It’s no secret that expense management can be a morass of complexity and confusion. Trying to make sense of it all—and then getting everyone in your organization on the same page—can feel like herding cats.
At its core, expense management is about ensuring that your company’s money is being spent in the most efficient way possible. Managing a team demands careful attention to detail, good communication, and a system that works for everyone involved. Streamlining your team’s expense management makes all of that easier.
Our six top tips will help you do just that:
1. Standardize Your Expense Reporting Process
Having a standardized expense reporting process can help companies streamline their expense management in many ways.
First, it can help to reduce the amount of time and resources that are spent on processing expenses. By having a clear and consistent process in place, companies can avoid the need for lengthy and manual reviews of expense reports. This can free up time for employees to focus on other tasks, and it can also reduce the chances of errors being made.
A standardized expense reporting process can also help to improve compliance with company policies and procedures. By ensuring that all expenses are properly documented and submitted on time, companies can minimize the risk of fraud and abuse.
Finally, standardizing the expense reporting process can also help to improve communication between employees and managers.
By providing clear guidelines on what expenses are eligible for reimbursement, companies can help get everyone on board with the system. This can reduce the need for back-and-forth communication and make it easier for employees to get the reimbursement they are entitled to.
2. Implement an Automated Expense Management System
Several software applications on the market can automate many of the tasks associated with expense management, from expense report creation to reimbursement.
This removes the need for manual input and data entry, and it can also help to improve the accuracy of your expense reports.
An automated expense management system can also help to speed up the reimbursement process by automatically generating payments to employees. This can save your team a significant amount of time, and it can also help to reduce the chances of errors being made.
And because it gives your team a central repository for all expense-related information, it will be easier for everyone to find the information they need when they need it.
3. Use a Travel Management Company
If your team spends a lot of time on the road, working with a travel management company can help to streamline your expense management process.
Travel management companies specialize in booking and managing travel arrangements, and they can often get discounts on airfare, hotels, and rental cars. This can save your team a significant amount of money, and it can also help to reduce the hassle of making travel arrangements.
Data can be a powerful tool when it comes to expense management. By analyzing your company’s spending patterns, you may be able to identify areas where costs can be reduced.
For example, you might find that certain types of expenses are being incurred more often than necessary. Or, you might discover that certain employees are incurring higher than average expenses.
In either case, you can use this information to develop strategies for reducing your company’s overall spending. For example, you might consider implementing limits on certain types of expenses, or you might provide employees with training on how to better manage their expenses.
5. Use Business Credit Cards
For many small businesses, cash flow can be a major challenge. This is especially true when it comes to expenses, as businesses often have to front the cost of travel, entertainment, and other business-related expenses.
One way to help manage this challenge is to use business credit cards. Business credit cards can give you a way to finance your company’s expenses without having to dip into your cash reserves.
They can also help to streamline your expense management by giving you a single bill to pay each month. And, if you use a business credit card with rewards, you can earn points or cash back on your company’s expenses.
6. Educate Your Employees on Expense Management Best Practices
Of course, even the most well-designed expense management system can fail if your team doesn’t use it properly.
Spending the time to educate your employees on the best practices for expense management can go a long way toward ensuring that your system runs smoothly. The specific points you want to cover may vary depending on your company’s needs, but some general topics you may want to address include:
How to submit expenses
What types of expenses they can reimburse
How to keep track of receipts
What documentation is needed for each type of expense
Giving your team this type of guidance will help to ensure that they use your expense management system properly, and it can also help to reduce the likelihood of errors being made.
Expense management can often be a contentious issue within businesses. Your team needs to be able to expense their business-related costs to keep your company running smoothly, but you also need to be mindful of your bottom line.
By following the tips above, you can streamline your team’s expense management process and improve your company’s overall financial health. Remember, too, that streamlining is a continual process. However good your system is, it’s necessary to conduct periodic checks on your policies and procedures to ensure that they’re still effective.
Keep the principles we discussed in mind, and you’ll be well on your way to maintaining a healthy expense management system!
