How does expenses software boost employee productivity?
There are multiple elements of expenses software that help the individual employee, and not just the purchase ledger team. Managing expenses, accurately and properly, is traditionally a laborious and slow chore. It’s one area of business where it still seems acceptable to draw on paper stuffed in pockets, desk drawers and the car door.
With the need to manually enter the details of each receipt to ensure a seamless claim, managing expenses can take up a ridiculous amount of time which could be better spent on the productive tasks that the employee is responsible for.
It all centres on the app
Cloud-based expenses software transforms expenses for those who work in accounting. But the element which transforms it for employees, outside of the accounts function, is whether it is paired with an excellent expenses app.
At its most basic, an expenses app acts as a tracker. The employee snaps a photo of the receipt and enters a few fields, rather like a text message. This arrives, rather like a text message, with the manager who needs to approve it. At the click of a button, the expense is approved and sent on to accounts. This speeds up the claims process for the employee. But that’s not its most useful benefit.
The best benefit of an expenses app, for the individual employee, is how it boosts productivity. It removes the slow and laborious process of expenses and instead makes it a fast and instantaneous process that can be done in the moment that the expense is incurred. Doing this removes the risk of errors, makes use of ‘dead time’ (e.g. while eating that meal on the road), and eliminates the risk of lost receipts.
Collectively not having to spend a large chunk of time every few weeks sorting out expenses means that this time is available for the job they are actually employed to do.
How else does expenses software boost employee productivity?
However, the benefits of expenses software and an expenses app go further still.
Firstly, there are the enormous benefits to the accounting function in terms of individual employee productivity too. Expense management can be an archaic and frustrating part of accounting life. With reputable expenses software, things like mileage claims are more uniform, perhaps using automatic calculations from Google Maps, and much more of the entire process is automated. The accounting department’s productivity can be improved simply because much of the admin is taken care of without their input.
Secondly, for the employees who need to record expenses, the software doesn’t just free up their time. It also boosts their morale. No one in the position of needing to claim expenses relishes the task. Many dread it – hence it gets put off until there are unbearable receipt mountains. With an app and user-friendly software, expenses no longer represent the task they most avoid. They can feel secure and at ease, knowing the process is simpler, safer and easier.
The positive impact of expenses software
When businesses look at expenses software, they tend to focus on the benefits it brings such as saving costs, reducing admin time and creating a more watertight system. However, don’t overlook the benefits to the individual employee and how it will help them, and thus boost their productivity.
