In the day-to-day work life of a CFO, the tricky task of managing and controlling expenditure requests wastes time and money. Having access to monitoring and management tools that CFOs can rely on to achieve efficient business operations is becoming more and more important, particularly in today’s inflationary business environment of rising costs and interest rates.
Unfortunately, the first obstacle to the use of these tools is overcoming the reluctance to invest large sums in the present on modernizing technology tools without the assurance of realizing long-term benefits.
Where are the pain points in expense management
There are recurring steps in the management of ad-hoc expense requests in business operations that put a strain on all finance teams.
These requests, and the resulting hiccups, add up quickly ー and without proper management rapidly erode budgets instead of benefitting the company.
The main pain points for companies are:
- finding and compiling missing information in expense reports,
- chasing after employees to obtain receipts, invoices, vouchers, and other materials,
- verifying the accuracy of expense reports, and
- manual reconciliation of expense requests, documentation, and data entry.
All this suggests that there is ample room for improvement.
What is the solution to become more efficient in business operations?
While at first it may not appear to be the least painful solution, the secret really does start with a strategic investment in an expense tracking and management tool.
With the right solution you can streamline the processes and reduce unnecessary expenditure to free up budgets for other investments.
By centralizing the expense approval process, you as the CFO will gain a better understanding of where your company’s money is going.
For example, SaaS subscriptions are becoming increasingly popular as companies move to digital solutions for their operations.
They can, however, quickly become a significant expense for companies and cause major strategic problems if you do not carefully:
- centralize the approval process for new subscriptions,
- monitor any automatic renewals, and
- regularly review and cancel any unnecessary subscriptions.
In addition to SaaS licenses, any small purchases or subscriptions can be monitored and managed by a good expense tracking and management tool.
Including office supplies, travel expenses, and even company telephone plans.
Moving towards a single solution is critical for obtaining a company-wide view of the nature of your overall expenditure.
Comply offers you a responsive, digital, tax-and-regulation compliant accounts payable system. Simplify visibility, management and administration of accounts and expenses from a central dashboard, accessible at any time from anywhere.
