Smarter Expense Management Made Easy With Integrated Apps

By Darren Cran UK Managing Director of AccountsIQ

Darren Cran, UK Managing Director of Cloud accounting and consolidation software AccountsIQ talks about the rewards of integrating your accounts with automated and paperless expense management systems, saving countless hours of processing and capturing information from expenses you’ve never been able to see.

For Finance Directors of SMEs, the benefits of Cloud-based accounting apps are not news; you’ll save time, improve processes and be able to work from anywhere in the world. Digital-savvy businesses, ahead of the game, will already have migrated to the Cloud. But it gets really interesting when you start to explore the opportunities the Cloud offers in integrating one business application with another.

Introduction

Joining one Cloud app seamlessly with another creates an automated, two-way flow of data so that your financial system is able to collect and use quantities and levels of information from across the business which you’ve never been able to analyse before. This level of detail could take countless hours to re-enter so it doesn’t make sense to do so – the cost outweighs the advantage.

But imagine if you could use technologies to share this data automatically in large quantities, accurately, and without human intervention. Applications built for the Cloud and in the Cloud are configured in a way which allows you to do this relatively simply.

The Power of Integration

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Pre-Cloud, the idea of systems integration - merging and analysing data processed in systems from across the business - was the type of project reserved only for businesses which could afford it. Today, the Cloud makes this easy to do, requiring relatively little development time.

Added to this, fast-emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) are rapidly reducing administration time by converting scanned paper documents, PDF files or images captured by a digital camera into editable and searchable data. All of this allows our businesses to accelerate.

So why is it that some business teams remain stuck in time?

It’s often because the process on which they are focused is critical and, at the same time, cumbersome and the wheels (however slowly they move) just need to keep turning. It becomes incredibly hard to step back from the mountain of paper and review the operation in light of new tech. Eventually, if you don’t make that change, you will lose competitive advantage and your staff will become frustrated by old technology and repetitive tasks.

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The View Beyond the Paper Parapet

The area of expense management is a massive pain point for many businesses although it is an area where technology improvements will reap immediate rewards, revealing hidden savings and allowing you to repurpose departmental resource.Let’s revisit some of the inherent problems in the process of managing expenses:

For the employee

• Filling in and submitting expense forms• Waiting for what seems like ever to be paid• Segregating personal from business expenses which appear on the

same receipt (and the temptation to not bother - one way or the other)

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For the finance team

• An ever-growing paper mountain• Gaining timely approval from budget holders and managers• Scrutinising expenses to ensure compliance• Accurately accounting for all VATFor the FD

• Lack of overall visibility and risk of non-compliance• Poor control• Lack of detail available for analysis in the ledger system – who is

spending what, where and when?

Effortless and paperless, Cloud-based expense management applications are all about increasing controls on expenditure and freeing-up time;

• Making it easier for employees to submit expenses using OCR and AI• Giving approvers complete visibility over spend and• Enforcing your expenses policySome apps automatically include expenses claimed on corporate cards as well as calculate mileage; some include total travel management systems.

Automated approval processes mean that your employees get paid quickly and your finance department finally begins to show potential for becoming a paper-free zone.

Mobile versions are available allowing employees to scan and submit expenses without accessing the management element of the software. Your expenses policy is incorporated, ensuring all submissions are compliant.

These systems range in functionality and, relatively, by price. We have developed some elements of automation within our own Cloud accounting software AccountsIQ but businesses with higher volumes of expenses will benefit from a more extensive solution like Concur which, in addition to all of the above, stops duplicate payments from duplicate invoices and ensures all VAT is reclaimed on travel and expenses.

So What Does the Digital Solution Look Like?

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Commissioned by travel and expense management software app Concur, a survey carried out by tech research specialists Vanson Bourne to 500 UK-based FDs reveals

If this applies to you, would it be far off the mark to assume expense management is high on the list of time-consuming functions?

Integrating Your Accounting System with Expense Management

64% of respondents admitting to a feeling of disconnect between the important tasks they need to carry out and what is taking up the

majority of their time

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Integration between AccountsIQ and Concur

We have recently gone through the process of integrating AccountsIQ’s core financials with Concur, building a Connector which allows AccountsIQ’s ledgers to access all of the information stored in our clients’ Concur app. This means that all of our customers, current and future, can benefit from this integration without incurring additional project costs. By integrating AccountsIQ’s core financials with Concur, we have been able to bring together two, powerful, Cloud-based solutions that work together to transform businesses.

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With expenses information now residing in your ledger system, payments to individuals can be automated from there, in a timely way.With information which was previously out of reach, FDs using an integrated ledger and expense system can see, analyse and control company expenditure. Where better to start if you want to immediately uncover hidden cash? Not only this, the technologies which receive and process the data from source have made significant reductions on administration time and reduced human error. For example, Concur’s intelligence shows

How much are those human errors costing you?An integrated solution means processes are automated from the source of spend to the management reporting, cutting out countless hours and untold errors.Concur Expense and Invoice has been proven to reduce processing costs by 50% and HMRC auditing time by up to 80%.

68% of businesses have errors in more than 1% of their invoices

“In terms of ROI, I would say that as a business, for the number of employees we have (150) we have gained seven business days per month by using Concur. That’s a lot more time that can be used more effectively elsewhere.” DEBBIE GORMLEYFINANCIAL CONTROLLER, HUDDLE

If you want to find out more about reclaiming your time, maximising resource, keeping business leaders happy with insightful reports taken from data which previously only existed in dusty piles of paper, then please reserve a place here https://accountsiq.com/webinars/

Find Out More by Joining AccountsIQ’s Webinar Co-Hosted with Concur 7th Dec, 11am

More about AccountsIQ

AccountsIQ is a SaaS Cloud-based accountancy and consolidation system for medium-sized businesses and company groups. It offers advanced consolidation features, multi-currency accounting and enhanced business analytics.

The underlying architecture of AccountsIQ provides great flexibility to adapt to a client’s requirements, whilst AccountsIQ‘s pricing structure means clients only pay for what they use.

AccountsIQ‘s largest clients consolidate over 250+ entities and work in over 42 countries using 32 currencies. AccountsIQ provides enterprise level functionality, solving clients’ complex reporting and consolidation problems, at an affordable price.

For more information email sales@accountsiq.com or visit their homepage.

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About AccountingWEB

AccountingWEB.co.uk is the largest independent online community for accounting and finance professionals in the UK - providing award-winning content and online engagement between members in a true community environment. Accountants in practice represent just under half of our visitors and we reach 75% of firms outside of the top 20 with content designed to help them become more efficient and successful.

More About Concur

Founded in 1993, Concur is a leading global provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions.

Concur helps UK companies with both national and international presence, and of all shapes and sizes to save money, increase control and improve compliance by delivering travel and expense solutions that look to deliver a return on investment in the first six months.

Concur is able to deliver its solutions quickly and effectively due to its innovative approach, which means that all solutions are delivered via a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This gives customers the benefit of no or low setup costs, predictable monthly payments and eliminates the need for costly upgrades.

Concur is a public company listed on NASDAQ (CNQR).

*Aberdeen Research

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