expense solutions: Increased Visibility With 91,000 employees working in over 1,100 stores spread out across 25 countries, a global fashion retailer was handling more than 36,000 expense reports a year with over US$19 million in annual travel spend. Improving visibility and control of their T&E spending was crucial. The company asked Concur to implement a fully automated global T&E solution. The system included built in audit rules to automatically check claims with company policy and took into account complex regulations of cross-border operations. Concur provided anywhere, anytime mobile access and integrated with the company s travel and corporate credit card provider. As a result, out-of-policy spend has been greatly reduced and fraud virtually eliminated. The solution s ease of use has meant it has been enthusiastically taken up by employees and improved compliance. Increased Efficiency With 75,000 employees working in 175 countries, a world-leading telecom company found that using multiple expense management systems from manual to cloud-based was inefficient and an unproductive use of employee time. 7 State of T&E Expense Management, Aberdeen Group, State of T&E Expense Management, Aberdeen Group,

5 Looking for a solution that would streamline the process while meeting the needs of its employees, the telecom giant selected an integrated travel and expense management solution from Concur. A brief pilot showed the company how Concur could dramatically cut the expense reimbursement cycle from two months to six days saving countless hours of employee time while increasing visibility and control. Cost Savings With 800 employees working across Europe, an IT and telecommunications company found that its travel and expense management system was more of a repetitive, non-valueadded activity than a productive one. In search of a more simple and automated process that would save employee time and money, the company asked Concur to tailor a fully integrated travel and expense solution. The solution that Concur put in place did away with the separate processes including pre-trip authorization and travel booking and replaced them with an integrated system with mobile access. By implementing and enforcing a consistent travel and expense policy, the company is now able to save US$116,000 a year. After taking out the running costs, the company believed these cost savings will carry forward over years with an average 5.5% saving yearly. Concur customers have experienced increased visibility, improved efficiency and saved money by implementing automated expense solutions. What to do next? Ready to get started? Here are several things you can do now to automate your expenses, or find out more 1. Set up an appointment with us to learn more about best practices of expense management and how to benefit from expense automation. Call (HK) / (SG) or contact us. 1. Download the 8 Tips for a Best Practice Expense Process and see how your organization can benefit. 1. Download an expense policy template. About Concur Concur is a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions. Our adaptable cloud-based and mobile solutions help companies and their employees control costs and save time. Our services are trusted by over 15,000 companies located in more than 100 countries worldwide. Concur is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker CNQR. Learn more at or Concur, all rights reserved. Concur is a registered trademark of Concur Technologies. All other company and product names are the property of their respective manufacturers. Specifications and other details listed are accurate as of printing, but may change without notice. WP TOP 5 MYTHS ASIA 2013/10 5