Save your business money with expense software

All businesses – regardless of industry - have a need for expenses.

Operationally, business has changed dramatically in the past ten years, with a noticeable shift from traditional analogue working practices to digital ones. However, expense management has remained the same.

The usual rule of thumb is to spend money on products and services that will either add value or give you a tangible return on your investment. But if you don’t have the tools to analyse your outgoings efficiently, how do you know what you’re spending your money on?

Managing your expenses with specialist expense software can give you control and visibility on your expenses in real-time, and crucially save your business money.

For more ways to cut costs, check out our article.

What is expense software?

Expense software is a computer program that is designed to help manage information related to employee expenses.

There are many options available to businesses when it comes to expense software, each offering varying functionality.

Expense software can: create a digital repository of receipts, create a pool of transactional data that can be integrated into accounting systems, streamline authorisations within a business, or standardise processes for a finance department.

On their own, these functionalities have proved their value, however, there is no reason why a solution can’t do all of this and more. Leading providers such as Expensemate can offer an end-to-end solution that links smart payment cards to a suite of software services, providing a seamless digital journey from payment to receipt capture, authorisation and reconciliation.

Why use expense software?

Certain outgoings have decreased due to the Covid-19 outbreak; overseas travel and overnight hotel stay, for example. Businesses have had to adapt and reduce their costs on the back of ‘the new normal’.

Learn how to perform a coronavirus risk assessment in your business.

As we return to some normality, the need for expenses will inevitably increase. Having the ability to control spending to help tighten belts, save employees' time, so they can focus on higher-value tasks, and empower staff to conduct the payments that they need will be important for getting any business back on track.

Flexible card limits, bespoke spend profiles, on-the-go authorisations, and real-time visibility of transactions will enable you to scrutinise and remove unnecessary expenses.

It gives you the ability to empower your staff to make payments, but, most importantly, empower them to make only the payments that you want.

Removing tedious admin will not only save you money but also deliver a strong return on investment.

To use a popular phrase: “there isn’t enough hours in the day”, one of the most valuable commodities within a business is time.

While expense management software can’t physically give you more hours in the working day, it can dramatically reduce the time spent on tedious expense administration.

If both front-end and back-office staff reinvest this time wisely, you can see a sizable increase in productivity.

Automating tasks and streamline processes wherever possible will enable you to scale your business. Typically, there is a direct correlation between growth and increased staff numbers, and subsequently expenses.

Then there is another correlation between increased expenses and increased staff numbers within your finance department.

By using expense management software, you can grow your business without having to hire extra staff for non-core activities. By using software that keeps all your expense data in one centralised, secure location, that assists your existing staff with reimbursements and automates tax calculations, is like having an extra member of staff that costs a fraction of the price.

Instead, focus on the recruitment that will add real value to your business.

Is expense software needed in your business?

Expense management software gives business owners and staff the ability to keep in touch with all business outgoings whatever their location. Allowing them to save on the two key commodities to any business – money and time.

Save money by removing the ability for staff to make unnecessary purchases, and start being able to comprehensively analyse and control each payment made by your employees.

It’s a cliché, but, at work, time is money.

Ask yourself: could my front-end and office staff add more value to my business if I significantly reduced the time spent submitting expenses? If yes, it might be time to bring your expense management process into the 21st century.