Expense Reporting in 5 Steps
The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide
1
Decide to Fix It
2 Make It Easy for Employees
3 Turn Policy Into Practice
4 Go Mobile
5 Put Your Data to Work
Fix your expense reporting
and save lots of money.
Or keep doing what you’re doing and don’t.
No One Will Ask You to Fix Expense Reporting
You probably didn’t get where you are today by waiting to be asked to fix
anything. You’re someone who takes action, which means you don’t wait for
problems to fix themselves. You identify what’s broken or should work better,
and then you do something about it.
Even the best-run businesses have room for
improvement. Whether it’s improving productivity,
boosting the bottom line, making employees’ lives
a little better, forecasting budgets more accurately,
or even adding paper to the copier, there’s always
something to do.
Of all the issues in your business
that require your attention, no
one will ever ask you to fix your
organization’s expense reporting
process. For many companies, a
spreadsheet is “good enough” for
expense reporting. However, while
expense reporting may seem like
a tiny, insignificant part of your
business operations, it’s actually
one area that can affect all others.
Using a disconnected system (like a spreadsheet)
means you’re missing a big opportunity to address
many of your organization’s bigger problems all
at once.
By recognizing that an automated, cloud-based
system can fix a lot more than expenses, and
deciding to make that happen for your company,
you can improve:
•
•
•
•
•
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Operational efficiency
Revenue growth
Compliance
Cost containment
Fraud and risk
Visibility
With this step-by-step guide, you
can take a good, hard look at your
organization’s current expense
reporting system, and then learn
what you can do to fix it.
Again, no one will ask you to fix expense
reporting. But everyone in your company will
be happy you did.
Don’t wait to be asked.
Step 1:
Decide to Fix It
Every business has expenses. After salaries,
expenses are the second-most controllable
cost a business faces. Yet, many companies
are not doing nearly enough to control these
inevitable costs.
Convince the right people.
Change isn’t easy. Often, resistance to change results from people
either being set in their ways or not wanting to risk trading “good
enough” for something that, in the end, could prove to be worse.
If you can get consensus and support from your executive peers and
the managers who report to them, you can overcome inertia and
make a significant difference for your company. To do this, it will help
to take a look at your company’s current expense reporting process
and assess if it’s as good as it could be.
Here’s a quick checklist to help you figure it out.
Yes
No
Is your current expense reporting
process fast and simple?
Is your current expense reporting
process easy to understand?
Do you have a policy in place that
employees follow?
If you answered “yes” to these three questions, congratulations.
You’re doing better than a lot of companies.
Expense management systems have been shown to
reduce expense processing costs by 51%.
— Aberdeen Group, State of T&E Expense Management
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 4
If you answered “no,” let’s take a closer look at your process.
Yes
No
Do your employees return from business trips with a
mountain of paper receipts?
Do your employees return from business trips without
a mountain of paper receipts because many were lost
over the course of the trip?
Do your employees procrastinate when it comes to
doing expense reports?
Do your employees feel a sense of dread about
expense reports?
Do your employees use mobile devices for every part
of their day-to-day business except expenses?
Do your employees complain about not being
reimbursed soon enough?
Do your employees use sticky tape, whiteout and
staplers to put their expense reports together?
Do you make budget decisions based on very little
expense-related data?
Do you have a clear expense policy in place that is
easy for employees to follow and understand?
Did you read that last question and find yourself asking,
“what’s an expense policy?”
If you answered “yes” to three or more of these questions, it may be
time to automate your expense reporting process.
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 5
In many cases, one of the best things you can do to figure out
whether change is right for you is to ask yourself, “why not?” What’s
preventing you from automating your expense reporting system?
•
Would the change be too costly?
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Is it too hard or time consuming to implement?
•
Do you have competing business priorities that require all
of your time?
Tips
To help address these concerns:
• Read this document that will help you understand why
it makes sense to automate your expenses.
• Learn about success stories of people who have
changed their expense reporting system.
Is your expense reporting system killing productivity?
65% of expense claimants and 43.5% of processors
who do not use an automated system say their current
expense reporting systems are too time consuming.
— Quocirca, Getting to Grips With Expenses
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 6
Step 2:
Make it Easy
for Employees
It’s no secret that people are more productive
when they work in a positive environment.
When it comes to expenses, negativity can
creep into your organization­—especially when
people are forced to comply with a policy they
perceive as unfair.
