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Businesses and companies must keep track of all expenses for accurate financing and reimbursement. However, reliance on manual, paper-based expense management procedures can waste money and create risks of errors. An expense management software can be the perfect solution for error-free expense management while saving time and manual labor.
An array of expense management solutions with many alluring features are available in the market. Choosing the suitable one for your organization is essential to ensure precise expense management. Below is a guide for you to assess all available expense management solutions and pick the best for your business needs.
Guide to Selecting the Ideal Expense Management Software
Find answers to the questions and follow the steps below to determine the best expense management software for your organization.
Identify Your Business Needs and Goals
Each business can have unique needs, and your business is no exception. An expense management software that benefits many other businesses needs not to be the ideal solution for you. In the process of finding the correct expense management software for you, the first step is to identify the needs and goals of your business, and the second step is to ensure the software you have picked meets your needs.
Answer the following questions to locate your business needs.
- Which features do your business require?
- Do you have a single office or multiple locations?
- What is the number of claimants and approvers?
- Do you need multi-entity capability for overseas offices?
- Do you need reimbursement in different currencies?
- Do you reclaim domestic or international VAT?
- Do you need to integrate expense management software with any existing ERP or accounting software?
- How soon do you need to integrate the software?
Once you have answers to all these questions, start evaluating your options and see which one matches all your answers.
Ensure Customisation and Integration Capabilities
You need to customize the software as and when required to best suit your operations. The software should also be able to grow along with the changes in your organization. See if you can customize the software, its dashboard, analysis and reporting processes, and other features. Furthermore, the software should be updated with new features regularly. Note that software that doesn’t allow customization can prevent the free and smooth management of your expenses.
Navigating through multiple systems to manage your expenses is time and effort-consuming. It can also leave chances for errors. So, you need to ensure that you can integrate the expense management software with other relevant systems.
Look for Specific Features
When shopping for expense management software, you should consider the following features:
- Automated Expense Tracking: Look for software that can automatically track and categorize your expenses.
- Budgeting Tools: A good expense management software should have budgeting features that will allow you to set and track your financial goals.
- Reporting and Analytics: Find software that can generate detailed reports on your spending habits.
- Receipt and Invoice Management: Some software lets you take photos of receipts and invoices and store them digitally, which can be helpful for tax purposes or expense reimbursement.
- Integration with Other Financial Tools: Consider software that can integrate with your bank account and other financial tools, like a budgeting app or tax software.
- Mobile App: If you are moving a lot, you should pick software that has a mobile app so you can track your expenses anytime, from anywhere.
- Customer Support: Select software with reliable customer support in case you have any questions or need assistance.
Evaluate User Experience
While the features provide a strategic advantage, a good user experience is also essential. The expense management software must be easy to adopt and use for all users. Entering and accessing information, doing analysis, and viewing reports should be hassle-free and quick. A nice visual appeal may also add to the user experience.
Confirm Data Security
The software will have sensitive and confidential payment information. It is hence important to assure data security. Check out how the software stores and safeguards your business data. Ask who will have access to the data. Find out if you can provide customized access based on levels of authorization.
Draw a Budget
The correct software management solution should come with all the required features and also be within your budget. You can set a budget and stick to it. There are plenty of solutions, and you will surely find quality ones within your budget. That being said, consider the long-term return on investment too. A stand-alone software may be less expensive, but an advanced, comprehensive solution will be more useful and money-saving in the longer run.
Wrapping Up
The best expense management software or expense report software will allow you to handle all aspects of expense management while guaranteeing easy customization and integration without being heavy on your wallet. You should recognize your requirements and match them to the features provided by the expense management solutions to see which solution checks all boxes.