Most leaders who aim for growth know a few things for certain. First, they need to make informed business decisions. Second, key performance indicators are crucial to measuring this progress. Third, reducing costs is a must, but so is increasing productivity.
We can argue that a lot more comes into this equation, but if there’s something many businesses still struggle with, it is striking that perfect balance between costs and productivity. And while many have struggled to achieve it for years, in today’s digital era, technology might just be the answer they’re looking for.
The impact of manual tasks
When considering ways to reduce costs, most companies overlook one key aspect of their employees’ day-to-day activities: manual tasks. It might not seem so obvious at first, but manual tasks can amount to large sums of money without leadership teams even realising it. A 2011 study by PWC and ADP found that admin work — including activities such as payroll, contracts and expense management —, costs around 1,300€ per year, per employee.
Analogue processes imply costs but are also inefficient and prone to error. Employees spend an average of 20 minutes completing a single expense report, according to the Global Business Travel Association, and, on average, 19% of them need to be corrected. This leads to countless hours of repetitive tasks, wasting time and resources most companies can’t afford to lose.
But the impact of manual tasks goes beyond just the financial. When employees spend their days performing repetitive actions such as filling out expense reports, stapling receipts or reconciling expenses to credit card transactions, they’re bound to get frustrated. Considering that, on average, employees are productive for less than three hours a day, keeping them bogged down by tedious tasks will further decrease productivity. Engaged employees are more likely to contribute to the company’s goals, while those burdened by unnecessary manual work will likely be less motivated and inefficient.
Aside from this, companies also face external risks, as manual expense processes are susceptible to fraud and compliance breaches. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that expense reimbursement fraud accounts for 13% of all asset misappropriation schemes, given how easy it is for fraudulent claims to go unnoticed on paper-based processes. Lack of control can lead to significant financial losses — the same report accounts for 5% of revenue loss — and damage the company’s reputation.
How can companies reduce costs?
When considering ways to reduce costs, most companies overlook one key aspect of their employees’ day-to-day activities: manual tasks. It might not seem so obvious at first, but manual tasks can amount to large sums of money without leadership teams even realising it. A 2011 study by PWC and ADP found that admin work — including activities such as payroll, contracts and expense management —, costs around 1,300€ per year, per employee.
Analogue processes imply costs but are also inefficient and prone to error. Employees spend an average of 20 minutes completing a single expense report, according to the Global Business Travel Association, and, on average, 19% of them need to be corrected. This leads to countless hours of repetitive tasks, wasting time and resources most companies can’t afford to lose.
But the impact of manual tasks goes beyond just the financial. When employees spend their days performing repetitive actions such as filling out expense reports, stapling receipts or reconciling expenses to credit card transactions, they’re bound to get frustrated. Considering that, on average, employees are productive for less than three hours a day, keeping them bogged down by tedious tasks will further decrease productivity. Engaged employees are more likely to contribute to the company’s goals, while those burdened by unnecessary manual work will likely be less motivated and inefficient.
Aside from this, companies also face external risks, as manual expense processes are susceptible to fraud and compliance breaches. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found that expense reimbursement fraud accounts for 13% of all asset misappropriation schemes, given how easy it is for fraudulent claims to go unnoticed on paper-based processes. Lack of control can lead to significant financial losses — the same report accounts for 5% of revenue loss — and damage the company’s reputation.
Finding the right solution
Leaders and decision-makers know how important it is to manage costs, especially if they want to grow sustainably. While having a clear spending policy that everyone in the organisation must be aware of is important, there comes a time when adding an extra layer of control becomes a necessity.
When choosing a provider for expense management, many factors come into play. How much will it cost? Is it easy to implement? How protected is data going to be? Does it integrate with other systems?
In addition to all these questions, companies must also consider how much of an investment this shift will imply and how much they will receive in return. When considering advanced expense management solutions like Rydoo, companies can expect their workloads to reduce significantly, as the tool can automate most tasks related to managing employee spending.
However, it goes a step further by introducing AI-monitoring assistance. Rydoo’s Smart Audit module uses advanced keyword detection to analyse each invoice and automatically detect out-of-policy items. It can also flag invalid receipts if they’re unreadable or contain handwritten amounts and understand if a claim has already been submitted beforehand.
This kind of automation drastically reduces the time teams spend submitting, reviewing, and approving expenses. Traditionally, these tasks require multiple layers of manual intervention, from verifying receipts to ensuring compliance with internal policies. With an automated system, employees can submit expenses easily through an app, and the system will instantly process and categorise them.
Moreover, automated expense management eliminates the need for back-and-forth conversations between employees, approvers and finance teams. Unclear receipts or policy violations are automatically flagged, so feedback is immediately provided to the submitter.
From a cost-saving perspective, implementing advanced solutions reduces the need for extensive manpower to handle expenses. By automating repetitive tasks, finance teams can be reallocated to more strategic activities. Reducing errors and fraudulent claims also translates to financial savings, as companies spend less on non-compliant or invalid expenses.
Transitioning from manual to automated processes is a smart move for companies that aim to reduce costs and boost productivity. Advanced technology allows teams to streamline their operations by reducing time and resources spent on repetitive tasks while minimising errors and the risk of fraud and compliance breaches.
The shift to a solution like Rydoo’s can make expense processes smoother and allow employees to focus on more important and rewarding work, improving morale. By embracing technology, companies pave the way for steady growth and success.