Finding The Right Expense Management Solution For Your CompanyPosted by Nick Niesen on October 28th, 2010 In recent times, initiatives such as the Sarbannes Oxley Act in the US have dramatically raised the profile of compliance within the corporate world. As a key element of any corporate compliance policy, expense management has shared some of the limelight. As a result, an Expense Management Solution (EMS) is now critical to any business concerned with corporate compliance. But what is an Expense Management Solution (EMS)? Does your company need one? And where do you find a good one? Just as importantly, how do you successfully implement and integrate an Expense Management Solution (EMS) into your corporate environment. This article sheds some light on these issues. What is an Expense Management Solution (EMS)? The term ?expense management solution? has been used to describe quite different commercial products and services. In the context of this article, an expense management solution is defined as a technology based system that processes: (i) transaction records received from a credit card issuer (detailing employee use of corporate credit cards0; and (ii) cash reimbursement claims originated by an employee. In practice the target application is Travel and Entertainment expenditure. A robust Expense Management Solution (EMS) will also support procurement (pCard) activities as part of a broader strategy of effectively managing lower value, high volume business-to-business transactions. The three core steps of any expense management process are: What is the purpose of an Expense Management Solution (EMS)? The objectives of an expense management solution implementation should include the following: 2. to support the implementation of a standardized best practice method of managing high volume expenses through the use of corporate credit cards; and 3. to increase the transparency and enhance the governance of financial transactions conducted on behalf of the enterprise. Sources of Expense Management Solutions Australian and international organizations now have access to a range of quality expense management solutions which are well suited to driving down administration cost whilst meeting corporate compliance requirements. There are essentially three sources of ?expense management solutions?: Each will have their own merits and will suit organizations in different circumstances. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems ? the actual functionality available within their specific installed ERP system; Card Issuer Systems Some card issuers promote ?expense management? solutions which can range from a computer generated report through to an online system with some embedded workflow concepts. The attraction of card issuer expense management solutions is that they are offered as part of a card deal, sometimes (apparently) for free. If you're considering a card issuer expense management solution, you need to know: ? will you be 'locked in' to the card issuer?; and Best-of-Breed Solutions 1. your company to be independent of a particular card issuer; Overcoming the Cultural Resistance to Expense Management Solutions Some Finance Directors still have an aversion to corporate credit cards. It's not uncommon to hear a finance director say ?if I give everyone a card, they'll spend us broke!? However, the benefits of an Expense Management Solution are apparent as soon as the Finance Director considers the difficulties of controlling the expenditure behavior of thousands of employees using a manual system of reimbursements which is largely based around a set of uncoordinated spreadsheets. Basic activities such as enforcing travel policies, calculating tax implications, reconciling, posting to a chart of accounts at a detailed level and auditing, are so difficult as to be more honored in the breach than the observance... Viewed from a different perspective, a company with revenues of $700m $50m in EBITDA, and $20m in annual employee business expenses, can make a dramatic impact on its bottom line using an expense management solution without increasing revenue. If automation reduces these expenses by only five per cent in the first year, the savings alone have the same impact on the bottom line as $14m in new revenue. It isn?t surprising that the return on investment of an expense management project is often achieved within its first 12 months of operation. Expense Management Solutions also play a vital role in Fraud Control. ?Fraud? in this context takes many guises, not all of which are the sort that land perpetrators in court. Information taken from our own customer experience and from publications of the USA Association of Certified Fraud Examiners identify the top four categories of fraud: Research in the USA has pointed to as much as 1% of company revenues being lost to employee expense mismanagement. Expense Management Systems will not, in their own right, eliminate this but they are a vital tool in creating an environment that drives down the level of mismanagement. Conclusion Over the past 18 months, our company has observed a change in motivation for expense management projects. Whereas formerly expense management solutions were an exercise solely in the reduction of administration costs, now governance is equally a driver to implement technology based controls around high volume expenditure. The Sarbannes Oxley (SOX) act in the USA has captured the attention of any enterprise active in the USA. However, inside or outside the USA, the senior executives must warrant that their company has implemented adequate financial controls that prevent fraud and give a true and correct record of the enterprise?s financial activities. As a result, the Corporate Travel Manager who pitches a proposal on expense management to the senior executive team currently finds a willing audience. Like it? Share it!More by this author |