What SMBs can learn from automated expense management and how they can apply it to grow out of the global crisis

Every day is a school day – and that’s been especially true of the dark days of the pandemic, when companies worldwide have had to learn new ways of doing things, and to develop them very quickly.

Lots of lessons have been there for the learning, but principal amongst them is the help that’s to be offered by the switch to digital in as many areas as practical. It’s the SMBs, representing as many as 9 in 10 of all companies, which are best placed to make the necessary changes that will support rekindling of economies in the months ahead. Indeed, return to profitability also requires that businesses move more employees to digital process to save both time and money.?

Feedbacks we got from our new customers who switched from paper to automation:

1.?????Firstly, the pandemic has shown us how quickly our movement can be restricted, and with that, our ability to do business.

2.?????Businesses who were using paper for employees to submit expenses saw the biggest disruption in their businesses. 42% of our new customers moved from using paper to expense automation.?

3.?????Businesses could not pay employees in time, which created a panic, and many saw expenses which were suspect, being paid. The ones who moved to expense automation saw incorrect expenses or fraudulent expense reduce to zero by using an expense app.

4.?????90% experienced the process become totally stress free within 60 days. Sales people were happier and could focus on selling more.

5.?????Claimants used their mobiles to submit receipts with their expense reports. These were approved by Approvers on their phones in near instant time.?And finance paid these with 48 hours v/s the 3 to 4 weeks they took earlier.

Why switching to digital is a good move:

It’s shown us and our customers how far technology can help us in bridging the gap to normality.

1.?????Accessibility: Expense automation ensure available 24x7 – anywhere, anytime. This means that employees need not worry about getting paid rapidly.?

2.?????Implementation: Smart Finance Controllers can have their company’s up and running in just one day. Implementation does not need to go into weeks or months.?

3.?????Speed: Using an expense app, expenses can be submitted from where they were incurred – INSTANTLY. Approvers can approve them on the go. Returning to a desktop to submit and approve is not blasé.

4.?????Error reduction: 97% customers said that errors were reduced to zero.?

5.?????Cost reduction: 100% customers said that that significant time was saved at every step, which has now been put to more profitable use.

6.?????System integration: A good expense management app will integrate seamlessly with standard SMB accounting software including Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, and Tally. This reduces transferring data from hours to a few minutes!

Other benefits:?Areas to which similar thinking can be applied.

1.?????Receipts: Never lost.?Available in the cloud 24x7.?

2.?????Tax inspection/audit: In a paper-based process, this inspection could take between 3 and 4 weeks. In a digital process, this now takes less than 2 hours.

3.?????Processing costs:?These have reduced by 83%.

4.?????Expense Policy compliance: Limits are enforced at the point on expense entry.?There is 100% compliance. Exceptions are recorded and can be challenged in minutes, not months.?

5.?????Processing cost:?All customers saw a significant reduction in processing costs, which ranged from 63% to 97%.?

6.?????Automation: Saves cost all round – both time and money.?Reduces fraud, by enforcing policy. Faster reimbursement. Employees submit expense quicker. Better insights into spending. Approvals happen quicker. Integration to accounting systems is error free and in seconds, which then allows businesses to also pay employees quicker.?Overall a less stressed environment and a happier company!

ExpenseOnDemand?is an intuitive expense management app that you can have up and running in five minutes, and can cost less than half the price of similar spend management applications.?Check it out now.

?The writer has founded ExpenseOnDemand with a vision to enable companies to lead a paperless and a hassle-free business process by offering a smart, simple, & intuitive expense management solution.

Sunil NIGAM?bolstered the technology base & aced the business model to make solutions affordable to everyone – at $1/user/month, making it the most trusted cloudbased application by SMBs of over 96 countries..and perhaps the best expenses app in the universe!

Start your?free trial today.

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