Rydoo has customers in more than 130 countries around the world, with a diverse client base that includes people with different backgrounds; from the self-employed to CFOs of large multinational companies to finance managers of small and medium-sized companies, they all share a common goal: streamlining expense management.
This case study delves into the expense management at Miele, a German manufacturer of high-end domestic appliances and commercial equipment, headquartered in Gütersloh, Ostwestfalen-Lippe, with over 20,000 employees around the world.
Expense management at Miele
Before Rydoo, the expense management process at Miele was time-consuming and prone to errors. Despite its obvious shortcomings, such as the time it took to create sheets or the increased risk of mistakes, Microsoft Excel was the main tool for employee spending management. According to the team, this process would lead to longer reimbursement times, which could at times become frustrating for the employees.
“Managing expenses was very time-consuming, resulting in delays in reimbursements and a lack of insights into company spending. Expense processing and reporting could take weeks, leaving employees waiting a long time for their reimbursements.”
Director of Finance & Operations
The solution to the expense management problem
Expense management was a known issue within the company, and while the team wasn’t actively searching for a solution, it was clear that Rydoo’s software met Miele’s needs. “It was exactly what we were looking for: simple, clear and, above all, paperless”.
One of the main concerns was employee adoption. With a diverse workforce working in different areas and with multiple backgrounds, Miele’s team wanted to ensure the transition was as smooth as possible for those using the solution in their day-to-day tasks. They soon realised the implementation would be easier than expected, highlighting the onboarding process, which was “seamless. Staff had few, if any, questions about how the software worked”.
As for the introduction, the team took a very personal approach, first informing the different department heads, who in turn informed their employees. They introduced Rydoo step by step and gave practical demonstrations, so the employees knew how to use the software.
“Rydoo has noticeably improved our expense management process. It’s a user-friendly, easy-to-use and fun tool that provides real-time insight into your expenses.”
Director of Finance & Operations
How Rydoo helped the business expense management
Since introducing Rydoo’s smart expense management software, Miele identified three main changes to their process that brought great benefits to the whole organisation.
- Time savings: the time needed to process expense reports decreased;
- Employee Empowerment: employees became empowered and encouraged to manage their expense reports better, avoiding delays in uploading receipts;
- Better Insights: the team now has the ability to review expense data, which provides senior management with more transparency, and real-time visibility into the spending flow and process.
“When someone goes on vacation, they can delegate the task of checking to someone else so the expense management process isn’t interrupted or bogged down. Previously, expenses were only processed upon return, which often resulted in delays in repayments and reimbursements”.
Director of Finance & Operations
Over these last years of collaboration, Miele has seen great results in the teams’ expense management process. The costs have significantly reduced, and the amount of time spent on verification, correcting errors and processing is now spent focusing on other pressing tasks that bring higher value to the organisation.
Today, the Finance team can make faster and more informed business decisions, as they can easily obtain all the necessary data on company spending through Rydoo’s software. This allows them to allocate more hours to strategic projects that can help the company grow.