The modernisation of work processes through digital technologies now affects most departments within a company. An expense management tool can be a significant source of process optimisation and simplification when it comes to processing the expenses incurred by your employees. Reducing costs, processing times, error rates, etc.: there are a number of levers you can use to improve your day-to-day operations, no matter which link in the chain you’re involved in !
Here’s a practical guide to choosing the best expense claim management tool, covering the key features you absolutely need, whether you’re in accounting/finance, HR, IT or a day-to-day user.
1. Mobile application functionality
And yes, simplistic as it may be, saving time is the main objective of any digital solution. Processing an expense claim from start to finish is time-consuming and involves several parties. And spending 2 hours a week on expense accounts represents 5% of his working time. This represents a significant financial burden for the company.
Having software is great, but being able to use it on your phone is even better ! Accessibility from any location is a real plus when it comes to expense claim tools. When on mission, the employee in charge will have easy access to all the data they need while on the move. This means they can scan in their receipts at any time, eliminating the need for the office photocopier. They manage their business expenses as they go along, without waiting for feedback from their manager, who will be able to have a better overview of the progress of expenses in real time. Support your employees’ digital transformation by offering them a 100% digital solution and a unique experience !
With paperless expense management, you can send your reports more quickly. This means that managers can validate the notes they receive from their staff in just one click, from any location, by confirming or rejecting them from any terminal. The accountant or back office teams can then access the claims instantly. This will make repayment times even shorter !
The mobile application is therefore an essential part of the criteria for choosing an expense management solution. Make sure that all the functions are available, especially expense validation, because a web application available on a mobile phone is not at all the same as a native mobile application !
2. Automatic entry of expenses
The most recent feature for an expense report management tool is automatic creation ! The aim is to eliminate manual entry and automate expense entry as far as possible. Today, it only takes a few seconds to enter the data: just take a photo of your bill using your smartphone, and the application will do the rest ! It automatically creates expenses and detects the relevant and essential information, such as the amount spent, the VAT rate, the expense category, etc. Using the mobile app, which allows you to convert a paper document into a digital one, or directly from your digital receipts, you’re completely free of any tasks !
By choosing Vertical Expense, you opt for complete expense reports in just 5 minutes a month – yes, it’s possible ! Thanks in particular to advanced OCR technology (optical character recognition, which detects information), coupled with your company’s expenses policy, you can do away with the need to manually enter your expenses and also, for those who wish to do so for mileage runs, avoid having to manually enter information from your vehicle registration document !
This automation not only saves you time on data entry, but also gives you better quality data. You reduce the risk of error and improve processing times at the control stages 😉
3. Automating spending policy
Your company has a spending policy. Whether it is harmonised or specific to the group’s entities, whether it is simple or full of exceptions, different by country, by service, by category of population, your digital solution must be able to integrate all your rules (who is entitled to how much reimbursement in each and every case).
Your entire expenditure policy in your management solution enables :
- on the one hand, time savings when entering data: I spent €20 at lunch, but in this case I’m entitled to €18 ? the app automatically calculates it for me !
- on the other hand, it also enables the automation and multiplication of controls.
When the expense claim is validated on your Vertical Expense solution, it’s already accurate !
Automating the rules also means being able to use powerful control levers :
- Alerts on duplicate expenses and duplicate receipts
- Cross-referencing with information on working hours, public holidays, training and the Microsoft 365 calendar
- Unit checks per person, mass cross-company checks on all employees and guests
- Adapted validation procedures for expenses, missions, vehicles and RIBs
- Overrun alerts
“The team in charge of reimbursements was scanning 10,000 expense claims a year. They will now be able to devote themselves to higher added-value tasks and provide better support to our users. The tool is really easy to use and very intuitive.”
— François Couteux,
HR Department Région Bretagne
4. Intelligent statistical reports
Managing business expenditure is complicated when this data is scattered across several departments, several stakeholders and several tools. A dedicated management solution makes it possible to centralise all the data relating to a company’s professional expenses. This puts information at your fingertips, and anyone with access can find reliable data without wasting time.
This type of expense report management tool also allows you to optimise expenditure by providing intelligent statistics. These functions are genuine control and management tools. Vertical Expense even offers you a multi-axis analytical reporting function to give you an in-depth understanding of trends in your company’s professional expenditure according to your business or organisational breakdowns.
The Vertical Expense solution gives you a complete overview of expenses, so you know everything about the context of expenses, the progress of reimbursements, the link with mission orders, and a consolidated view of expenses within your perimeter.
5. Tailor-made customisation
Finally, what will best meet your needs ? The mobile app ? Favourite expenses ? Automated management of advances ? Turnkey reporting ? Mission orders and prior travel authorisations ? Inserting it in your intranet ?
As well as the functions available, choose an app that suits you. Vertical Expense offers a rich array of features, most of which are tailor-made. You need an ultra-personalised experience, right down to the individual, tailored to your company’s reimbursement policy. You don’t have to fit into boxes and bend to the tool, Vertical Expense follows you.
Find your corporate culture, your graphic charter, your vocabulary, your types of expenditure, your validation circuits, your icons, your instructions, and display to each employee only what is relevant to him or her.
Find out more ? Click here to find out more !
