Save Time With Process Automation
Today, businesses are looking for ways to automate their workflow to save time and money. One area that can be automated is the expense approval process.
By implementing an automated expense approval process, you can save time and ensure that all expense approvals are approved quickly and efficiently.
This blog post will discuss how to implement an automated Expenses Approval workflow.
Create and Implement a Super Streamlined Expense Approval Process
An organization’s expense approval process should be quick, automated, streamlined, and easy to understand. When a expense report is not approved promptly by managers, team leaders, or finance teams, it can impede the work of multiple units.
Any delays or disruptions in the expense approval workflow can cause ripple effects throughout the business.
If the approval process is delayed, it could disrupt teams due to a lack of funding for resources. This would lead to poorer customer service and longer response times to vendors.
By having a digital expense approval process, you can make automate expense approvals faster, save time, and gain access to data that could help reduce costs for the organization. Automating this process gives you an additional layer of efficiency and convenience.
Preconditions to automate the flow
You can’t automate unless you have the prerequisites in place.
These include:
A paperless receipt system
A cloud-based accounting software
The ability to organize expenses by category
Standardize your workflow
Final steps in accounting process automation
Automation is the key to success here. Automating the expense approval workflow can make it faster, smoother, and more accessible for everyone involved.
Create standardized templates for employees to use
By creating standardized templates for your employees, you can ensure that all submitted documents are in the correct format.
This will streamline the process for employees, who won’t need time to format their documents before each submission. Consequently, this will save employee time.
By using the pre-defined templates, users can save time.
Incorporate all team members into the approval workflow.
The adage’ teamwork makes the dream work has never been more accurate than when it comes to approving expenses.
Adding all team members to the approval workflow will help speed up the process by eliminating employees waiting for the supervisor’s approval before submitting receipts.
Perhaps the most beneficial outcome of using this system is that everyone understands what is anticipated from them.
This inevitably leads to a more cohesive workplace and less time wasted on unapproved expenses.
Rights and limits of team members
Team members can rapidly exploit their privileges if appropriate caution is not taken.
That’s why it is crucial to define the rights and limits of each team member, so you are aware of who is doing what and necessary expenses aren’t unauthorizedly approved.
Ensure everyone knows the spending limit and how to use company funds properly.
Keep the conversation in one place.
Once more, keep the discussion in one central location to avoid using various communication channels.
This will make it simpler for team members to follow along and remove any possible chances of misunderstanding.
Keep the conversation all in one place by using collaboration tools.
You don’t have to keep communication separate from documents when using this type of software; they usually combine the two options and give you better control of your process as a whole.
With this tool, you can approve or deny expense claims with a comment in the email, so everything is centralized and accessible to follow up on later.
The following requirements must be met when searching for an automated solution:
It’s easy to use
The approval process is quick and straightforward.
With this system, employees can submit expenses regardless of their location.
Receipts are automatically entered into the software.
Advantages of using Automation Software for Expense Approval workflow:
You will receive a customizable workflow and look that best fits your business needs.
All calculations are done for you right away to reduce the number of potential errors.
Expenses could be categorized automatically, making the finance controller’s job much more manageable.
Your employee information fields are automatically populated.
The form’s built-in feature validates fields and highlights errors.
Automated routing prevents never-ending email chains.
Automatic reminders mean no more halted processes and forgotten follow-ups!
The built-in audit trail makes tax season easy and less stressful.
Improves transparency.
How to Fine-tune Your Expense Approval Process
In a normal expense approval process, each employee would send the finance department a spreadsheet of their expenses and scanned email or photograph receipts.
A finance professional must then take the time to reconcile the receipts against a spreadsheet manually, approve or deny the claim, process payment (or adjust the employee’s next paycheck accordingly), and create a record of both the claim and corresponding compensation.
This is often tedious and convoluted, particularly when employees seek reimbursement for expenditures that don’t adhere strictly to the company’s expense policy.
The finance department must thus selectively review each item and make an approval decision on a case-by-case basis.
Streamline your expense approval workflow.
An automated expense approval workflow can simplify the process by automatically approving or denying claims and routing them to the next workflow stage.
For example, suppose an employee’s expense claim doesn’t meet the company’s requirements.
In that case, that employee will receive a comment asking them to change their submission or include more documentation.
If a claim exceeds a set amount, it will be sent to a manager for approval before being sent to finance for reimbursement approval.
Some Common Expense Management Issues
Wrong Budget Management
Although “automation” is frequently used when approving expenses, managers can’t automatically approve every request they receive.
They need to confirm the appeal amount against the monthly and yearly budget, ensure accuracy in the Opex reports, and comb through a pile of excel sheets.
If they mistake and approve the wrong items, it could create problems if essential items are left without funding.
The next step is to understand that a manager cannot approve an expense simply because there is extra cash or space in the budget.
There are many things to consider before you make any large purchase, like how much money you’ll need in the future, what unexpected costs could arise, and how much it will cost to keep up with whatever it is you’re buying.
Only essential items can be approved immediately; everything else should be placed on a priority list for consideration.
Poor budgeting could have devastating effects on an organization’s finances.
Improper Distribution of Approved Expenses
If a proposal and budget are approved, they must be carried out without issue until the purchase is made.
They should also be delivered to those who need them on time; any delay could cause problems such as decreased productivity due to lack of access to necessary tools or slow employee reimbursement.
If, for example, approval is given for five computers, all components must be bought without exceeding the budget.
Too Many Pending Approvals
The required approvals can be overwhelming and challenging to manage if an organization has a large finance team and offers many services.
Suppose team members are expected to verify excel sheets and other documents manually every time. In that case, it becomes incredibly tedious for everyone involved, especially the finance team and managers in charge of approving it.
With so much to do, expense approvals requests on time can be difficult. The greater the workload, the more likely mistakes will be made.
Each document needs personal attention and a good understanding of its importance.
Expense Reports
Automated expense approval process reports can help you to manage your finances better and save money in the long run.
Imagine never having to fill out an expense management process report by hand again. Software that automatically generates expense approvals reports can save you time and hassle.
By automating the expense management process, you can avoid the mistakes that often happen when filling out expense reports manually.
The software can track your spending and generate accurate and up-to-date information. This can be a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes.
Good expense approval automation software
Here are a few qualities to look for in expense approval automation software:
Easy to use and set up
If the software is understandable and valuable to people with a particular skill set, then only that type of person will use it.
You want something that you can get up and running quickly and doesn’t require much effort or expertise to use daily.
Scalable
As your company expands, your expense automation tool needs to be able to handle the growth.
Third-party integrations
If you want a genuinely effective workflow, ensure your automation software can integrate with other programs.
That way, you won’t have to start from scratch every time your accounting team needs something new.
Custom workflows
Automation programs are not all the same. Some come with preset workflows, while others allow you to customize your workflow fully.
Make sure you choose an automation program that will fit your organization’s specific needs by allowing you to customize your workflow.
Automate Your Expense Approval Process
On average, expense reports take 20 minutes to process.
20% of expense reports are filed incorrectly.
A majority of employees have not read their organization’s expense claims policy.
Expense fraud is a huge problem for US companies, costing them billions of dollars annually.
