Chrome River CURRENTS

States and municipalities often use tax incentives to attract different industries, and capturing these incentives plays an important role in cost control. But many organizations risk missing out on these tax credits due to poor internal communication. Using an expense software suite can help your organization comply with tax regulations and collaborate to secure tax credits.

For the last five years, IBM has issued reports on the changing roles of analytics and “big data” in business. In its latest report, “Analytics: A Blueprint for Value,” IBM surveyed 1,000 executives in IT and business from 70 countries. According to online industry magazine CMSWire.com, this latest research shows that while “big data” and analytics can drive new revenue and customers, most organizations are dragging their feet.

If you’re unsure about whether you can write off a business travel expense, you might find it prudent to err on the side of caution — especially if the charge is negligible. Still, it’s hard for you and your organization to remain competitive if you routinely leave money on the table in the form of unclaimed deductions and unreimbursed expenses.

When an organization needs to enforce internal controls, it’s important to set the right tone at the top, according to CFO.com. How are policies treated at the management, executive and board levels? That can shape the attitudes of everyone in an organization.

Finally home after a long business trip, the field representative feels worn out. Unreliable transportation, bare-bones lodging and stingy per diems certainly didn’t help. The rep heaves a sigh, pulls out a wad of crumpled receipts and scrawled notes and starts preparing reports — in triplicate, per the expense report program’s requirements.

The hype surrounding “big data” can give the impression that good analytics software is all an organization needs to improve the quality and speed of its decision-making. Yet, even when organizations rely on data in creating or implementing business strategies, the important decisions are still often made by people.

What if someone told you that about 5 percent of your organization’s revenue was being lost to fraud? It’s worth considering, because that’s the average loss for an organization, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Most of that revenue slips away through fraudulent expense claims, payments and procurement.

To generate better business decisions, you need more and better data, right? Not necessarily. According to SmartData Collective, a successful analytics program requires much more than “big data” — it also requires communication, shared priorities and a decision-making culture within the organization.

For many organizations, mobile employees and a distributed workplace have become attractive and cost-effective alternatives to the traditional office. Advances in cloud technology, high-speed networks and mobile devices have made working from the road — or from home — a serious proposition. And as more companies go virtual, mobile applications are going to be more important than ever.

New studies predict increased business travel in 2014, according to NBCNews.com. With these changes on the horizon, tools for travel expense management will be more important than ever. Additional travel is likely to generate more data and paperwork for travel managers, unless a streamlined, automated system can be implemented.