How can you reduce expense processing time?

1 Identify your pain points

In order to reduce expense processing time, it is essential to identify where and why your current system is inefficient or ineffective. This can be done by analyzing your expense management process from the moment an employee incurs an expense to the moment it is reimbursed and reported. Common issues that can arise include a lack of clear and consistent policies and guidelines for employees and approvers, inadequate or outdated tools and software for capturing, submitting, and approving expenses, high volume of paper receipts, invoices, and forms that need to be scanned, stored, and verified, multiple steps and approvals that create bottlenecks and delays, limited visibility and control over expense data and trends, as well as the risk of errors, duplicates, and fraud that can lead to compliance issues and financial losses.

2 Simplify your policies and guidelines

The second step to reducing expense processing time is to simplify your policies and guidelines for expense management. You can do this by reviewing and updating your expense policy to ensure it is clear, concise, and consistent, as well as communicating and training your employees and approvers on the policy and expectations while providing them with easy access to relevant information and resources. To simplify your policies and guidelines, you should define the types, categories, and limits of allowable expenses; specify the preferred payment methods and vendors; outline the requirements and deadlines for submitting and approving expenses; explain the reimbursement process and methods; establish the roles and responsibilities of employees, approvers, and accountants; incorporate applicable tax rules and regulations.

3 Upgrade your tools and software

The third step to reducing expense processing time is to upgrade your tools and software for expense management. Investing in a modern and integrated solution can help automate and optimize your workflow. Look for a tool or software that can capture and digitize receipts and invoices using mobile devices or scanners, validate and categorize expenses using artificial intelligence or machine learning, submit and approve expenses using online platforms or apps, reimburse expenses using direct deposit or digital wallets, record and report expenses using cloud-based or ERP systems, and analyze and monitor expense data and trends using dashboards or reports.

4 Streamline your steps and approvals

The fourth step to reducing expense processing time is to streamline your steps and approvals for expense management. This can be accomplished by eliminating or reducing any steps and approvals that may slow down or complicate your workflow. Defining and implementing clear and efficient workflows and procedures for different types of expenses and scenarios can also help streamline the process. Automating or pre-approving recurring or low-value expenses, delegating or decentralizing approval authority to managers or departments, setting up alerts or reminders for pending or overdue expenses, using digital signatures or tokens for authorization, creating templates or forms for common or standard expenses, and using batch processing or consolidation for multiple or similar expenses are all ways to streamline your steps and approvals.

5 Enhance your visibility and control

Enhancing your visibility and control over your expense management is the fifth step to reducing expense processing time. Utilizing the data and insights generated by your tools and software, as well as feedback from employees and approvers, can help you track and measure your performance and progress. Doing so can improve accuracy and compliance by detecting and correcting errors, duplicates, and fraud. Additionally, it can optimize budget and cash flow by forecasting and managing expenses. Moreover, it can increase productivity and efficiency by reducing workloads and costs. Finally, it can boost employee satisfaction and retention by providing timely and transparent reimbursements, helping you to align your expense management with business goals and strategies.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?