Many of us have had the experience of sitting down at the end of the month to do your work expenses only to end up digging through pockets, bags and even the bin (next to the banana skins) for that escapee sandwich receipt or train ticket.
According to a recent survey conducted by Barclaycard, UK workers are losing out on £962 million because of misplaced receipts and unclaimed costs. Of those surveyed, 37% said they cannot be bothered with the hassle of claiming for low value expenses, and so are never reimbursed! In addition, lost receipts counted as the top reason why employees didn’t claim money they were owed.
With all of this, surely it’s even more important to hoard your paper receipts, create a filing system for your wallet (or purse) and employ an archivist to make sure your receipt for £1.33 (Greggs Steak Bake - Newport Pagnell Services) doesn’t go missing, right?
- Topic:
- Finance
Health and safety awareness has come a long way in the past few decades. Yet, millions of office workers surround themselves with an avoidable fire hazard on a daily basis without second thought: paper. Stacks of paper in an array of filing cabinets, with more in cardboard boxes hidden away from sight just in case. Many businesses lag behind in adopting paperless systems due to years of status quo.
Not only is paper a fire hazard, it also makes maintaining a viable backup impossible. Moreover, paper documents are vulnerable to physical breaches. HMRC currently requires backup going back six years for VAT returns, for instance. Yet, it is unlikely that any business keeps additional backup copies of each receipt used for reclaiming VAT on expenses in the last submission. Not to mention how hard it would be to locate each receipt in case of a review!
- Topic:
- Finance
Expense management automation is achieved through the use of an automated expense system to collect, store, process, and report on staff expenses automatically.
Often, these software systems will have in-built controls and limits which help to enforce your company policy for you and will feature an automated workflow that will take an expense claim and run it through an approval hierarchy.
Automating your expense management process can save a huge amount of time, not just in processing the actual claims but more importantly in reviewing and approving (or rejecting) the payment.
- Topic:
- Finance
As the old adage goes, change is inevitable, and it has never been truer. Many business are only prompted to give facelifts to their expense policies as a knee-jerk reaction to obvious factors; changes in the HMRC guidance, a surge in costs and complaints of increased managerial and administrative burden. Though employee expenses may not have a direct impact on the core operations of an organisation, expense claims can add-up to hurt the bottom-line nonetheless. Therefore, businesses should be aiming to stay ahead of the game and addressing predictable issues proactively.
With technology continuing to advance exponentially, businesses cannot afford to live in the past. For instance, an expense policy formulated a decade ago and updated with only regulatory changes would fail to address the nuances of today’s world. The sheer volume of options that employees hold in their hands in the shape of smartphone apps with nearly instant real-life impacts is astounding.
- Topic:
- Finance
One of the biggest causes of upset and even disciplinary action is a failure to follow an organisations’ expense policy.
Unfortunately, this is often down to poor communication from management. HR professionals will tell you that effective communication of policies and procedures is the best way to head off any staff issues right from the start.
We agree and we think that communicating your new expenses policy is vital to ensure a swift and successful uptake.
So here are our five favourite ways to communicate your new expenses policy...
- Topic:
- Finance
The word “digital” is on the lips of all kinds of people at the moment – not least those who are on the hunt for transformative solutions that could save their businesses some cash. However, it’s not quite as simple as it might seem. Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that around a third of businesses still aren’t using all of the major technological tools available to them. What this means is that there are far fewer business and finance leaders taking advantage of the digital revolution than there should be.
Perhaps this is down to the barriers to entry. It’s not quite as simple as installing a software package and letting it run wild. The most important, yet most difficult, thing to do is to create a digital culture in which all employees feel comfortable and happy using software solutions for productive purposes. This article will explore how to go about doing that.
- Topic:
- Finance
What’s the mood like in your business when it comes to expenses? Is there general acknowledgement that expenses reflect the fact that employees are happy to temporarily spend their own cash to better the company? Or is there underlying suspicion that employees might be trying to take advantage? The reality for most businesses is probably a mixture of the two – depending on who you ask – but is it time to move on?
- Topic:
- Finance
You’d have thought that employees would be only-too-eager to submit their expenses each month if it means they are reimbursed on time. But those working in finance departments will be well-aware that many still leave it to the last minute, submit claims after your deadline has passed or sometimes not at all.
- Topic:
- Finance
When expense policies are not regularly updated and communicated, employees can easily be left confused by what they can and cannot claim, causing them to switch off from the process entirely.
- Topic:
- Finance
In the hospitality space, there’s always a need for more and more financial management – especially given that the industry is growing by 6% each year. Cost pressures are everywhere in this sector, especially when it comes to staffing – and the risk of project overruns and other difficulties is ever-present. However, luckily there are some ways to cut down on the risk of this happening to your firm. Here’s how you can best use financial management tools to prevent problems from arising.
- Topic:
- Finance
