How well do you track and monitor employee expenses? Could your organisation be one step away from a media scandal? Here’s some expert advice for managing this responsibility.
Most Australians would be aware of the recent media coverage of what is essentially misuse of organisational funds within a Union. Indeed on a daily basis we read of cases of misuse of company funds through expenses.
Whilst we might criticize the individual for their corrupt behaviour (and no one is condoning this) there is one very important question – Why do organisation not have better controls in place to eliminate this type of activity, or at least reduce the risk?
Frequently organisations put the ‘employee expenses’ side of the business into the too-hard basket, often telling themselves that these type of expenses are a necessary part of doing business. This is all the more reason to have a sound and secure expense management solution in place!
There are many web based systems available to lock down individual’s behaviour and ensure compliance with organisational guidelines. An employee expenses solution is readily embraced by employees because it actually makes the processes of completing it easier without having to understand complex account coding, GST and enforces the “corporate rule book” leaving the dishonest nowhere to hide. It replaces paper forms with electronic documents and workflow to streamline the process and provides full visibility of the claim process. The solution is quickly establishes the easiest way to expedite a reclaim of monies spent on behalf of the organisation, while following established policies and procedures.
The following are just some of the benefits offered by a proper employee expense solution:
- “Claim-as-you-spend” expense entry system which allows either multiple claims per accounting period, or cumulative claims
- Automatic tax calculations, reducing the need to learn or remember tax rates
- Automatic allocation of receipt numbers facilitates filing and retrieval of source documents
- Designated account codes, which minimises the possibility of fraudulent claims
- Flexible rules and authorisation methodologies for all types of business models
- Visibility and transparency to retain control and auditability
- Instant management reports that provide clear analysis of spend by employee/department/expense
- Easy integration with existing financial and payroll software
Most Australians are sick and tired of hearing stories of dishonesty, so make the smart move and be proactive rather than reactive. After all next time it could be the reputation of your organisation at stake.
