We get asked about ‘our story’ at different times by different folks – customers, prospects, partners, new employees and even competitors! What is our story? Why are we doing this? Why now? Well, it is very simple:
Our team has been in the Travel + Expense Reporting space for many years with a combined experience of several decades. The backgrounds of our management team comes from working with / implementing / developing other T&E expense reporting systems like Concur, SAP, Oracle’s iExpense and other Goliaths in the past.
These are large companies with big legacy systems. And we fully understand what works and what doesn’t work with the solutions provided by these companies, which not only includes products but also support.
Learning from the mistakes of our competitors, we wanted to offer a solution that was nimble yet powerful in being able to handle all requirements ranging from a 20 user application to one used by our large multi-national customers. (And this caught the attention of Microsoft for their Dynamics ERP product line, when they sponsored us to attend DEMO – read more here)
But our focus is more than just the product – we also pride ourselves in providing exceptional support, where our competitors don’t do the best job. Every customer that signs up with us becomes THE customer for us while they may be A customer for our competitors, which is a big difference.
Our customers don’t just subscribe to our solution or buy our products – they approach us for advice and guidance to solve their challenges with expense reporting and support our mission. And we love solving their problems while putting a smile on the faces of their Travelers and Finance teams.
So, that’s our raison d’etre. As far as we know the T&E pain point hasn’t been solved yet. And that’s why we are here today – to finally fix it for customers like you and have fun while doing it! Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for your support….
As we all know Dynamics GP provides an organization with solid agility and flexibility in meeting their business needs today and also into the future. With such flexibility, comes the ability to configure GP in many different ways to meet unique requirements of the organization – and this extends to expense reporting as well.
Gorilla Expense offers a fully automated and seamless integration with GP. We refer to this as ‘1-click’ integration’. We do this by using web services and eConnect, depending on the customer’s preference. While we can do a flat-file based integration, our customers love the way our integration app sends the data from several expense reports to GP with just a click! When it comes to expense reporting, there are multiple ways to integrate the data from our system to GP. In this series, we will be exploring the different flavors of our integration with GP.
Integration with Payables in GP – Series (1 of 3)
This is the standard and most common format of our integration with GP. Here, we send the expense data as a Payable Transaction Entry within the Purchasing module in GP. Expenses sent from our system will show up as invoices. Depending on the payment method defined in our system and the setup of vendors, the invoice will be issued for the employee or the corporate credit card.
Integration with Project Accounting in GP – Series (2 of 3) Here, we send the expense data from our system to the Project Accounting module in GP, where expenses will be captured against different cost categories and tied to specific open projects. The project workflow is also mapped within our system such that the respective project owner(s) will be approving the expense reports before they are sent to GP.
Integration with Receivings in GP – Series (3 of 3) Here, we will send the data as a Receivings Transaction Entry within the Purchasing module. The expenses are allocated to different cost categories and the PO number is referenced. Since these expenses will show up as Receivables once posted, this integration is used when the customer is planning to bill back their clients. The customer name /PO number is referenced in our application so that the expenses are tied to it.
Besides these, we can also configure our Integration App to do other forms of integration as needed. In the next article, we will showcase our integration with Payables in GP. Stay tuned!
As part of a recent research, most managers and travel budget owners for small and medium businesses cited managing costs as the primary goal for 2014. The methods companies use to achieve this goal, vary widely within the SMB segment. The travel spend for companies in this group range from less than $2MM in annual US booked travel to $12MM on the high end.
Most SMBs struggle with the same challenges – lack of internal resources to manage T&E, no dedicated travel manager, missed supplier relationships and a general cookie-cutter travel management program setup by the travel agency, if one exists at all. The best of breed companies may have better control on travel spend with elaborate procurement strategies and internal resources that manage the company’s travel program and spend carefully. These resources typically report to the CFO, thus offering the finance office full visibility into spend.
Visibility-of-travel-expenses
The reason that travel management as a concept is a challenge for SMBs is because there are many factors that drive a company’s travel strategy: travel patterns, international vs domestic, company culture, senior management’s support, business focus and others. Regardless of the status quo, it is never too late for a company to manage its travel and T&E processes more efficiently.
“I don’t believe there’s a company out there that can’t benefit from some level of a managed program,” said Directravel president Sam DeFranco. “When a company feels like there’s a lack of control of their spending and they only have basic expense processes in place, their antenna should be up.”
Several SMBs were focused on getting the right tools and processes in place in 2014. One was in the midst of “designing and implementing a full-scale travel management program,” while others were planning to implement a robust automated expense-reporting system as soon as possible in 2014.
In the various SMBs, even with senior management support, a planned travel policy, TMC relationship and T&E expense reporting solutions in place, companies reported ongoing challenges with compliance. Several of the companies reported their greatest travel management challenge today was to get travelers to comply.
“At larger companies, you’re dealing with a multitude of people that touch T&E,” said DeFranco. “At one company alone, you could have a travel manager, a director of procurement, a director of purchasing, expense management, HR and a risk manager. Inherently, the SMBs simply do not have the same infrastructure, so to compensate for that, the travel management company account manager essentially becomes an extension of the customer.” One company highlighted the biggest travel management challenge as “achieving objectives with limited resources.” It’s a position in which many managers in the small and midsize segments find themselves.
