3 Ways Expense Management Is Helping Colleges In Tough Times
The increasing cost of college education isn’t lost on parents of students nor on the recent graduates themselves as they enter a less-than-promising job market burdened with student debt. But the recession also has created financial pressures for colleges and universities, according to a recent article on CFO.com, the online home of CFO Magazine.
Expense ManagementKeep the Bottom Line Strong by Streamlining Expense Management
There isn’t a business out there that isn’t looking to find a way to operate more efficiently. After all, in the current economic climate, keeping a close eye on the bottom line is more important than ever. You can’t afford to let any efficiency-maintaining opportunity to cut costs slip past. Whether you’re the CEO of a major corporation or operating your own small business, you’re probably looking for ways to streamline your expense management. One of the best ways to do this is to make sure that you have control over who gets to use an expense account and which items are permissible. Too often, companies neglect to ensure that only authorized expenses are reimbursed. It might not seem like much when the costs are only a couple of dollars, but when those dollars are multiplied by various individuals over the course of a year, it can mean a substantial loss. By making sure that you’re controlling what is allowed, you’ll help ensure your bottom line stays strong. If you find that employees are failing to comply, you can provide them with concrete information on reimbursable vs. out-of-pocket expenses. Another way to streamline expense management is setting up an expense overview schedule. Every quarter, take some time to go over the year-to-date expenses, find out which areas are costing the most, and make adjustments accordingly. For example, if you find that lodging is costing more each quarter due to price increases on the hotel end, you can research comparable lodgings at a lower cost. By reviewing expenses on a regular basis, you’ll make sure that you’re not caught off-guard by cost overruns. One of the most effective ways to cut costs and save time is to automate your travel and expense reporting system with a product like Chrome River EXPENSE. Your company might be spending too much time and creating too many problems by using outdated expense reporting procedures. Chrome River EXPENSE shows employees precisely how much they can spend, which expenses will be covered, and when an expense falls outside the guidelines for reimbursement. Having an automated expense system allows you to easily submit expense reports, analyze spending data, and produce proper documentation when it comes time to submit annual budgets and file tax returns.
Business Travel, Expense Management, Expense ReportsChrome River Currents Monthly Digest—03.31.2013
Welcome to the first Chrome River Currents monthly digest! Each month we’ll highlight the latest news and analysis on business travel, expense management and online expense reporting. This time, we’re focusing on the benefits of automating your expense policy. We’ll show you how new cloud-based technologies can help your company in a variety of contexts: working on the go, preventing fraud and increasing efficiency.
Expense ManagementCould Your Company Be Exposed To Financial And Operating Penalties?
Your company’s audit committee faces significant challenges this year. Its members will need to address new risks and responsibilities while staying focused on financial reporting integrity and internal controls, according to an article on the Accounting Today website. That’s why priorities for 2013 should include monitoring the impact of business and regulatory changes on your company's compliance programs, along with developing a clear understanding of how your company is managing its significant tax risks.
Expense ManagementDiscover an Expense Reporting Solution for the Needs of Higher Education Institutions
With numerous Expense Management solutions available on the market today, how do you know what solution will meet the changing needs of your higher education institution? First and foremost, significant cost savings will be recognized simply by automating the expense reporting workflow process due to reduced labor costs related to the processing of expense reports. Many solutions are now available on-demand through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. SaaS solutions relieve the costly upfront fees for software and hardware purchases, while freeing up your IT department to focus on more strategic projects.
Expense Management4 Tips For Creating A Clear, Fair Expense Policy
You know your employees well, and trust them to do the right thing. So you might not see the need for an expense policy for your business. But even in such a fraud-free utopia, having an expense policy in place helps keep everyone on the same page, preventing frustration and mistakes.
Expense ManagementDon’t Get Shortchanged on Business Mileage
If you have to travel for your job, you’re probably very aware of how important it is to keep track of your business mileage. You might think that you’re keeping a close eye on the miles, but you might actually be losing money on your travels. To make sure you don't get shortchanged on business mileage, there are a few things you can do to protect yourself. The simplest method of tracking mileage is, of course, good old-fashioned pen and paper. Write down your car’s mileage when you start your trip and when you end it. Or leave yourself voicemails, or send yourself text messages. Of course, things get complicated if you have more than one destination or need to exclude portions of the trip that were not business related. In today’s technologically advanced world, it seems there’s an automated answer for everything. Now, many business travelers use Google Maps to determine the mileage they have traveled. In fact, Chrome River EXPENSE includes Google Maps functionality for calculating mileage for expense-reimbursement purposes. Simply enter the starting and ending addresses for your trip, and Chrome River will automatically calculate how much you should be reimbursed, based on your organization’s rules. You can also calculate mileage between multiple destinations and exclude personal mileage, if necessary. The key to making sure you don’t get shortchanged on business mileage is to keep accurate records. Whether you use a notepad, send a text message to yourself, leave a voicemail on your office phone, or let Chrome River’s Google Maps widget do the work, the important thing is that you make sure you have an accurate record. Doing this prevents problems during an in-house audit and provides useful information when travel budgets are being created for future use.
Business Travel, Expense Management, Expense ReportsIs Expense Tracking Just A Hassle, Or A Strategic Opportunity?
Whether you’re a salesperson or a consultant, keeping track of travel and entertainment expenses can often be a hassle. What’s worse, it feels like busy work — collecting these petty receipts, filling out forms, getting approvals — and you’d rather be doing your real job.
Expense Management5 Tips To Make Working On The Go Easier
You’re in an airport waiting out a 3-hour layover, but despite all of your gadgets, you’re having difficulty staying in touch and getting meaningful work done. You need to charge your phone, but while looking for the adapter, you realize you left the last three days worth of receipts in your hotel room.
Expense ManagementWays to Conquer Budget Challenges in Higher Education
Budget cuts and challenging economic conditions have required higher education institutions to tighten their belts even further by closely examining budgets and scrupulously tracking spending. Universities are under immense pressure to demonstrate the true value of travel and expense budgets, while at the same time finding innovative ways to control those costs. With so many different people and groups within an institution incurring business expenses, keeping up with specific policies, spending limits and complex allocations can be overwhelming. Unlike other businesses, many institutional expenses are funded through grants or special budgets, which must be accurately allocated and meticulously tracked. Serving the needs of institution administrators, full-time faculty, athletic coaches and authorized guest travelers, higher education truly has unique travel and expense needs.
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Our choice of Chrome River EXPENSE was made in part due to the very user-friendly interface, easy configurability, and the clear commitment to impactful customer service – all aspects in which Chrome River was the clear winner. While Chrome River is not as large as some of the other vendors we considered, we found that to be a benefit and our due diligence showed that it could support us as well as any large players in the space, along with a personalized level of customer care.
We are excited to be able to enforce much more stringent compliance to our expense guidelines and significantly enhance our expense reporting and analytics. By automating these processes, we will be able to free up AP time formerly spent on manual administrative tasks, and enhance the role by being much more strategic.