How to Automate Expense Reporting in 6 Easy Steps

automating expense management

Manual systems work fine when the volume of expense requests is small, but handling huge volumes of expense requests accurately can only be done with expense management automation. Businesses that rely on manual expense management systems face several challenges that not only slow down the process but also render it inefficient. Handling manual expense requests can be a major hassle for all the parties involved. Employees find it challenging to track their expenses, save the bills and receipts, and spend several hours filling out expense forms and uploading supporting documentation. When organizations manage expenses manually, it can take a toll on everything from productivity to employee happiness to the bottom line. By upgrading to software that automates expense management, businesses of all types and sizes can streamline operations, cut costs, and reduce tasks that waste time and cause frustration.

  • Of course, if you choose to use reimbursements, that works seamlessly in Brex too.
  • Entering all those expense report details manually is a productivity killer.
  • Additionally, cloud-based systems offer real-time data to be synchronised, helping to ensure financial records are always up to date.
  • To learn more about SAP Concur solutions and hear from a representative, please complete the form.

Steps to Automate Expense Management

  • This fosters collaboration among team members regardless of location, making it easier to manage expenses efficiently across departments.
  • This customization ensures accurate tracking and reporting across all departments.
  • Best of all, companies can integrate the software with their finance solutions.
  • Any inconsistency or violation of policies is immediately recorded and reported to the concerned employees and managers.
  • Then you have no need for expense reports, since nobody has to pay out of their pocket.
  • You may already know that automating and streamlining your company’s expense management processes can save you time and money.

Then you have no need for expense reports, since nobody has to pay out of their pocket. So either they turn to your written expense policy (hopefully you have one, if not you can use our free expense policy template), or they ask all of those questions in person. Either way it’s costing the company time, and there’s a huge likelihood that something will go wrong. Software is more efficient, faster, and usually cheaper than having finance team members do certain tasks. And more importantly, it frees finance professionals up to do the work they were hired to do. Lastly, keep an open line of communication for feedback as employees adjust to the new workflow.

automating expense management

Understand the features and technology

The college provides a huge range of courses – from part-time and full-time, delivered to 14,000 students. Like many education organizations globally, Abingdon & Witney College recorded their expenses via an Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was shared internally between employees, managers, and the HR department.

How to organize and keep track of every business expense

automating expense management

This allows you to tweak processes and make adjustments as necessary, ensuring that technology continues to serve its purpose efficiently within your organization. Businesses miss out on insights that expense management automation could guide strategic decisions due to disconnected spreadsheets or paper trails. Simple mistakes can result in financial discrepancies, affecting cash flow and relationships with vendors. Expense management software can minimize these kinds of occurrences by automating detail-oriented processes and building in checks and balances. Managing your expenses entirely by hand can quickly become overwhelming, especially as a growing startup.

automating expense management

  • Our seamless integration with Open Banking and Open Accounting provides you with actionable intelligence on turnover trends, gross margin analysis, and cash flow issues.
  • The features and benefits of automated expense management solutions and the top expense management solutions are also covered in this blog.
  • Expense management software enables a business to establish configurable approval workflows based on pre-defined rules.
  • With Pulse, you can experience the convenience of a streamlined sign-up process, giving your business instant access to real-time financial insights.
  • Moreover, tracking and storing paper-based receipts can be a cumbersome process.
  • And for most finance professionals, it’s the part you have to do, not what you want to do.

Here are some tips to find a solution that will deliver long-term value for your organization. Choosing the right Expense Management Software can make all the difference. Among the various options available, Paybooks emerges as a top contender, offering a robust blend of functionality and user-friendly design. Its integration of expense management with payroll and HR functions provides a unified solution that addresses multiple business needs with efficiency. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, income summary or AI, and cloud-based systems, accounting has been fundamentally modified to improve things, denoting a new era in financial management. Such noteworthy mechanical headways have totally re-imagined how accounting works, carrying with them a degree of proficiency and exactness beforehand, unreachable by people alone.

automating expense management

The bill then follows an automated workflow in accordance with your business expense policy, ensuring Accounting for Churches the proper parties have a chance to sign off. As before, the separate platform and automated reminders help keep the process moving. Here’s what you should know about expense management automation as a startup founder, including how it works, what it’s capable of, and when you still need to rely on a human professional. Get a free demo of Stampli and learn how to automate your expense management processes quickly and effectively. Once you have a good idea of your needs and which features and capabilities you’d like, you can start evaluating different expense management software platforms. Gather and centralize your current expenses data to make it easier to migrate the data into your expense management software.

The adoption of bookkeeping automation can also lead to reduced stress during tax season. When monetary records are precisely recorded, they make tax planning more streamlined and less daunting tasks. The ease of access to financial information won’t just work on the tax planning process, but it also enables organisations to respond to financial enquiries and audits promptly.

automating expense management

Spruce up Your Expense Management Process with Automation

At its core, this software helps businesses keep a tight grip on their expenses by automating the entire reimbursement process. From managing travel bookings to processing expense reports, these platforms are built to make financial oversight more manageable and less time-consuming. To get buy-in from senior management, ensure that the business plan for automation provides concrete evidence on how it will help them pursue these three goals. For example, you could use cost savings and ROI estimates to demonstrate how automation will grow the bottom line.