Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/30285
and advisory firm PayStream Advisors, only 24% of the respondents had a fully automated T&E expense management process, and another 21% had some form of automation in place. Of those who participated in the survey, a sizeable 39% had a completely manual expense management process with employees printing out expense reports and submitting paper receipts via interoffice mail. Of the companies employing this redundant and costly form of expense management, many cite a lack of ROI for their rationale. However, the successful integration of an expense management system can produce an almost instant ROI across many aspects of the business. According to the report, 56% of the companies that have migrated from a manual to electronic expense process cited lowered process costs as the primary benefit, followed closely by improved visibility over spending and better enforcement of travel policies, each at 55%. In addition to reduced costs, organizations often experience an increase in employee satisfaction and improved perception of the finance department due to simplified entry and prompt, accurate payments to staff. Adopting an automated solution uniform policy across the firm” procedures can be enforced, resulting in a “Worldwide IMPROVING OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY For law firms that implement an automated expense reporting and reimbursement system, savings are derived from efficiency gains, increased compliance with firm and client expense policies, and cost avoidance resulting from not having a manual approval process. The PayStream Advisors survey also noted that companies that manually process expense reports are spending an average of $22.15 per report, whereas the cost drops to an average of $10.68 per report with a fully automated and integrated system. immediately eliminates the duplication of work that occurs when lawyers and other staff fill in forms that must then also be entered by the accounts payable department. With automation, the accounts payable department can shift from data entry to higher-value tasks including auditing claims and ensuring that the firm’s policies are enforced. Frequently, staff hours can be redeployed or reduced. In one example, the finance controller of a 1,000-plus lawyer firm with an integrated expense management system reported that the firm had been able to reduce three FTEs, despite the system not even being fully deployed to all international operations. With an online solution, receipts are scanned and stored in the system. This capability not only promotes a greener office, it eliminates the movement of paper documents from office to office and eliminates the centralized filing of receipts. Digital storage can also be a time-saver. Courts specifically require full documentation, including receipts for fee requests. With an online system that includes imaging, the system can produce all of the images for a particular www.iltanet.org Financial Management 27