8 Benefits of Expenses Management Software

What is expense management software and how can it help your business? 

Expense management software is a technology solution to what used to be a paper-based administrative function. It is designed to make the entire process much more efficient by bringing all the relevant data and steps into one digital solution. From collecting the information through to approval, reconciliation and payment – using an expense management tool is easier for everyone.  

Read more about expense management software and its key features. 

Understandably, no business wants to spend money unless the benefits of doing so are crystal clear. Importantly, there are lots of practical benefits to investing in an expense management system which you should consider as part of your decision-making process. 

Below, you’ll find 8 important ones to be aware of. However, if your current expense management system is particularly inefficient and unwieldy—and especially if it involves your employees having to handle lots of paper receipts and forms—you’ll probably discover even more benefits than these once you introduce a modern expense management tool for your business.  

1. Go digital

Digitising processes and getting rid of hours of manual data entry and paper-heavy administrative actions has been happening across most areas of business, so it’s no surprise that there are benefits to doing so when it comes to managing expenses. As well as saving time for your staff, going digital means that you’ll also be able to remove all that filing space as all your expenses records will be online.

2. Gain control

One of the biggest issues with a messy process for expense management is that it’s really difficult to keep track and ensure your expense policy is being enforced appropriately across the board. With expense management software in place, this is done automatically, making it much easier for your management team to maintain control and oversight of employee expenditure; ensuring compliance with HMRC rules becomes a cinch too.

3. Improve accuracy

When individual staff have to hold on to all their receipts, maintain appropriate records, fill out forms, and keep track of every expense – it’s easy to see how mistakes are made. One of the biggest benefits of expense management software is the vastly improved visibility and accuracy. This means that problems can be spotted quickly and under- or over-payments can be reduced for all parties.

4. Speed up the entire administrative process

We all dislike delays and your staff will be no different – which is why they’ll be delighted at how expenses management software makes processing their claims faster and more streamlined. No need to wait weeks for receipts to be checked and for line managers to wade through and approve a stack of paper forms. Expenses management software has a slick approvals process built in which makes checking, reconciling, and approving expense claims so much faster.

5. Remove the payment time lag

Everyone is busy, including your finance admin team. Clunky manual processes for expense claims can take an age to complete because it’s not the highest priority. And even if there is some form of expense management tool or system being used, if it’s not linked to your finance system, the actual payment back to your individual employees will be delayed too. No one likes feeling like they’re ‘out of pocket’ so the time lag between processing and payment is a bone of contention which can easily be resolved with the right expense management tool in place. 

6. Improve employee experience

Expenses management software can include some nifty features that your employees will love. Things like automated business mileage calculations using Google Maps, digital receipt capture, and the ability to upload credit card statements all facilitate stress-free expense management.

7. Gain management visibility

Choosing the right expense management software is not just about efficiency benefits for everyone – there are also a host of management benefits too. For starters, it’s possible to review individual, departmental and company spending categories quickly so that it’s easy to report on the big picture as well as the details. That level of data and reporting also means that Finance can spot trends or identify issues, allowing for a swift response when needed.

8. Frees time for more productive tasks

From your Finance administrators processing claims to line managers having to approve claims, right down to individual staff making claims – introducing an expense management system relieves the burden on everyone. And that’s great news for your business as it ensures everyone has more time to focus on value-adding tasks instead.

Finance teams

Finance teams spend less time re-keying claims. Access Expense reads receipts automatically using OCR and calculates mileage through Google Maps, so the data on each claim is captured once, at the point of submission. Policy is applied as claims come in: the software enforces rules automatically and flags breaches as they occur, so the finance team reviews claims that have already been checked against policy. Approved claims sync into Access accounting software, which means they do not need to be entered again. Where company cards are used, card statements can be uploaded and each expense allocated to the right cardholder, which the brochure says reduces admin time and input errors.

Line managers and approvers

Approvers can approve claims remotely through the app, and one-click approvals are designed to keep decisions moving. This is part of the approval workflow that runs from submission to payment. When a claim needs a question answered, approvers use instant messaging to query the claim line by line, so the conversation stays attached to the claim. Budget owners can also monitor team budgets and track requests and approvals.

Employees

Employees can scan receipts on the go, and the mobile app works on Android and iOS, so claims can be raised wherever the expense happens. Mileage is calculated through Google Maps rather than typed in by hand, which removes a common source of error.

CFOs and business leaders

Leaders get a view of spending while it happens. Access Expense shows employee expenses in real time, and the Access Analytics dashboard lets leaders filter spend and export it to Excel. The analytics show how the organisation uses expenses, which supports better financial decisions. To estimate what this could be worth to your organisation, use the expense management ROI calculator.

The benefits above come from a small set of features working together. Capture comes first. OCR receipt scanning and mobile submission mean an expense is recorded when it is incurred. Google Maps mileage sits alongside this and automated calculations can save up to 20% on mileage claims.

Control is the second group. Automatic policy enforcement, configurable VAT rates and receipt rules for specific VAT codes make sure claims follow company rules from the start. Cost centres and GL codes are built into the system, and Finance can keep the final level of authorisation.

Visibility is the third group. Real-time analytics, the suite of reports and the Excel export give finance and leaders one dashboard to work from. The reports can be run across through Access Analytics.

The final group connects the process to the rest of the finance system. Accounting integration moves approved claims into the ledger, and credit card statement upload handles card spend in the same workflow. Access Expense is also delivered through Access Workspace, which gives users product-specific apps alongside a personal dashboard. For organisations tracking environmental impact, expense-related carbon emissions can be tracked, analysed and reported on within the software.