What are your challenges when it comes to managing travel and travel related expenses? What are your goals for 2014? Let us know in the comments below.
Reference: BTN, "BTN's 2014 Small & Medium Enterprise Report, Apr 15, 2014"
Within the Gorilla Expense application, when users create travel expenses, depending on their location additional tax reclaim fields can be enabled and the data can be sent to Dynamics NAV. We provide a total of 4 sub-amount fields in the application. These sub-amounts can also be configured differently to Add-to the value entered in the Transaction Amount.
For our Canadian customers (or customers with users that travel to Canada), the frequently used fields are GST, PST and HST. The user can enter amounts for these fields within the transaction from the receipt, and of course, also attach the receipt. For our European customers, these are the different flavors of VATs, based on the country.
Shown below, as an example, is a completed transaction with the tax values entered for a Canadian customer:
Canadian-tax-reclaim-fields
The Gorilla Expense integration app, which automates the integration between our web application and Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 and above can send the amounts listed in these fields directly to Dynamics NAV with the click of a button.
If the company has different GL codes associated with each of these fields, then those can be setup in the integration app as well. Once done, our integration app will post amounts in the specific fields to the respective GL code(s). Once the data is sent to NAV, then the accounting manager can reconcile it and issue a cumulative report from within NAV for reclaim from the government. This report will usually include the total reclaim amount based on expenses submitted by all users. Typically, the taxation rules are setup in NAV since the tax rates can vary based on province and as the ERP system, it makes sense for NAV to manage that complexity.
To learn more, discuss your requirements and view this travel expense integration with NAV in detail, send an email to info@gorillaexpense.com. We always love hearing from you!
By popular customer demand, we have released a new (and cool) feature where the application will automatically calculate the number of miles using Google Maps. For this, the user will need to enter the start & end locations on a map within the web application. Once selected, the application will calculate the number of miles and drop it into the transaction. Since we already pull-in the IRS defined mileage rate, the math to calculate the amount is complete! The application also saves the Start and End locations in the comments field for reference. Here is how it looks:
1) Open an expense transaction and pick Mileage expense type. There the user will see a Google Maps link. Click on it. In the next screen as shown below, enter the Start and End Addresses, then select on the ‘Import Mileage’ button
Mileage-Expense-Map
2) Once this done, the mileage expense type is complete as shown in the image below. As you can see, the application automatically imports the IRS mileage rate and does the math. It also adds the Start and End addresses to the Comments box. After the user clicks on Save, the transaction can be added to an expense report for submission.
Done… Accurately and in less than 5 seconds! And conveniently from within our application, without having to go to an external map application every time.
If you think you have strange expense reports, you must see this! Robert Half Management Resources survey interviewed several CFOs and asked them to name the most unusual things they have seen employees include in expense reports. The results – bound to raise both eyebrows! Here are a few of the most questionable items:
– Cosmetic surgery
– Lottery tickets
– Pet food
– A trailer rental for a family reunion
– $12,000 for a family trip-+
– A teepee
– A fine for crashing into a toll booth
The survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources, and it was conducted by an independent research firm. The survey included responses from 1,600 U.S. and Canadian CFOs from a random sample of companies with 20 or more employees.
The list also included gadget, leisure and hobby expenses:
– A person lost his personal cell phone somewhere in the office, so he submitted the cost of a new one
– Movie tickets
– Hotel charge for viewing adult movies (Yikes!)
– Day at the spa
– A golf trip for the employee and his three friends
– Video game console (PS4 maybe?)
Personal expenditures were frequently cited by executives as questionable. Here are some examples:
– Grocery receipts
– Cigarettes
– Pair of socks
– Toilet paper
– Hot tub supplies
– Golf clubs
– Expensive lunch for the employee, without clients
Expenses covering the cost of personal celebrations and not related to the office was equally if not more surprising:
– Flowers the employee bought for his wife
– Expenses for his son’s birthday party
– Wedding anniversary dinner
Anyone submitting an expense report should double and triple check their expenses to avoid this situation, which could definitely land the employee in hot water. One respondent said “The most unusual thing I saw was a submission for something that had already been expensed and reimbursed”
Are you still filing expense reports in Excel sheets and attaching paper receipts with Scotch tape? Then it is time to change that and officially enter the 21st century. Using smartphones and web based applications, the modern day business traveler utilizes the latest technology to efficiently complete expense reports and also make sure that the company’s dollars are spent wisely.
This Dilbert cartoon says it all – Manual old school expense reporting is just painful!
Expense Reporting is painful! The time for change is now! Rather than taking large risky steps, many businesses are turning to the cloud for cost-effective T&E expense management tools that automate and streamline the creation, review and approval of expense reports. Using smartphones, travelers can track expenses as they happen, take photos of receipts, and submit expenses all from the palm of their hand in seconds!
