Getting remote control when your workforce is on the go

Being in control of what your employees spend is critical for any business. But with changing working patterns and advances in technology, it’s more and more common for people to work outside the office. And when it comes to managing their spend, it can be challenging getting your arms around it all when your employees are on the go or spending outside your preferred channels.

If your expenses policy isn’t up to date and if you’re still relying on manual systems like paper and spreadsheets, it can be hard to get a handle on where money is being spent. And that can seriously hamper your ability to make good business decisions.

Let’s take a look at three ways you might be able to control employee spend a bit better:

Be crystal clear on what’s okay

It goes without saying that your team will need to travel for business but are they up to speed with  your company spend policy? Keep your T&E policy updated to be sure limits are reasonable, and be clear on the different types of business travel and what’s reclaimable to ensure compliance with HMRC. Regularly update the team with what is and isn’t okay and any changes they need to know about. Using an automated expense management system can help you to re-enforce your policy – with in-built checks to identify and prevent out-of-scope claims. 

Let smartphones make it easy

We know that 39% of employees deliberately ‘stack’ their expense claims. It will be no surprise that they wait until their wallet is bursting with receipts before they put their claims in if your current process is a manual headache for them. Instead, make it easy and let people use their smartphones to take photos of receipts, which automatically create claims so they don’t have to. Empowering your team in this way makes it quick and easy for them to submit their claims ‘on the go’, and removes the chore element. It also gives you a real-time view into what’s being spent and by whom. An automated system also speeds the process by enabling managers to review and approve expenses wherever they are. Automatic notifications let them know what action needs to be taken and when so even if employees are on the road, the business is never slowed down.

Gain full visibility into spend

Did you know that up to half of all employee travel is booked outside of corporate travel systems? Not only is this spend off the radar, but any data or insight is also missing, along with any chance of securing better rates with these suppliers. Being able to capture travel spend, no matter where it has been booked, improves visibility of overall spend. But how can you see these bookings today? Through technology that enables employees to simply forward their booking confirmations, all spend is captured in one place. Direct links with partners feed expenses into a central location so you have advanced visibility of spend and submitting expenses is even easier for your travellers.

Want to find out more?

We’ve highlighted here that keeping control of spend by your remote workers isn’t easy. But by focusing on these three areas, it’s possible to get your spend management back on track. If you want to find out more, check out our latest whitepaper: 5 Ways to Improve Control over Spend.