Since computers and modern technology have become an integral part of our daily lives, businesses have caught up with the trend towards digitalisation of processes. We believe this process has definitely been slowed down by the reliance of using Excel spreadsheets for everything. But now it is time to minimise manual processes and streamline HR by using efficient software. When it comes to expense management, there are many options, but which one should your company choose?
We’ve collected some expense software functionalities that are worth considering before you rush head over heels into a solution that is not suitable for your business.
FIRST STEP: UNDERSTAND YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS
Before implementing an expense software, you need to understand the needs and requirements of your business. Every industry, company and department will use expense software differently, but also less or more often. Therefore, understanding the current pitfalls of manual expense management is critical to a successful implementation. Many companies are faced with the following issues:
- Tedious process of administration of various Excel spreadsheets
- Time-consuming processes to submit receipts, approve & reject expenses and align it with accounting processes.
- Incorrect or late submission of expense reports
- Avoidable reimbursement mistakes causing overspending
These difficulties can make expense processes and reimbursements take up valuable time. This time could be better used for other tasks within the business.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A SOFTWARE
To free yourself from manual processes and solve all the problems you may currently face, it is important to choose the right software for your business, which offers all the features you may need in the future. Check out the following Expense Software functionalities that are definitely worth considering to avoid future problems.
Compatibility with Multi-Currency
Business trips to the USA and China, offices in Switzerland and Japan: this requires your expense software to be able to process different currencies. This is an important feature to consider throughout the entire process up to and including reimbursement. If this feature is not available in your chosen software, your team will have great difficulty in reimbursing employees correctly and will face problems that are not easily solved.
Digital & Simple Approval Process
If you manage expenses manually using an Excel spreadsheet, you must collect all receipts in paper form and send them together with a data sheet to the responsible manager for approval. With proper expense management software, you should not have to bother with this. With the right software, you can assign different roles and access rights to different team members and notify them immediately when a step is required to continue the expense process.
No Need for Hard-Copy Receipts
Collecting receipts & making sure that no receipt is missing to accuratly reimburse employees and keep the accounting department happy should be your past. With a proper expense software employees should be able to immediatly take a photo of the receipt, categorize it and submit it. This makes the process more efficient and environmentally-friendly but also allows for a quicker approval or rejection process. The result? Employees will be happy to see the money back in their bank accounts in no time.
Real-Time Optimised Expense Monitoring
Keeping to a budget and monitoring expenditures can be a tricky task when an excel spreadsheet needs to be updated daily. Errors won’t be far away. With the right expense management software this should be obsolete. The software should have a function that allows you to set a budget and oversee easily when the budget is reached.
Simple Integration With Other Software
Double-data entry definitely swallows a lot of time without having much impact. We should therefore take every possible measure to avoid it. Businesses that manage their expenses manually can will need to reenter the collected information into the payroll software of choice. This can easily be avoided. When choosing an expense management software, look for the possibility of integrating the software into your current payroll program. This allows you to work more efficiently and streamline your processes across departments.
Business Continuity Guaranteed
In times like these, everybody is worried about how their business can continue to strive and grow with employees beeing scatered around in different places, working remotely. Especially with Expense Management this can be a tricky subject to handle, if employees still have to hand in hard-copy receipts, and Emails have to be sent back-and forth for approval purposes. Your chosen Software should easily adapt to different work environments & different authorization rights. By choosing an Expense Management software you choose a digital process, easily accessible by all parties involved.
These are only a few expense software functionalities you have to look out for. Each business will have additional specific functions they will require. Therefore, it is crucial to benchmark different software and see whether it meets the needs of your company.
Check out our Nova Smart expense management module and contact us to see, how we can customize our software to your needs.
It’s great to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same out of date rehashed material. Fantastic read.