Top 10 reasons to automate expense management process

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1 Top 10 reasons to automate expense management process Switching from spreadsheet to an automated solution Though many leading enterprises have moved to automate their expense management, there are still corporations that continue to manage their expense claims either via a paper, a spreadsheetbased system, an outdated and costly legacy system or one developed in-house. Many of these businesses often feel trapped into continuing to use their current system because they are worried about the cost to change; whether this is the cost of new software, the cost of the implementation project, or the cost of deploying resources to manage the project. However, when between 7% to 10% 1 of an average company s budget relates to travel and entertainment expenses, badly managed expense management processes can impact on the enterprise s financial performance. Here are top 10 reasons why using automation can improve expense management process. Drive Cost Efficiency Worry about the cost to change; whether this is the cost of the new software or implementation project, or the cost of using already stretched internal resources to manage the project is only natural. With online expenses however, the pricing model is based on usage and not a one-off big upfront investment, implementation can be done quickly and simply through an online wizard with some phone support from the providers as needed, so time to implement is quick and will not put a huge burden on your IT or Operations team. This coupled with the ability to link your expenses tool to your credit card and import data automatically into your expenses means that most of the data is prepopulated in the claim. This helps to reduce the cost of processing expense claims by as much as 78% 1 per transaction. It also means that the data created is all in one place and easy to report on giving insight on where you are spending money and enabling you to negotiate discounts with regular suppliers.

2 An integrated travel and expense management solution removes the need to manually enter expense claim data decreasing the risk of human errors and fraud. Ensure Internal and Regulatory Compliance Compliance is often high on the agenda for many companies - after all, the risks of non-compliance could result in fines and damage to both your bottom line and your reputation. Being aware of new regulations and managing all the related changes can be costly and time-consuming. When your business operates in multiple countries, the challenge becomes even bigger and complicated. Automated expense management systems virtually eliminate the risks around regulatory compliance. They can apply complex tax rules and provide built-in auditing capabilities and go even further by capturing the data required for reporting on expense spend for corporation and income tax purposes. Compliance with internal policy can be increased by as much as 37% 1 by implementing policy into the system, for example, if hotel overnight threshold is set at US$200, the tool can automatically alert the employee, the approving manager and the finance team if the claim is over this amount. Increase Visibility into Spending Making intelligent business decisions without the relevant data is difficult. Having travel and expense information centralized makes it simpler to report on a multitude of performance indicators. This insight is critical in the on-going refinement of the travel and expense policies, as well as in identifying areas where better deals could be negotiated with suppliers, where the business may be a victim of fraud, or where it could be breaching statutory compliance. It also helps to identify spending trends by mode of transport, by client, by country or by employee, which could help when managing spend going forwards. Minimize Fraud Accuracy of data is the key to an efficient system. An integrated travel and expense solution almost completely removes the need to manually enter expense claim data decreasing the risk of fraud. Automated solutions ensure that fair and consistent rules can be applied across the company, ensuring that employees do not have the opportunity to enter incorrect and out of policy claims. Furthermore, using an end to end solution to imports feeds from travel suppliers and from corporate card providers means that data is automatically prepopulated into the expense claim thus reducing the chance of human errors.

3 An automated travel and expense solution can help reduce expense processing cost by 51% and the time to complete a single expense report by 41%, while increasing policy compliance by 37% 3. Integrate Travel into your Expense Companies which manage their travel booking through to claiming their expenses together in the same platform find the whole process easier and it drives even more efficiencies. Using an end-to-end solution, travel booking details can be prepopulated in the expense claim. Of course, travel can be booked with all your usual suppliers airlines, hotels or car rental companies and by booking through the online platform and not on the phone with your travel agency, you ll find the cost they charge is as much as 79% less per transaction 2. By holding all data on travel and expense in one place, it will save lots of time for your finance team or auditors to check the data against company policy and the latest regulations. Stay Flexible and Scalable with Cloud-based Solutions SaaS or Cloud-based solutions are easy to manage and low risk. With this type of solution, there are minimal implementation project costs and these can be recovered quickly through the savings made by having more visibility and greater control over the travel and expense spend. In addition, using a Cloud-based solution means that there is little or no additional infrastructure to implement. The provider manages system maintenance, functionality upgrades and updates from changes to regulations, thus removing the risk from the customer. Nowadays, business moves quickly, companies buy other companies, merge, expand into new regions or territories, or bring in new employees. Legacy systems may not be flexible enough to follow any rapid changes and it may mean additional licenses or further infrastructure investment. Cloud-based solutions are immediately scalable to support business growth. New employees are easy to add (no additional new user licenses), and the solution can be rolled out to any countries as and when required, supporting external regulations, local currencies, VAT and per diem rates. They are also flexible when it comes to interfacing with other solutions such as accounts payable and payroll. Many companies use ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems to manage many of their business processes. As many ERP systems integrate with other solution providers so do the automated travel and expense management solutions. Support Business Strategy Managing travel and expense processes using an automated solution is a strategic decision for most corporations. The advantage of using a Cloud-based solution is that it is not essential to predict the future direction the business will take because these solutions are easy to scale both up and down. New features, changes to the regulatory environment or even business expansion to other regions can all be managed quickly and easily as they arise.