The best way to change expensing behavior,
and to keep people happy at the same time,
lies in finding the right balance between
people, policy and compliance.
Why an expense policy is
important for businesses of all sizes.
You trust that your employees won’t act inappropriately or
deliberately waste your company’s money. However, ask yourself:
do they really know what is considered acceptable?
Generally speaking, people want to do the right thing when they
submit expenses. However, sometimes they just don’t know what the
right thing is. That’s why a fair, clear and unambiguous expense policy
is so essential. It can prevent frustration, prevent mistakes and make
life easier for everyone.
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Your finance and accounting teams will be happier because
people are more likely to comply with the policy.
•
Your employees will be happier because they know what’s
expected of them and they’re reimbursed quickly.
•
Managers will be happier because they’re not besieged with
questions from both sides.
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Everyone will feel equal because the policy is applied equally.
•
Your managers will feel empowered to push back on
inappropriate expenses without coming across as “the bad guy.”
Automated solutions can help do this in a
way that takes the “personal” element out
of it. The system is enforcing the rules, not
your managers.
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 8
Exercise
Jot down a few things employees include on
expense reports.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Now, consider whether these are appropriate expense items.
By simply taking a moment to think about what is and is not
appropriate for an expense report, you’ve taken one step closer
to creating an expense policy.
Do you have an effective corporate expense policy?
Only one-third of organizations surveyed say that they do,
and fewer than one-half of them say they closely check
claims against their policies.
— Quocirca, Getting to Grips With Expenses
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 9
Where do you start?
Fortunately, you don’t have to create an expense policy from scratch.
To help get you started, download a sample expense policy template.
Customize the template as needed for your business.
Create a policy people can (and will) follow.
If your expense reporting policy is so complicated that people nod off
while reading it, or if it’s so intimidating that it strikes fear into their
hearts, you need to change it.
When writing your expense policy, here are some things to consider:
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Use clear language that people can understand (ditch the jargon)
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Make the policy and its rules fair
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Invite participation in creating it
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Make it easy to find in your system
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Communicate the policy internally
Automate expenses with technology.
An automated expense process that takes advantage of available
technology helps:
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Take the emotion out of expenses. Employees no longer feel it’s their
manager telling them their expenses are out-of-policy.
•
Make it easier for people to submit expenses that match company
culture and policy.
•
Make employees’ lives easier by taking the pain out of repetitive tasks
(like completing expenses on a spreadsheet).
•
Make processes more efficient, resulting in employees submitting
expenses faster and getting reimbursed faster.
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 10
Step 3:
Turn Policy
Into Practice
Once you’ve created an expense policy that’s
clear and easy for everyone to understand, it’s
time to turn this policy into practice in a way
that makes sense for your business.
If your employees are informed and
encouraged to comply with a sensible and
appropriate policy, you’ll no doubt see that
people consistently follow your expense policy.
Here’s how you can get the ball rolling:
Keep the expense process simple.
Employees will be more likely to comply if the process is easy to
follow. Complex and lengthy expense processes can also result
in mistakes.
Focus on capturing relevant information.
This will help to ensure there are no delays in the administration
process and avoid potential problems with compliance later.
Submit and approve expenses on time.
Make sure everyone is clear on when expenses need to be
submitted. By reimbursing your employees as quickly as possible,
you create happier employees.
Keep it mobile.
It’s a fast-paced world. Trying to catch up with the right person to
sign off on your expenses is difficult. If you have a tool that allows
approval to happen anywhere, claims can be signed
off on more quickly.
Audit your processes and receipts.
Are you checking that your employees are making accurate claims?
And that their receipts are valid? For example, are they submitting
credit card slips or receipts, or both (and thereby claiming for the
same expense twice)?
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 12
Tips
• Start only with what you need. You can always add
other elements of a solution as your company grows.
• Use a system that works with your current financial
systems (QuickBooks, Salesforce, Netsuite).
• Revisit and re-evaluate your expense reporting over
time, and customize it so it keeps pace with your needs.
• Make sure your processes are easy to follow, so
there’s less risk of inaccuracy (or people ignoring the
processes altogether).
Companies that use an automated solution to manage
the expense reporting process have 50% lower
processing costs than those that don’t.
– Aberdeen Group
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 13
Step 4:
Go Mobile
Mobile apps have already made your
employees’ lives easier in nearly every respect.
