How Automating Expense Approval System Can Benefit Your Business?

As an HR or higher authority, don’t you find it difficult to check all kinds of bills and consider the expense of employees for business?

Or, Are you spending too much time on expense approval?

If you have employees who need to submit their expenses to managers or supervisors while working for the business, you probably made the approval hierarchy manually, but is enough?

In this article, we’re going to explain how an automated expense approval system can benefit your business.

What Is An Expense Approval System?

An expense approval system is a set up that helps your organization control and manage expenses efficiently.

Every organization, big or small, deals with expenses. Managing expenses is an important part of running a successful operation. The expense approval system ensures that expenses stay within the budget when resources are limited.

This system creates a smooth process where employees spend some amount and they need approval for the same. The best expense management comes in different types, like automated or manual. However, having a well-defined expense policy helps the HR and finance team of the business.

Expense management means following specific procedures to keep an eye on spending and trying to spend less while making more profit.

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What Are Some Common Expense Management Issues?

There are multiple issues you may face while adopting manual expense approvals.

Paper-Based Processes

Many businesses still rely on manual, expense reporting, which can be paper-based and time-consuming. Employees often need to collect and submit physical receipts which leads to delays.

Data Entry Errors

Manual data entry is prone to human error and perhaps anyone can make mistakes. If you don’t record expenses it leads to inaccurate financial records. It creates compliance issues, and delays in reimbursement for employees.

Lack of Visibility

With manual expense management systems, it’s challenging to gain real-time visibility, because it is paper-based. This lack of transparency can make it difficult to track budgets and identify cost-saving opportunities with the reporting software.

Policy Compliance

Before applying for the expense, you need to check the policy in the expense management system. Ensuring that employees adhere to expense policies and guidelines can be challenging. Manual systems often lack the capability to enforce expense policies.

Approval Challenges:

Traditional approval processes often involve passing physical documents from a lower level to a higher one. This can result in frustrated employees waiting for their expense approval. You can try Expense Management Software in India for solving this issue.

Inefficient Workflows:

Manual expense approval workflows can be cumbersome and time-consuming. They may involve multiple rounds to clarify or amend submitted expenses.

Overhead Costs:

The manual processing of expenses a lot and it often leads to higher administrative overhead costs.

These common expense management issues can lead to financial inaccuracies, wasted time, and a lack of control over spending.

Manual Expense Approval Processes Vs. Automated Expense Management App

The choice between manual approval processes and an automated expense approval system can significantly impact an organization’s efficiency, accuracy, and overall financial well-being. Let’s take a closer look at the key differences and advantages of each approach:

What Are The Key Steps Of Expense Approval Process?

Before making the expense approval system simpler, you need to understand how it works now. Here are the main parts:

1. Request & Submission:

When employees spend money on the business, they need to add a request for reimbursement. This request shows the things they spent money on during a business trip or for work, like bills, invoices or receipts.

2. Approval From Manager:

People who approve or reject are mostly HR managers or other upper-level hierarchy managers. They need to check the expense requests.

3. Permissions and Limits:

Approval managers need to know the rules and limits before considering the expense approval for reimbursement. Once managers or finance teams approve they take care of settling the expenses.

4. Time Limits:

The approval process needs to happen reasonably quickly, as employees spend their money on the business. Make this happen as it is good for both the company and the workers.

5. Record Keeping:

Keeping records of the chain of the whole approval process is important for future perspective. This helps to see and track what happened from the start to the end. If everything is done manually, you’ll need to keep and manage expense reports, with receipts, bills, and other proof of spending.

Making sure all the expenses match the bills is another job. The finance department has to check if the documents are real and correct. This takes time and work.

Implement A Streamlined Expense Approval Process with Superworks

Superworks is an all-in-one platform that helps with business trips, bookings, expense management, and payments.

Here’s how Superworks’ advanced expense approval automation can benefit your organization:

Our HRMS software can simplify

• Your complex approval process,

• Makes it straightforward and stress-free.

For managers, we provide an easy one-click approval system with a clear view of policy violations and savings.

You can easily set up unique workflows for different teams, levels, amounts, special cases, and changes. Superworks also keeps a complete record of the approval process, including comments and actions.

If you’re interested in automating your expense approval process and want to know more, schedule a demo with Superworks today.