Prior to CompanyMileage, employees used paper forms to submit mileage. Now, they have a new and improved process that fully supports workers.
People Inc. was founded in 1970 to help individuals with developmental disabilities across the state of New York live a more independent and fulfilling life. In pursuit of this mission, the organization offers a range of services, including services for children and young adults, day services, vocational and employment services, home healthcare, and housing assistance. Successfully delivering such a range of services across the communities they serve requires an army of over 4,000 social workers, care specialists, nurses, and other support professionals.
As People Inc. employees travel from location to location making sure the people they support have everything they need, it’s up to the organization to ensure these workers have the support they need.
One area that had been lacking for employees was a software solution for mileage reimbursement. While the organization has come a long way since its founding in 1970, the process for tracking and submitting mileage reimbursement requests was still stuck in the past. According to People Inc., they previously submitted mileage in a paper format. Because they only accepted written approvals, many employees needed to deliver the paperwork to one of People Inc.’s 120+ locations around the Western New York area, adding an extra trip to their already busy days.
To add another burden to employees, they also had to calculate their own mileage amounts. Not only does that add even more work to their plates, but it makes the mileage reimbursement process take even longer when Payroll has to review and verify the accuracy of the mileage amounts submitted. Employees couldn’t receive the reimbursement payments they were owed until Payroll completed their review, which added time to the process.
People Inc. knew the time had come for them to find a modern solution for their employees, one that no longer required them to print out a form and then send it to their supervisor to sign it. In 2018, they adopted CompanyMileage’s mileage tracking and reimbursement platform, SureMileage, and they’ve never looked back. SureMileage—along with its mobile app, SureMobile—has streamlined People Inc.’s mileage reimbursement process significantly by eliminating paper forms and automating approval workflows.
Employees simply use SureMobile to input their starting and ending destinations for each trip, and the system calculates the mileage for the most expedient route between the two points. This method ensures employees are only reimbursed for the work-related miles they drive, so if they take a detour to run a personal errand, this mileage won’t accidentally wind up in the trip total. At the end of the day, they only need a few minutes to review their trips, make sure to include any additional information, and then submit their expense report to their supervisor for review and approval.
Since employees aren’t responsible for manually tallying up miles or calculating reimbursement amounts, claims make it through the approval process in a fraction of the time, and SureMileage makes sure the process never stalls. Once one person in the sequence approves a claim, it’s automatically sent to the next. People Inc. also opted to integrate their payroll software, UKG (formerly Ultipro), with SureMileage, so upon final approval, a reimbursement claim will be automatically sent to Payroll for processing.
Since implementation, not only have employees been able to submit their mileage on time, but People Inc. has been able to issue reimbursement payments much faster than in the past. Needless to say, employees are highly satisfied with this new and improved mileage reimbursement process. They’re even able to use the SureMobile app or their desktop to track their own payments, giving them visibility into the process they’d not previously experienced.
For employers like People Inc., CompanyMileage brings benefits to every level of the organization. Mobile workers have a quicker, easier method for tracking and submitting mileage, more accurate reporting means managers save time reviewing and approving reimbursements, and Payroll employees are able to issue payments much faster. Overall, when organizations implement SureMileage and overhaul this key process for employees, it has dramatic ripple effects. Employees have more time to spend on the core responsibilities of their roles, and less money is wasted trying to prop up outdated, cumbersome practices.
Every day, CompanyMileage saves customers an average of 25% on their mileage and expense reimbursement costs while making the lives of their employees easier. To learn how automating the mileage reimbursement process with CompanyMileage can help you and your employees, schedule a demo today!