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The Role of Mobile Technology in Modern T&E Expense Management

kpatterson — June 13, 2012 — Leave a comment

The T&E Expense Management research study (February 2012) found that 70% of organizations across the globe find the processes related to management of Travel and Entertainment (T&E) expenses to be a strategic internal function. This notion has catapulted the theme of “next-generation” technology to a new level; if companies are to drive more value out of this strategic function, they must leverage next-generation solutions, such as mobile applications / portals, to improve and enhance existing expense management processes. – Chris Dwyer, Aberdeen Group, June 2012

The detailed report, The Role of Mobile Technology in Modern T&E Management, highlights how top-performing companies have improved the management of T&E expenses by implementing mobile applications and portals. The modern upgrade has been shown to improve effiency. The research finds that mobile technology lowers expense-processing costs while raising corporate policy compliance.

In Industry Stats apps, Expense Management, mobile, report, research, t&e

2012 T&E Trends Survey Results « InterplX Expense Management Solutions

kpatterson — June 7, 2012 — Leave a comment

Keep It Simple: Study Finds More-Efficient T&E Reporting Means Less-Confused Business Travelers

Trends reveal an apparent disconnect between adoption of mobile technology for communication and its use for business expense reporting

Orlando, Fla. (June 5, 2012) — Less confusion and overall cost savings are among the top expense management goals of organizations with frequent business travelers, according to a study released this month.

The 2012 Trends in T&E Expense Management study, sponsored by The Institute of Financial Operations and InterplX Expense Management, finds “ease of use” as the most important factor in choosing travel and entertainment expense management solutions. Yet even with the proliferation of smartphones and tablet technology among business travelers, only a small percentage of business professionals are using them for expense reporting…

In Industry Stats apps, business expense, entertainment, expense reports, mobile, T&E reports, travel

Canadian Businesses: Expense Account Dos and Don’ts

kpatterson — May 31, 2012 — Leave a comment

Canadian Businesses’ Sarah Barmak, with illustrations by Remi Geoffroi, wrote a humorous but appropriate list of Expense Account Dos and Don’ts.

The Art Gallery of Calgary this spring filed a lawsuit against former president Valerie Cooper, seeking nearly $500,000 and alleging she’d improperly expensed massages, home repairs and clothing. Around the same time, Bev Oda, the federal minister for international co-operation, apologized for expensing a $16 orange juice, among other indulgences. Some expense claims are clearly misguided, many more fall into a worrisome grey zone. “Expenses aren’t something you want to ask forgiveness for later,” says Andrea Fraser, vice-president of human resources for DAC group. We asked Fraser and Fiorella Callocchia, the specialist lead of human capital consulting at Deloitte, to weigh in on some tricky situations. (Illustrations by Remi Geoffroi)

1. You only want a salad for dinner, but feel like having a couple of drinks. If it costs less than a regular meal, is it OK to expense extra alcohol?

The Experts: Fraser says she gets that request all the time, and has said yes, but it depends on your firm’s culture. “Lots of companies will not approve alcohol at any time,” says Callocchia. “It’s the risks of it. You decide you’re going to have a salad and five glasses of wine. You’re impaired; you slip on the way back to the hotel. Or you’re drunk at a meeting.”

The Bottom Line: Learn your company’s feelings about booze before you order that Pinot Grigio.

In General common practices, dos and don'ts, expense account, Expense Matters, Human Resources

The Real Cost of BYOD

kpatterson — May 16, 2012 — Leave a comment

More enterprises are embracing the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, with executives seeing significant benefits in employee productivity and satisfaction while acknowledging the security and support issues for IT staffs, according to a new survey from Cisco Systems.

In its IBSG Horizon Study, released May 16, Cisco officials found that 95 percent of survey respondents said their organizations allow employee-owned devices in some form in the workplace, and that 76 percent said BYOD was somewhat or extremely positive for their companies and challenging for their ITdepartments.

Xigo.com, a cloud-based telecom expense management company, also recently published their findings, on the effects of BYOD, in the form of an infographic:

In Industry Stats bring your own device, BYOD, Cisco, Expense Management, Expense Matters, expense report, expense solutions, expense stats, infographic, statistics, Xigo

By: David Barrett, Founder and CEO of Expensify

You can follow David and Expensify at, @expensify

Most travel is booked online, and the email receipt has both purchase information and itinerary details. But don’t you hate forwarding those receipts twice: once to Expensify to get reimbursed, and once to <insert competitor here> to track during the trip? No more!

Just forward your travel docs to receipts@expensify.com and we’ll not only get you reimbursed after the trip, our mobile apps will now organize your itinerary DURING your trip. After all, travel and expense are two sides of the same coin: your travel itinerary is just an expense report begging to be submitted. Why use two apps when you only need one? It works like this:

Book travel online, as normal — Orbitz, Kayak, or wherever your usually book.
Forward the confirmation email you get to receipts@expensify.com
Watch the trip details appear in the “trips” screen on the Expensify app (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone).
4 hours before your flight you’ll get an email travel update.
Open the app and the next itinerary action is highlighted on the dashboard for instant access.
Enjoy your trip!
After you get home, another email will tell you your expense report is ready.
Finish your report in one click: all your travel receipts are there, purchases imported off your credit card, and receipts SmartScanned.
Click Submit; you’re done.

It all seems so obvious in retrospect. But it only occurred to us to do it when we noticed while optimizing our SmartScan system that so many of our receipts are already travel itineraries. Everything we’re doing here is with data we already have; we’re just repacking it up in a new way to provide a ton more value.

It doesn’t cost anything extra, there are no ads, and you needn’t upgrade to some premium plan — just keep using SmartScan like you already do (free for 10 receipts/mo) and this massive new feature comes along for the ride. Just one more way Expensify is getting a little better, every day. Give it a shot — you’ll never travel the same way again!

The Role of Mobile Technology in Modern T&E Expense Management

2012 T&E Trends Survey Results « InterplX Expense Management Solutions

Canadian Businesses: Expense Account Dos and Don’ts

The Real Cost of BYOD

Expensify Trips: Track your itinerary from your expense report

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