Automation and AI are revolutionizing the way businesses operate from improving supply chains to streamlining claims processing and much more. One area that has not enjoyed the same attention is the expense management process. 

This process – which typically involves saving receipts, tracking mileage expenses, preparing and submitting expense reports and analyzing data, among other things – is supposed to help you understand how your company uses its funds. It can be very tedious though, and is rife with opportunities for errors. Fortunately, there are also many opportunities for advanced automation to rejuvenate this process.

Submitting Expenses

The first thing this technology can do is get rid of the stack of hard copies of receipts we all have to keep when we purchase something on behalf of the company. Software has the ability to save receipts and invoices, track mileage expenses and save all data to make submitting expense reports a simple task. You don’t need to save receipts, credit card statements or mileage logs for your records. All information will be safely stored in a secure location. 

Review & Approval

Reviewing expense reports mostly entails ensuring the purchase or reimbursement request is legitimate and adheres to company policy. Technology allows you to automate these reviews. The system will notify you of certain flagged behaviors such as employees submitting duplicate reports or exceeding their maximum daily spend.

Approval workflows are another area in need of streamlining. Every company does it a little differently, but with technology, you can automate this workflow and clear away any obstacles or bottlenecks that slow it down. 

Reporting & Analytics

Manual formulation of expense analytics should be a practice of the past. In order to manage your spending with anything more certain than gut feelings, you need a system capable of tracking data on expenses in order to provide insight into employee behaviors, where the biggest expenses are coming from, how well your policy is being followed or what times of the year costs soar. Software makes this all possible with a few simple clicks. 

Audits

Whether you have an internal or external audit coming up, you still have to prepare in the same ways. Software will not only help you save and organize your data, it saves you valuable time and energy preparing for and administering an audit. You can be confident in your process and the results of any in-depth analysis of your expenses. 

CompanyMileage

An effective expense management process is the foundation of an organization’s productivity. Automating this system will help improve operations and reduce costs. With SureMileage by CompanyMileage, you’re able to streamline the process from start to finish. Point-to-point trip calculations, fast submission of expense reports, one-touch approvals and integration with your accounting systems eliminate opportunities for mismanagement that exist in manual processes. As a result, our customers have saved an average of 25% on expense reimbursement costs. 

To learn more about how technology can improve expense management for you, request a demo with CompanyMileage today.