Chrome River CURRENTS

It’s one thing to have disorganized personal emails or vacation photos. For organizations, however, unstructured data presents a significant — and growing — problem. Using automated expense management software like Chrome River EXPENSE helps centralize expense data, and it can yield cost savings, greater transparency and valuable data assets.

In the past, IT departments tended to assume that businesspeople didn’t want to deal with data, but a recent article on Forbes.com reports that assumption has been upended. In today’s “big data” environment, business and finance professionals want to have better access to enterprise data, along with the tools to analyze it, create business expense reports, and put key findings into practice.

In today’s tough economy, the pressure is on to increase productivity while keeping operating costs down. Executives at midmarket companies are relying on technology investments to achieve this balance, according to an article in Business Finance. Many organizations can automate time-intensive manual processes like travel expense management as a way to increase efficiency and reduce staffing needs.

Perhaps you learned priceless life lessons while camping at Yosemite National Park or backpacking across Europe after high school or college. Or maybe you felt a certain pride while overcoming the challenges of taking your family on vacation. Travel often tests us, and it can make us stronger, more adaptable and more alert.

If you or your employee spends as little as a day working in another state, you could be violating state tax laws if you don’t file a tax return there, according to a recent article on the CNNMoney blog. Each state has its own rules for reporting income, and frequent business travelers could be responsible for filing dozens of different state tax returns. For organizations whose employees travel regularly for business, travel expense management tools are essential.

Ever-evolving government regulations present major challenges for most organizations. Local, state, national and international tax laws vary widely in scope, and changes in the requirements often trigger industry-wide repercussions. The medical industry, for example, is scrambling to prepare for demanding new reporting requirements under the National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments (formerly referred to as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act).

When it comes to real-time insights and comprehensive analyses, knowledge is power. But stockpiling data is one thing; it’s quite another to turn business expense reports and other information into valuable insights.

You arrive promptly at the airport with your boarding pass printed. Slip-on shoes help you breeze through security. Buying breakfast is a smooth, paperless transaction, thanks to your corporate credit card and travel expense management software. Your carry-on glides silently down the concourse and fits precisely in the overhead bin.

At many organizations today, CFOs strive to provide more frequent and accurate financial forecasts, while juggling increasingly complex economic and regulatory environments. An article on CFO.com explains that “big data” can help organizations manage complexity and drive growth by identifying strategic opportunities, improving operational efficiency, and ensuring compliance.

At some organizations, the expense approval process is just something scrawled on the back of a napkin or stored in someone’s head. Documenting the approval process is vital to business expense tracking. An approach that’s too casual can lead to problems, especially if the IRS decides to disallow certain expenses it deems extravagant. But determining what’s reasonable depends on the circumstances, according to an article on Forbes.com.