How To Start Automating Expense Data Entry From Today from ExpenseOnDemand

How To Start Automating Expense Data Entry From Today from ExpenseOnDemand

As finance professionals, let's face the music: it's a difficult task getting an employee to file their expense report at the end of the month. As a result, it causes delays to:

1. Payroll at the end of the month

2. Filing completed expense reports

3. Reconciling the expenses made by the employee on behalf of the company

It is a lengthy exercise for the finance teams at the office and becomes laborious for employees and the CFO.

When employees need to be growing the business, the admin time of filing expense reports eats away at that valuable time. Would this still be true if a more organised and effortless way existed? Not at all!

What if there was a better way where you could put an end to manual data entry for your expenses?

Businesses, just like yours, have started automating and seen a world of difference in their company performance, business culture and increased productivity of employees.

By automating your process for expense reports, some of the benefits are:

1. There is no longer a need to be doing manual data entry.

2. Employees no longer misplace physical receipts.

3. Reduce the expense errors (which cost businesses thousands, if not millions, depending on the size of your company each year).

4. Businesses can avoid cheeky employees submitting duplicate expenses.

5. Better visibility on expense data.

To find out more about how else expense automation can help your business, book a demo with ExpenseOnDemand.

Starting today, let's understand how you can go from manual data entry to automation.

Key Takeaways

• Expense automation removes the manual effort required for reporting and data entry, and it also significantly reduces the associated risks and generates efficiencies. 

• A dashboard view and increased visibility of company spending.

• First, identify your pain points to optimise the need for expense automation.

• You can get started with ExpenseOnDemand today with full support from our professionals to guide you along the way.

What is expense automation?

Expense automation involves using technology to streamline and optimise the tracking, approval, and reimbursement processes.

Employees can submit expense reports quickly and easily using software platforms or apps, and managers can review and approve them immediately.

Expense automation may include additional features such as automatic receipt capture, integration with accounting systems, and real-time reporting and analysis. 

By automating expense management tasks, businesses can reduce the time and resources they spend managing expenses, improve accuracy and compliance, and gain better insights into their overall costs.

Identify your expense data entry pain points

As a business, an excellent first step is understanding your pain points within your current expense management process.

Make an extensive list of these. The bigger the list, the better expense management automation software like ExpenseOnDemand can help.

We've put together a helpful template for you to use to identify what you're doing well and where you could put some effort into improving. It follows the analysis map known as SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. 

Figure out your expense process pain points. The SWOT analysis will help you identify opportunities.

If you need help identifying areas of weakness and finding opportunities, book a demo with ExpenseOnDemand.

Explore available automated expense data entry solutions

With the right tool, you can eliminate manual data entry for your expenses. ExpenseOnDemand is the only offering that allows a modular approach.

It keeps the automation software price low by allowing you to individually pick the features that work for you and those that don't.

It's essential to do your research, but to save you time, let us take a moment to highlight the core benefits of using ExpenseOnDemand:

1. It's a cost-effective expense solution.

2. Powered by intelligent AI that helps you prevent a heap of expense-based errors, making it the most powerful tool with compliance in mind.

3. White labelling allows you to make the expense management software feel whole to your company. We can help you set up your branding.

4. ExpenseOnDemand integrates with core accounting tools like Xero, Quickbooks, Tally and Sage.

5. Everything is cloud-based so that you can keep tabs on your company expenses.

6. Remove the complete need for manual data entry and start getting employees to file their expense reports instantly.

7. Using ExpenseOnDemand aligns your employees with your company expense policy. Expense policies ensure employees adhere to what they can and cannot claim for using a powerful receipt scanning app.

Risk of using a traditional expense management process

Old school habits suggest that manual expense processes include keeping physical ledgers in your desk drawer or an extensive spreadsheet with expense data, but running this process is risky too.

We've highlighted the risk you should be aware of when using manual data entry as your approach:

Inaccurate Data Entry

People can make mistakes when entering expense data by hand, and correcting these mistakes is time-consuming.

For instance, a person might need to read a receipt, leading to incorrect data input and storage.

Lost Receipts

It's easy to lose or damage receipts, leaving records incomplete. 

For example, if an employee loses their receipt for a business lunch, there is no way to enter the expense into the system, resulting in an incomplete record.

Delayed Reimbursements

Manual approvals can be slow and delay employee reimbursements, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction. 

For instance, if an employee submits a reimbursement request, several days could pass before the expense gets reviewed, approved and processed, resulting in a delay in the employee receiving their funds.

Policy Non-compliance

If you have manual processes, you might be unable to enforce company policies and ensure you comply with taxes. 

For example, if an employee fills out a reimbursement form incorrectly, the manual approval process may not be able to catch the errors, leading to incorrect payment.

Fraudulent Expenses

Employees can inflate expenses to make personal gains using manual processes. 

For instance, an employee could submit a receipt for a higher amount than what was paid and pocket the difference.

