Now Plan Travel & Expense Management Automation In 5 Steps

More employees will result in increased expenses and outdates expense management tools may not be able to cope up with surge, so implementing automation tools for travel & expense management will help businesses in different ways.

FREMONT, CA: Adopting automation for expense management can save a company’s many unproductive working hours because employees no longer have to deal with tiresome activities. Automation tools can take over all these activities, saving time and money. On the other hand, it is essential to choose the right travel & expense (T&E) tool. A good fit between the T&E tool and the company’s need is strongly correlated with the success of the expense management automation.

Step 1: Get a clear picture of the status quo and how you want to develop it

The expense policy not only helps to decide which expense management solution will be a good fit for the company but instead, the TEM vendor will also need this information to customize their expense management tool according to the company’s needs. It is necessary to get a clear travel policy, and the key players heavily involved in this project are IT, finance/accounting, and the HR department. For reimbursing expenses, employees paid out of pocket HR team are responsible. Both activities will improve significantly when using a useful TEM tool: reimbursing expenses can be automated. At the same time, workers will no longer be frustrated when collecting receipts and filling out tiresome expense reports.

Step 2: Get critical people on board

An expense management solution affects the accounting and finance department in a significant manner, so it is better to aware of them so that they can get prepared for the change. Make sure to provide adequate resources and commitment from these departments to assist in the implementation of the system. Implementing Automation to the expense management is not a traditional project during which the vendor does most of the implementation. In order to make automation of expense management successful, it is necessary to ensure whether the key people in the accounting and finance department are convinced of and happy with the chosen solution.

Step 3: Search the possible solutions and find a good match

It is better to spend some effort and time in choosing the right TEM application for the business because it will save lots of headaches, frustrations, time, and money down the line. If the company adopts the right travel expense management tool, it will make the entire process hassle-free. It will be easy to use for the traveling employees, and will also produce relevant reports for the finance department to track and evaluate expenses, will integrate perfectly with the software the company already use and will have a high return on investment (ROI) by decreasing the time the employees need to spend on unnecessary works.

Step 4: Implement your choice

After signing a contract with an expense management tool provider, half of the work is done. Now the next part is to implement and use the brand-new tool. It is better to do good preparation to perform tools smoothly. Implementation can take hours or months, depending on the size of the company. It is mandatory to support the pilot team by providing them with all resources they could need to start using the tool, including how-to guides, training sessions or explanation videos, and a way to get in touch with the TEM vendor. To ensure the success of the launch, gather their feedback, make adjustments, and use this opportunity.

Step 5: Evaluate the TEM tool and travel policy

First of all, evaluate the expense management solution you have chosen. This final step is to assess the expense management solution you have chosen. This last step will maximize your return on investment by ensuring you get the most out of TEM. Almost three to six months is an ideal timeframe for this step after the implementation of the solution is completed. This way, all the employees, including business travelers, finance, or accounting employees, will get used to the new tool.

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