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7 Reasons Why Automated Expense Reporting Makes Sense
Expense reports are a headache waiting to happen for businesses and employees. About 50% of companies, mostly small businesses, are currently using a manual system like Excel to process expense reports. Problems can arise at all stages of this process and dealing with them is a time-consuming task that can delay employee reimbursement and increase how much money your company spends on expense reports.
Manually processing expense reports is a less than ideal situation, especially as a company grows. Most issues involving expense claims can be solved with Travel & Expense automation software. You’ll start seeing return on investment immediately, and might even find some perks you weren’t expecting. Keep reading to discover seven reasons why automated expense reporting just makes sense.
1) Save Time
Collecting receipts and filing expense reports under a manual system is time-consuming for employees. On top of everything else they’re doing on their business trip, they have to worry about keeping track of paperwork and turning it in on time. Automated expense reporting streamlines the report submission process so employees can submit information quickly.
Even when receipts and reports are turned in promptly, it takes time to review the requests for policy violations, correct any errors, and finally approve the request. But with an automated system, most claims move through quickly without requiring manual data entry or approval. That makes things easier for employees submitting reports as well as employees processing reports.
2) Track Paperwork
In a manual system, it’s very easy for employees to accidentally lose paper receipts or forget to turn in reports. With NextProceess’ software, there’s no need to keep track of physical copies – users can just snap a photo of paper receipts with a smartphone or e-mail electronic receipts directly to the expense reporting system.
Losing paperwork is frustrating for everyone involved, so having an easy way to track information related to expense reports is a huge asset. Also, the system keeps all the information together so you don’t have to worry about mixing up receipts from one employee with another. And because T&E software works in real-time, you’ll always have access to the most up-to-date information available.
3) Increase Satisfaction
Submitting manual expense reports is a notoriously difficult process. In some cases, the process is so complicated that employees don’t even bother with submitting expense reports and employee satisfaction suffers. Fully 1/4 of employees who don’t submit expense reports blame their company’s claims process for losing them money.
You don’t want your employees to feel like you’re cheating them out of their money by using a claims process that’s overly complicated. Automation is a simple way to immediately transform your cumbersome claims process into something user-friendly. And because automation speeds up the claims process, employees who work with the system get a quick reimbursement.
4) Cut Costs
Most companies don’t track how much it costs them to process an expense report. If you’re manually processing reports, you might be surprised just how high the numbers are. In 2015, Paystream Advisers reported that the average cost for manually processing an expense report was $26.60. On a fully automated system, that number drops to $6.85.
Not only does automation drop your cost per report, but NextProcess gives you additional money-saving features. With our system, you only pay for the features you use. There’s no risk of overpaying because you’re a small company. And there no hidden fees no matter what size your company is.
5) Manage Finances
In addition to the up-front savings automation gives, you might also find automated software makes budgeting for expenses easier. A system that automatically tracks, processes, and stores all reports gives your company increased visibility into how you’re spending the current travel and expenses budget. This allows for more accurate budgeting in the future.
Automation software also helps your company weather future audits. The IRS defines what is and is not a legitimate business expense, and you’ll want the documentation to prove you’re complying with their regulations. Because automated T&E systems enforce company policy and keep accurate records, it makes taxes and audits easier.
6) Enforce Policy
Expense report fraud is an all too common problem in the modern business world. It can happen accidentally when someone makes an error in reporting, on a small scale when employees misrepresent expenses, or on a larger scale that can cost companies thousands of dollars.
Catching expense fraud and enforcing company policy in a manual system is time-consuming and often expensive. With Travel & Expense software from a SaaS technology provider like NextProcess, though, the process becomes automatic. Our system lets you customize the software to enforce your company’s policy and catch many types of fraud before they become an issue.
7) Scale Quickly
If you’re a fast-growing company, then you need a travel and expense reporting system that will grow with you. You don’t want to fall behind or have to keep redoing the system every few months trying to keep up. Because an automated system like the one from NextProcess scales to your company’s needs you don’t have to worry about changing your processing system – you just let us take care of matching your company’s growth.
Switching to a user-friendly automated expense report process is a win-win for everyone involved. Your company gets to save money, prevent fraud, and enforce policy. Employees making claims get a system that’s easy to use and see their reimbursements more quickly. And employees working in the claims department have fewer paperwork hassles to deal with. To learn more about how our software can help your business, contact NextProcess today and set up a demonstration.