Online Expense Management - The Benefits

April 1, 2011 - PRLog -- A quick look back at the House of Commons scandal is a startlingly clear example of the outcome of a poorly managed expense system, and businesses do not want to end up with the same damaged and untrustworthy reputation.

Whilst this scandal has both shocked and annoyed many of us, it has also served as a flashing red light as to what can happen when there is no control in place, indicating clearly that without an effective expense management system in place, keeping track becomes impossible. Lack of organisation over expense claims can immediately become a major cost centre for any business – which is why so many are now turning to Online Expense Management (http://www.accountis.com/onlineexpenses/) .

Online Expenses with Accountis will allow organisations of any size to make the smooth transition from paper-based expenses, to online, saving valuable time and money via reduced staff costs, lower travel and entertainment spending. The goings-on within a company, as far as expenses claims are concerned, can have a notable impact on the bottom line when spending is being meticulously watched across all departments. Often, this isn’t really down to employees submitting questionable claims but instead due to the fact that nobody has specifically considered how the expenses are being managed.

Transparency is the solution. The ability to access and view all expense details in one secure location will enable you to maintain control and overlook more efficient cost reimbursements. Judging by today’s ever-tightening focus on company costs, it seems highly likely that such systems are set to become much more mainstream. Until now, these online systems have been more of a ‘nice-to-have’ than a necessity, but their priority is hastily moving up the list. In addition to reducing paperwork and providing real-time information, they successfully remove grey areas and provide an objective approach to processing expense claims (http://www.accountis.com/onlineexpenses/).

Recent figures indicate that fraudulent expense claims cost British businesses more than £3.5 billion per year, a staggering amount of money when considering just how much companies are currently struggling to cut costs. An employee who is spending business funds left, right and centre are better reigned in sooner rather than later, and what better way to do this than to present accurate information representing all previously submitted claims?

One of the most attractive aspects of implementing an online expense management system is the time and cost reductions (http://www.accountis.com/why-accountis/). Once instigated, the system can be updated in just a few minutes and completely removes the possibility of any inaccuracies.

Whilst features such as the category policy reminders are of course meritorious, expense management systems have defiantly come into their own right when used as an aid to identify key areas where savings can be made. By analysing the huge amount of data generated by an online expense management system, you will be able to create a comprehensive picture of exactly who is spending how much.

It is important to keep in mind that just because expenses are an integral part to any business does not mean that they have to be a huge part of the work load, or cause enormous hassles further down the line.

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Fundtech FSC Ltd is an international provider of invoicing scanning (http://www.accountis.com/e-invoicing/) and payment services including Bacstel-IP, direct debit and direct credit management, account validation and SWIFT.

Founded in 2002, Accountis became part of the Fundtech group in early 2008 and processes over 1 million transactions every day. The Fundtech trusted transaction network is used by many of the World's largest corporations to leverage existing systems and maximise efficiencies across the financial supply chain.