Travel & expense process
Most companies still struggle with the implementation of the purchasing process in practice. The negotiated conditions are difficult to verify, and the dynamics of the prices of current accommodation and flights does not allow for obtaining reliable and undeniable information about the achieved effects, both positive and negative. In addition, the process consists of several stages, which in practice often extend in time or cause communication problems with an external agency, and later when completing documents.
Usually it works in a similar way – first you need to apply and create a budget, then the budget has to be approved by the manager. Only after approval, do we buy the offer. Employees going on a business trip generate costs, which causes another problem. The costs incurred must be settled on the basis of appropriate documents that employees will bring to the company. It happens that they are incomplete, incorrectly described or simply lost. Most companies do not have the appropriate travel and expense management tools, and the process is complex and multi-stage, difficult to verify. Documents circulate between the manager and the accounting department, and the biggest disadvantage is the use of traditional tools that are not digitized – we use e-mail, often enter data into Excel and settle purchase documents separately.
CFO’s experience: end-2-end, modern application as a solution to problems. Convenience and compliance guaranteed.
More and more companies are improving their process management system and are starting to use appropriate programs designed for this purpose. The main advantage of this solution is the digitization of the entire process, which requires fewer people to participate in its implementation and verification. The process carried out in such an application is user-friendly – it is fast and easy to settle, and the financial directors only verify exceptions and operating costs. The tools have the option of paying with payment cards and setting limits for individual expenses. After this limit is exceeded, the operation is flagged. Another facilitation is the fact that the scan of the receipt is saved directly in the cloud, which eliminates the risk of losing the document. Documents can be attached using a telephone or laptop.
Extra advantages
In addition to workflow, the application allows you to book hotels, purchase train and air tickets. Settlement of costs from the application level is more intuitive and done automatically – we can use the calculation of not only allowances, but also attached expense documents. The system allows you to cancel your trip or change your booking.
ROI – profitability index
ROI comes from two sources: lower purchasing costs and reduction of process costs. The lower travel costs are due to the fact that all offers are made using the best prices available online. Using the app means lower transaction fees and fewer cancellations. Using the end-2-end application can save you from 30 minutes to 8 minutes in case of trip planning and purchase; and about 15 minutes in the case of settlement of business trips or expenses. In the application, we always make purchases in our own currency, which helps us avoid hidden costs of currency conversion when paying on the spot at the hotel.
