Due to the nature of your business, you cannot completely eliminate travel expenses and, as a CFO, you are 100% responsible for the way these costs are managed. Travel and expense management is a top priority for many CFOs that are looking for new ways to boost their business' bottom line.
What is the first thing that crosses your mind when you hear "expense management"? Is it a tactical necessity or do you see it more as a strategic opportunity? If you are managing expenses manually, it is unlikely to generate savings in this area anytime soon. Besides, manual processing has more consequences than the simple loss of time and money.
Manual expense management means time-consuming tasks for you, your staff and your employees. Submitting reports on time is probably one of your biggest pain points when it comes to manually processed travel expenses. According to Aberdeen Group, the cost of creating and processing one expense report manually is $41.12, while an automated report costs only $7.17.
Solution:
A travel and expense management system helps you manage your expense processes in the best possible way. With automated processes, work is done faster and you have easy access to documents, even when working remotely. Reducing the time it takes to submit expense reports means that you can analyze how the money is spent as soon as you have your in-depth data, and you can take immediate measures against unjustified expenses.
You may have the best compliance policy - it will still be ineffective if you manage your company's travel expenses manually. There will always be human errors and, even worse, asset misappropriation. Just think about how hard it is to identify cash leakage while using manual expense management, especially when operating in several locations or countries.
Solution:
A travel and expense management system brings consistency and fair practices that are applied to all the employees, with no exception. By design, an automated solution will refrain employees from entering wrong data or acting against the policy requirements. It is easier to ensure policy compliance and audit processes when aligning to new legislation.
How many spreadsheets do you have to manage manually before you get all the information you need for a report or a monthly analysis? How late are paper receipts submitted? What is the delay generated by complicated a approval processes? It is very difficult to have any visibility while using manual expense management processes.
Solution:
As a CFO, you need to have visibility across all expenses and the level of visibility brought to you by an automated solution will allow you to identify new opportunities for savings. Once you are able to understand how each employee or team is spending, you will have better control over travel expenses.
It is almost impossible to make informed business decisions when your relevant data is spread across all kinds of spreadsheets or reports and you are still waiting for some forgotten papers to be submitted.
Solution:
Having a travel and expense management system means having access to centralized information and performance indicators, therefore helping you to improve your decision-making process and empowering you to increase financial performance in an area where others only see expenses.
Travel expenses can be easily managed with an automated solution. If you choose an end-to-end expense management system, you will overcome all the challenges mentioned above. Whatever the size of your company, be sure to choose the right solution for your travel and expense management needs.
The path from filing your travel expenses manually to implementing a travel and expense management application should be paved with multiple opportunities - identify the right ones for your company in the CFO Report below and become become a master of cost savings!