And they expect your company to keep pace
with technological advances. If employees
can do their banking, take and send photos,
and email files from anywhere in the world, why
shouldn’t they be able to file expenses the
same way?
Going mobile with expenses can help:
•
Make your employees’ lives easier by saving time and frustration.
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Allow expense reports to be automatically created based on
their travel itinerary.
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Reduce the need to collect paper receipts (since employees
can simply take a photograph of their receipts).
•
Allow people to submit expenses faster and more
accurately on the go.
•
Speed up the process because managers can approve
expenses in real time on their mobile devices.
•
Free up employees’ time so they can focus on other
business priorities.
•
Make it possible to reimburse employees more quickly.
Organizations that use smartphone
apps to manage their travel and
expense have a 28% faster approval
process, 22% more policy compliance,
40% lower processing costs, and
reimburse their employees 40% faster.
– Concur research
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 15
Step 5:
Put Your
Data to Work
When you spend a lot of money each year
on business travel and related expenses, it’s
important to know where this money is going.
That way you can stay on top of your cash
flow and plan your future spending. However,
you can’t make informed decisions without
the right information.
When you automate your expenses, you end up with access to
valuable data on a number of performance indicators. With this
data you can have a clearer, more accurate view of your company’s
spend, and then use this information to plan for the future.
This insight is critical for developing supporting expense policies, as
well as identifying areas in which better deals could be negotiated
with suppliers and seeing where employees may be filing improper
or non-compliant expenses. Having access to this data for review
and analysis can also continue to inform the policy and highlight
opportunities for other cost savings.
What should you do?
•
Watch for trends when expenses are submitted and take note of
spending patterns. This can identify ways to reduce costs with
frequently-used suppliers, as well as identify instances when
employees are stretching the rules.
•
Promote spending within policy, but be aware that out-of-policy
spending does happen. 10% of the claims approved by managers
are out-of-policy. Whether it’s the result of a mistake or an
intentional act of fraud, these types of charges can go unnoticed
unless closely monitored.
•
Review historical data to determine appropriate spending limits.
Evaluating spending trends will help you establish reasonable limits
for meals, accommodation, train or plane tickets and incidentals.
You can also compare this to industry standards.
•
Use the data you’ve collected to improve forecasting and cash
flow projections. Eliminate much of the guesswork involved in
identifying future spending by reviewing expense trends.
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 17
Having access to solid data is great.
But, like all management information,
it’s what you do with this data that
counts. Software alone is not the
solution. Use the data from the system
to inform policy-making decisions and
drive changes in behavior that will
bring about positive results.
When an organization can import data directly from a
corporate credit card provider into an expense claim,
processing costs can be reduced by as much as 25%.
– Concur research
Download the T&E Expense Management in a Mobile Age report
to find out how the right tools can improve your expense process
in the mobile era.
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 18
Don’t Wait
to be Asked
Now that you’ve read the “Don’t Wait To Fix It” Guide, and made the
decision to fix expense reporting, fast forward to a few months from
now and imagine the benefits your company is reaping—all because
you decided to fix something without being asked.
•
Productivity is up as employees spend less time on expenses
and more time working
•
Morale is improved because employees can do expense reports
on their mobile devices as naturally as they do their other work
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Time and money are saved from automating routine tasks
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You have more visibility on where money is going and can make
more informed decisions about the future
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You have more control and consistency in your processes
What will you do once you’ve automated your expense reporting?
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Invest in growth by putting money saved back into your business?
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Take your employees out to celebrate?
•
Take advantage of your momentum and energy to improve even
more areas of your business?
Whatever you decide, just remember: none of this would have been
possible had you waited to be asked to fix expense reporting. And
everyone’s going to love that you did!
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 19
Concur Expense can help
your business across the board.
• Contact Us
• Request a Quote
• Get a Free Trial
Find out more with these helpful resources:
U.S. Expense Policy Template
8 Tips For a Best Practice Expense Process
Expense Automation: a Helpful Overview (video)
Getting to Grips With Expenses
2013 Expense IQ Report
Concur Employee Expenses Benchmark Report
Expense Report Auditing
Top Tips for Getting Started with Automated Expense Management
End-to-End Visibility into T&E Expense Management:
Mobile Comes to the Table
Bridging the Gaps: The Convergence of Meetings, Travel
and Expense Management
Concur Mobile Expense Reporting & Travel Booking
Expense Reporting in 5 Steps – The “Don’t Wait to Fix It” Guide | 20