Poor Visibility into Spending

It's easier to get an accurate picture of overall spending and identify areas of cost savings with automated reports. 

For instance, manual processes can make it challenging to identify duplicate payments or flag suspicious transactions quickly.

Lack of Control over Spending

Manual processes can make it hard to control spending. 

For instance, employees may need more visibility over their spending limits, resulting in overspending or incorrect budget allocations.

Inefficient Use of Time

Manual processes take time. 

For example, manually reconciling receipts or manually inputting expenses into spreadsheets can take hours or even days, detracting the team from tasks of higher importance and better business gain.

Difficulty in Tracking Expenses

Manual data entry tasks for expenses can make tracking expenses across departments and projects complex, which leads to confusion and misallocation. 

For instance, if there is a lack of detailed tracking, businesses can end up with multiple copies of the same invoice without deciphering which one is accurate or up-to-date.

Reduced Productivity

Time and resources to a business are essential, and manual processes put that essentialism at the bottom of the list. It's to start prioritising what truly matters, where you can save time and how you can grow.

For instance, manual data entry can take up to five times as long as automated entry, leading to costly errors.

Whilst your employees may use an expense report template provided by your company in print form, there is a way to automate expense reports too. Automating expense reports touches the surface of automated expense management systems like ExpenseOnDemand.

A great way to use the SWOT analysis template and compare it to the risk list can provide ideas on where you see room for improvement and opportunities.

Select the best-fit solution for your business needs

Most tools out there are complex. It's like you need to have a PhD to use them. Ridiculous right?

Added frustration is the last thing you need.

Whatever happened to the days of keeping things simple whilst seeing the incremental growth lines for your business?

It's ironic because while there is sophistication in many expense management tools, they can, unfortunately, create added stress too, which you want to avoid.

So, if you're running your business using manual expense processes, some preliminaries help you choose the best-fit solution for your company.

Here is a list of things to look out for when choosing a solution:

1. Assess business needs: Determine what areas in your expense management process need improvement. Consider the frequency and number of employees submitting expenses and your expense policies' complexity.

2. Choosing the right expense automation system is essential: Compare various systems' features, functionality, and price. You should look for solutions to capture receipts from your phone, provide real-time reporting and analytics, integrate with accounting, and automate approval processes.

3. Consider implementation and training: Choosing the right solution depends on the implementation and training process, so look for solutions with robust implementation and support services, including training for employees and IT staff.

4. Evaluate security and compliance: Verify that your organisation's safety and compliance standards are met with each solution. Consider features like encryption, access controls, and regulatory compliance.

Start to eliminate manual data entry by considering the factors above. As a result, you will be able to pick the right tool to suit your needs, and your business should be able to start saving money and time.

Configure the solution to meet your business requirements

In today's business climate, out-of-the-box solutions are no longer adequate. Businesses are evolving, have custom needs, and need their tools to respond fast while being modular.

ExpenseOnDemand recognised all these things earlier, and our solution is fully customisable for your business needs. Whether you're a 3-man band or a growing business, ExpenseOnDemand is all you'll need to solve all expense management-related issues.

Integrate the solution with your existing systems

While understanding your business's needs, you may have realised very quickly how critical it is that your financial systems stay connected for the data to flow cohesively.

ExpenseOnDemand provides seamless integrations with Xero, , Tally and Sage accounting software. After a 1-click setup, you can get going with ease. There are no discrepancies in the financial data and no double entries either.

It's a total game-changer. You can try it out yourself today with a 30-day free trial! Get in touch, and we'll:

1. Show you how it works.

2. Hook you up with a 30-day free trial to play around with so that you can decide if ExpenseOnDemand is the right solution for you. (You won't regret it - promise).

Train your employees to use the new solution

Introducing new solutions can be tricky. We understand that some businesses need more time for substantial learning curves, and they need to allocate their resources to pick it up too.

Naturally, there is a slight learning curve when you're looking at something new. But, with a simple-to-use and powerful UI, you'll quickly feel at ease with ExpenseOnDemand.

Moreover, we've recorded a series of training videos to get you up and running in no time. They're easily accessible; you and your team can watch them anytime. And, if you need more than that, you can jump on a Teams or Zoom call with a professional from our team, and we will walk you through the system and set you up even if you're trialling.

Sound good? Book a demo and get started.

Monitor and optimise the solution for maximum efficiency

Whilst you're new to the journey of expense automation, there are areas which you can continuously optimise and enhance. Whether this is the expense category you've introduced or need to update some information on your expense policy, ExpenseOnDemand will help you make this a breeze.

The intelligent AI behind our system can learn how you use the software. It allows it to recommend better ways for doing expense-related tasks and optimises your workflow within your organisation.

It's hard to do that when you're not using an automated working method.

Conclusion

Now that you've got the gist of expense automation, its benefits and what you can do to get started today, feel free to contact our professionals, and we'll guide you along the way. Start using ExpenseOnDemand.