4 The increased insight provided means that companies can forecast financial performance, better manage the organization s cash flow, negotiate better deals with suppliers and also start to eliminate fees from late credit card payments. 8) Managing Risk Effectively Managing and mitigating the risk of keeping the business process up to date and fit for purpose can be challenging, when using a Cloud-based solution the risk is with the provider rather than the customer. Companies need to manage the risk of regulatory compliance. Using a solution that provides accurate data, that allows the business to integrate company policy, and which gives the business insight by enabling them to report quickly and easily on the travel and expense data; is absolutely critical to mitigating the risk of operating outside of regulatory frameworks. When managing travel booking and expenses, there is the risk from cash flow problems, the risk from not knowing what is being spent or who is being entertained, or the risk from reporting inaccurate data on expenses for corporation and income tax purposes. By giving employees the ability to book travel and manage their expenses from a single platform, it gives companies greater control, and this helps manage the risk. Reinforce Company Policy to Manage Behavior As your company grows, each new employee comes with expectations and habits when it comes to booking travel and claiming expenses. What may have been acceptable in their previous company may not be acceptable for your company and with more people in the team, you could easily lose the overview. For enterprises, the challenge when implementing an expense process, whether manual or automated, is addressing this existing culture within the company. Core here is written policies to manage travel and expenses, however, they are only good if they are integrated into the solution. Integration allows companies to enforce their policy automatically across the board, so that any out of policy spending is flagged for further investigation. Besides, as expenses can be approved and paid quicker through the improved workflow of automating employees are paid back promptly. Therefore, employees are less likely to feel aggrieved at being out of pocket. Expense on the Move Mobile applications extend travel and expense solutions to your smart phone or mobile device. This enables employees to create and submit expenses quickly and easily while they are on the road including photographing receipts and attaching them to the claim. Time that was once spent doing expenses back in the office becomes a thing of the past. Mobile applications also give managers the ability to approve claims from their smartphones so claims can be approved on the move, making the company more efficient as people are doing business not expenses.

5 Whether looking for cost savings, time saving or compliance risk reduction, an integrated Cloud-based travel and expense solutions can help. Companies that have deployed a mobile app to manage expenses have generally seen a 40% drop in the cost of processing a single expense report and a 10% higher rate in compliance with company policy. In Conclusion Whether you are looking for cost savings, time saving or compliance risk reduction, an integrated Cloud-based travel and expense solutions can help. Cost savings can be achieved through supplier negotiations based on real data from the solution. Time savings for employees, approvers and fi nance are achieved through improved workfl ow and prepopulated claims. Compliance risk is reduced through ensuring correct classifi cation of expenses along with the submission of appropriate receipts, as well as the ability to report on expenses easily to auditors or other relevant parties. A Cloud-based solution is scalable, fl exible and easy to implement; meaning there are no big projects or investments to get going, and no risk of having to get a new solution as your business grows and changes. If you would like to know more about how you could benefi t or how other successful companies are leveraging the automated solution to streamline their T&E workfl ow, gain control over spend and improve company s bottom line, please contact us on (HK) / (SG) or visit our website: or 1. Aberdeen Group (2011) Expense Management: For a New Decade 2. Aberdeen Group (2008) Managing the T&E Lifecycles: Integrating Processes, Driving Performance 3. Aberdeen Group (2010) State of T&E Expense Management About Concur Concur is a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions. Concur s adaptable cloud-based and mobile solution help companies and their employees control costs and save time. Concur s 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 and 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. Specifi cations and other details listed are accurate as of printing, but may change without notice. WP 10 REASONS ASIA 2012/09