Some of the key areas to look for while evaluating expense reporting solutions are:
1) The ability for employees to photograph , attach or email electronic receipts and easily assign them to line-item expenses
2) Expense reporting systems where credit card transactions can be imported
3) The ability to send T&E expense data into any accounting system like QuickBooks, Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Oracle etc. through automation
Gorilla Expense offers all of the above, and is fully integrated with various corporate credit cards and Accounting systems, which means manual data entry is reduced in multiple places, accounting errors are eliminated, employees are reimbursed faster and billable expenses can be tracked easier. In conclusion, whether on the road or back at the office, businesses and employees can now easily manage their T&E expenses – online, or on a smartphone with just a few clicks! So jump in to the 21st century with us!
Our expense reporting customers love our credit card integration module and find it to be a huge time-saver and hassle-minimizer for their users. The main purpose of this post is to quickly explain how the credit card integration works with our system. So here goes….
Two Words – Very Easy!
In our application, users can automatically download transactions from their corporate and personal credit cards with the click of a button. This uses the standard OFX format, supported by most banks and credit card companies. As a 1st step, the user must setup the credit card profile in the system. Each user can setup multiple profiles and they can be a mix of corporate and personal cards. Each credit card profile can be allocated to different pay methods, as defined by the Accounting person in the company. Once this is done, the user can toggle between the various cards from a list and select one, as shown here
Expense-Report-Credit-Card-Integration
After a card is selected, the user would enter the login credentials as they would if they were logging into their online account, pick a start and end date and Voila! – all the transactions within that date range are imported into the transactions bucket of the application and ready to be pulled into a report, as shown below. This process can be automated a 100%
Expense-Report-Credit-Card-Integration
Allocating Transactions
Once this is done, the user can then assign these transactions to different expense types or GL codes. All information supplied by the credit card merchant is available within the transaction, including the meta-data. So each transaction will include the date, amount, vendor, city and additional fields depending on what is supplied by the bank/CC company. The user can also choose to break down transactions in more detail if needed. For example, a hotel transaction imported from a credit card will typically show the total amount. But the user can break it down into Room rate, Tax, Room Service and Laundry by using the sub-amount fields within the application. Remember, ‘More visibility = More Compliance’
Reconciliation of Credit Card Data
Once all the credit card data is available in the system, reconciliation, which normally takes hours or even days becomes very quick & simple too. Within the Gorilla Expense system, the accounting / AP person can quickly run a report by a pay method and filter by specific employees as well. This report can be exported in multiple formats (PDF, Word, Excel) and compared to the credit card data supplied by the bank for a quick analysis. This will quickly tell if the transactions are valid or if any transactions have been missed by the employee. Since reports can be created for specific date ranges, there is no need to wait till month end (when there are typically 15 other bigger issues to take care of!) to do this. The Accounting person can reconcile every day, week or 2 weeks to make it easier to manage.
Other Credit Card File Formats
Besides the standard OFX format discussed above, we support numerous other corporate card file formats as well. A few examples of key formats are – GL1025 from American Express, CDF3 from MasterCard, VCF from VISA, among many others.
The operating mechanism for these is slightly different from the one described above. These files supplied by the credit card merchant typically include credit card data for ALL users within the company. So unlike the mechanism above where users can import transactions themselves, here the Accounting person (or Admin) will use our proprietary utility called ‘Gorilla Integration Manager’ (GIM) to import the data into the system. Once the merchant’s daily credit card feed for the company is available and imported into GIM, it will automatically correlate specific transactions to specific users and push them to the respective user accounts. So the Admin can, for example, push 5000 transactions to the various user accounts in the system with the click of a button!! From there on, the user has to simply pull these transactions into a report and submit!
Hope you find this information to be useful. Contact us for more information or any specific questions we can help with at info@gorillaexpense.com.
During discussions with customers on our Expense Reporting Solution for Dynamics NAV, the inevitable question we get asked is what versions do we support or integrate with. And the answer is really most versions of NAV are supported.
Of course our expense reporting product’s integration with NAV 2013 and NAV 2009 is more seamless and robust simply because these architectures lend themselves better and offer more flexibility. Due to this we can be more be innovative and customer specific when integrating with these systems.
Needless to say, we spent quite of a bit of time initially reviewing the various NAV versions. We recently found a resource from Microsoft Dynamics that does a comparison of all the NAV versions which we wanted to share. For all the customers, fellow ISVs and VARs out there, here is a link to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Feature Comparison Tool.
Hope you find this to be as useful as we did! If you have any questions or want to send us your feedback, please contact us at info@gorillaexpense.com.
Thank you for taking time and participating in our survey with Smart Selling Tools. We received tons of responses and great feedback from everyone! It was amazing to note how many companies still struggle with managing this cumbersome process based on the responses we received.
The winner for the iPad mini drawing is David Escobar (company name withheld per request). An email has been sent to notify the winner. Congratulations David!
We will be putting together a white paper that discusses the results from the survey and emailing to all participants. This will help guide their companies towards better managing the T&E expense reporting process and help with improving productivity and reducing costs.
Thanks again for participating! Stay tuned for more surveys and promotions…..
