4 Proven Remedies For Employee Expense Headaches

Where do you hurt most?
 
Travel expenses? Hotels, airfares, rental cars? Hardware? Or is it supplies out in the field? 

Are you overrun with client entertainment expenses? Event expenses? Fuel expenses? Are too many expenses coming from left field — atypical and unpredictable? 

Every type of employee expense comes with its own set of headaches, and the more your company grows, the more painful they get. 

Fortunately there are now strong remedies, ways to update and build efficiencies into your employee expense management. Using centrally-controlled prepaid card systems, businesses of all sizes have the ability to capture savings of 25% or more, just through better control of their processes and workflows.

Here are four ways to deal with the headaches.

#1. Set a policy and stick to it

Which employees are permitted to spend what? What can they spend it on? Where can they spend it? These are all policy decisions — you can’t manage expenses without first making them clear to all involved. Spending policies should be established by your finance department, approved by upper management, and sent around to every employee with access to funds. 

For instance, employees booking airfare are only permitted to book a seat in coach or meals cannot exceed more than $50 per person and so on. 

A prepaid card system can assure that these policies are adhered to — that reports are accurate, in-real time and risks are minimized. You can track spending more precisely, eliminate loose practices, and prevent employees from going over budget on any expense item.

#2. Put the right controls in place

Whereas traditional expense reporting takes place after the expense is incurred — when it’s too late to do anything about it — a prepaid card system gives you proactive control beforehand. 

You can set permissions for each employee or group of employees. You can specify spending limits, types of spending permitted, and preferred suppliers — and you can change any or all of these on the fly. Once these permissions are set, enforcement is automatic — exceeding the limits is simply not an option.

#3. Streamline the process 

Managing employee spend through a prepaid card system takes inefficiency and waste out of the process. Manual work flows are eliminated, saving time and money while drastically reducing mistakes, unauthorized spending, and fraudulent practices. Reporting is completely automated and takes place at the time the expense is incurred. 

This frees your employees from the tyranny of receipts, filing expense reports, and reimbursements. It frees your bookkeepers from time-consuming expense processing. It automates all workflows, giving you full control over field expenses. 

#4. Reduce review time to near zero

With a more streamlined system, time spent reviewing employee expenses is virtually eliminated. You can see at a glance what every employee is spending and what they’re spending it on. You can quickly correlate these expenses to productivity. And you can adjust the funding of any employee or category immediately, with the click of a mouse.

When running a business, headaches come with the territory. Fortunately employee expense management doesn’t have to be one of them. Remedies are available.

To learn more about PEX as a business solution, please download our Fact Sheet.

The PEX Visa Prepaid Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. The Bancorp Bank; Member FDIC.