The expense process can eat up valuable time and money for business. What are the hurdles along the way facing finance and your travelling staff alike? We follow Emma on her expense journey to see where the biggest gremlins lie. Join us on this quick trip to find out.

1. A story about busy
employees and
hard-working
finance teams
Employee expenses:
How to tame the monster that’s eating
up valuable time and money

2. Every business needs
to manage and monitor
employee expenses.

3. overwhelming.
But sometimes the process is

4. “I’m travelling
to Manchester at
short-notice for
a meeting with
a potential client.”
- Emma
Take Emma for example...

5. Emma’s expenses
are pretty standard:
Train fare:
£75
Taxi:
£8
Hotel:
£90
Coffees:
£7
Meals:
£30

6. And the result?
Emma seals the deal.
But...
Great news!

7. Racking up expenses
is the easy part.
90 secs Booking train online
10 secs Paying taxi driver
120 secs Confirming the hotel
40 secs Buying 2x cappuccinos
100 secs Paying for 2x prawn linguine
6
MINUTES
TOTAL

8. That’s how long Emma spent:
• Gathering her 5 receipts
• Submitting them
• Correcting errors
• Chasing approvals
• Sighing a lot
3.5
HOURS
If only processing these
expenses was just as easy.

9. • Rekeying Emma’s receipts
• Checking receipts and amounts match up
• Ensuring they’re HMRC compliant
• Watching out for errors
• Checking against company policy
• Chasing manager’s approval
And it’s a pain for the
finance team too.

10. It’s no wonder it takes
Emma 9 days to be paid!
(She could have walked to
Manchester in that time.)
9

11. In fact, 89% of finance
departments
face challenges with
their expense process.*
*Source: Vanson Bourne data conducted in 2016 among 500 senior UK finance leaders

12. But
why?

13. Well, there are
of the expense process
that every finance team
needs to tackle.
6 key stages

14. Problem #1
Submitting claims
90% of finance leaders say their employees
face problems when submitting expenses.
Lost receipts
Latepayments
Manual data entry
Wasted time
Confusion
over rules

15. No delegationwhen out of office
QueryhasslesCompliance
confusion
Paper-based systems
Lack of
notifications
Problem #2
Manager approvals
33% of finance leaders feel managers don’t
approve expenses quickly enough.

16. Rekeying data
Inadequate
checking
Paper processes
Manual
spreadsheets
Huge batches
of claims
Slow sign-offs
Problem #3
Data processing
If you don’t have the right tools, then the
workload can become unmanageable – fast!

17. Policies broken
Duplicates
accepted
Open to fraud
Errors
approved
Regulations
contravened
Money wasted
Problem #4
Auditing and compliance
Nearly one third of UK businesses are dissatisfied
with how they audit employee expenses.

18. And if you think payment means
job done, think again.
Problem #5
Reimbursement
Employees like Emma don’t always
get their money back on time.

19. And can you accurately
report on company-wide
spend that drives better
decision-making?
Problem #6
Insight and reporting
Are you confident you have an up-to-date
paper trail when HMRC pays you a visit?

20. For many businesses, it’s a
missed opportunity...
HUGE

21. Without the right tools you
can miss out on a wealth of
amazing
insights

22. • What do we buy?
• How much do we spend?
• Which suppliers?
• Are they compliant?
• Could we get a better deal?
• Could we reclaim VAT?
Insights like...

23. How can employee
expenses be tamed for good?
Here’s some
great news...

24. It is possible to transform
every stage in the process
• Small changes can
make a big difference
• Get rid of the hassle
• Save time and money
The answers are
within easy reach

25. What next?
See how to streamline
each stage in your
expense process.
You can also call us on
01628 645 100 or
visit concur.co.uk
Download your free whitepaper today.