Chrome River CURRENTS

In Part 1, we looked at the differences between manual and automated expense and invoice entry. So how does automated entry make Accounts Payable more strategic? Here are just a few of the ways that immediately come to mind.

On a recent US Airways flight, we pulled into the gate later than our expected arrival time.  The flight attendant, no doubt in an effort to sound considerate, asked everyone on the plane to please let those passengers trying to make connecting flights disembark first.  I thought, ‘What a ridiculous request!  Though I’d be more than happy to oblige, how will the rest of the passengers—all of whom will be jumping out of their seats as soon as we come to a stop—know exactly who among us meets that requirement?  Would it be the people who look exhausted, flushed, nauseated or annoyed?  That would include everyone!’

While at a conference in San Antonio, you decide to go on a sponsored side trip with other attendees: a scenic helicopter ride over the city and the surrounding Texas Hill Country. You can probably deduct the flight as a business expense, but don’t forget to keep those convention brochures that describe it as a networking experience in case you need to prove it. As with most aspects of travel expense management, it’s important to provide documentation and be clear on company guidelines.

As the U.S. economy continues to recover, organizations that previously cut travel to the bone are starting to look beyond revenue-generating trips, sending employees to conventions and other networking and development activities. As business travel and other travel and entertainment (T&E) spending increase, so does the value and importance of efficient, cost-effective travel expense management.

When your employees travel for business or entertain clients, are you getting the best prices for flights and rental cars, hotels and entertainment? It can be hard to say. After all, if you can’t see at a glance what your company spends on travel and entertainment (T&E) and drill down to important data, how do you really know? But if you use expense management software with end-to-end automation, your company will be in a much better position to negotiate volume discounts with vendors.

Welcome to the Chrome River Currents monthly digest! Each month we highlight the latest news and analysis on business travel, expense management and online expense reporting. This time, we’re focusing on the benefits of automating business expense reports. We’ll show you how new cloud-based tracking, analytics and reporting tools can help your company simplify travel reimbursement, negotiate discounts and other cost savings, and identify possible fraud. 

Contributing Author – Henry Ijams, Managing Director, PayStream Advisors, Inc. 

An invoice from a vendor arrives in the day’s mail and sets off a complex process. First, the invoice envelope must be sorted and opened, the return envelopes and ads tucked inside discarded. From there, your company may scan the invoice or key in data and begin validating individual items. By the time the document reaches an approver for payment verification, it’s no mystery why processing paper invoices is often expensive, inaccurate and inefficient.

Providing corporate credit cards to employees has many financial and operational benefits, and it helps streamline travel expense management. Using corporate credit cards tends to reduce expense report fraud, but you’ll still need to keep an eye out for employees trying to beat the system.

Companies can reduce annual travel and entertainment (T&E) costs by 7 percent to 15 percent by using a comprehensive travel expense management system, according to a recent article on the Spend Matters website.