It’s a fact–every business or organization will have to deal with expenses. And these expenses have to be recorded, reported, and processed. These have to be verified as well.
However, despite the times and technologies we have today, there are companies that still rely heavily on paper-based and manual expense reporting. Many employees may not complain as they are used to the way they have always done things. However, what they don’t know is that they may be missing out on so many things. Read more
In today’s constantly changing corporate landscape, you may be required to travel by your company, whether locally or abroad. This could be due to a variety of reasons, such as meetings, courtesy calls, business development, or project execution, to name a few.
Whatever it is, for every employee who travels for the company, the company incurs costs that could easily add up if you look at the bigger picture. This is why these companies have travel guidelines and protocols in place, especially when employee reimbursements are involved.
Get to Know Your Company’s Travel Expense Policies
Companies of all sizes have expense policies that guide their employees in their travel and expenses for the business. There may be times that you yourself may have been told off regarding a reimbursement, that it is not claimable. You may even have disputed some claims along the way.
The thing is, there’s actually quite a number of guesswork, confusion, and frustration when it comes to misunderstanding these expense policies. This could be due to the system itself, a conflict with the policies, or you may have provided insufficient data to back your claims.
While every company has expense management systems in place, having a dated one can also affect the turnaround time for reimbursements. In the long run, the delays could cost the company.
Follow These Do’s and Don’ts
Whatever system you have in your organization, as an employee, it’s important to know what your privileges and limitations are.
To help you out, here are some Dos and Don’ts for employees when it comes to business travel and expense claims.
DOs:
Familiarize yourself with your company’s expense policies
Save your expense receipts and keep them organized in one place
Keep a copy of your expenses or receipts at all times, whether as a photocopy or on your phone, if in case you lose your actual paper receipts
Submit your expense report as soon as you incur your expense
DON’Ts:
Don’t ask for reimbursements for personal services or expenses that you may have incurred during your business travel
Avoid overspending for things or situations that don’t warrant it while you’re on your business trip. If you’re not being conscious of your company’s funds or budget, this will be found out sooner or later
Don’t hold your expense reports and reimbursement claims for a long time and submit them weeks or months later
Go Digital and Paperless!
These days, there are many expense management solutions that leverage on the latest technology to give you and your company the best features. Just like Gorilla Expense!
With Gorilla Expense, your expense management system will be seamlessly upgraded to address your organization’s needs. Using the latest technology, it makes it easier for company employees like you to keep track of expenses, store receipts, submit claims, and track approvals–all within one app. Whether cloud-based or in-premise, you can be sure that Gorilla Expense takes the hassle off expense reporting to ensure you get your reimbursements–minus all the frustration.
You can even use Gorilla Expense while on-the-go, without having to look for a PC or lugging around your laptop with you. Right within your smartphones, you can use the app to help you be on the move while ensuring that your expenses are tracked.
Today’s dynamic corporate environment is becoming more and more global. Organizations all over the world must keep up with the latest technologies and the demands that go with these. Business performance and productivity goes hand in hand with insights and initiatives that help move the business closer to its goals.
And all these become better when they happen in real time.
And this is where Gorilla Expense comes in. Read more
Whether it’s an online startup or a full-fledged business organization, there will always be expenses. The scales may be different, but they’re there. And they have to be dealt with, sooner rather than later.
While there are companies that use Excel or expense management software for their expense reports, there are still many who rely on manual and paper-based reporting. Read more
While automation in T&E expense reporting has been rapidly increasing, many businesses are still not taking full advantage of it. SMEs are still lagging in automating their T&E, despite the increasing availability technological advances. Cloud-based and mobile apps are the future of T&E management, yet adoption is slow even when it comes to getting an automated expense management solution.
Many who are not fully automated in their T&E management or are using entirely manual processes report many obstacles in their expense reporting procedures. According to a leading 2016 Travel and Expense Management Report, 63% of SMEs still rely on entirely manual T&E processes, while 38% of average business entities are still stuck in the same manual systems.
“While there is growing availability of T&E automation options that could fit any company’s size and needs, the greatest challenge lies in change management, i.e. making decision makers take that step towards fully automating and streamlining their T&E processes,” says Gorilla Expense. “SMEs tend to carefully weigh the so-called ‘pains’ of switching against the many short- and long-term benefits.”
Many organizations in the report believe that their current T&E processes are effective, and are therefore unwilling to shift to newer technologies. For example, the primary method for receipt management is via emails, resulting in lost documents, delays, and potential compliance issues. This in return causes further struggles and inefficiencies. End result: these companies struggle with costly T&E processes, inability to enforce corporate travel policies, lack of visibility, and lengthy reimbursement cycles.
Meanwhile, 90% of large corporations, are now fully or partially automated. Due to this, they are seeing plenty of benefits that go beyond just a solid ROI. These benefits include lower processing costs, improved visibility, better enforcement of policies, quicker reimbursement periods, improved fraud detection, better negotiation with merchants for volume discounts, and better overall employee satisfaction.
However, despite automation, many are still using disparate systems, therefore still causing delays, frustrations, and inefficiencies that could have been avoided with streamlined, integrated systems and infrastructure.
Another key point, according to the report is that many small businesses are foregoing automation and sticking to their manual processes primarily because they believe that they are too small for such systems. In fact, nearly 30% are still using Excel spreadsheets for their expenses.
Despite many options and opportunities to automate, many companies are still slow to adopt and there are still some that would rather continue with their handwritten expense reports and spreadsheets—simply because they are used to it! These companies must take a cue from the best-in-class organizations who are moving towards mobile, cloud-based, and integrated systems that make T&E reporting a breeze. Here is a metric to think about: if you have over 30 expense reports to process monthly, the ROI is there, and it would be more economical to switch to automated expense reporting. You can test this by using our free Expense Reporting Automation Savings calculator.
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Gorilla Expense offer an innovate spend management solution for companies of all sizes. The three main components of this solution are T&E Expense Reporting, Timesheets, and P-card Reconciliation. While the solution is typically deployed as SaaS, Gorilla Expense also supports On-Premise deployments.If you would like to see a live demo or have any questions, please contact us at sales@gorillaexpense.com.
So you have invested in Oracle ERP but you are having challenges with the T&E solution to meet your unique travel requirements. What do you do? Well, Gorilla Expense is here to help.
Companies nowadays want to leverage the latest and most advanced technologies to make work much easier. And ease, of course, should always come with timeliness and accuracy, especially in expense management.
From executives to employees, everyone demands agility and reliability when it comes to their ERP systems. They require solutions that are not only configured to their company’s unique needs but also systems that can be up and running quickly so that they can operate immediately. So, when it comes to T&E for Oracle EBS, Gorilla Expense fulfils these needs elegantly and economically.
With Gorilla Expense, companies can easily automate their T&E expense reporting process. Gorilla Expense seamlessly integrates with Oracle EBS so you not only minimize all the frustrating manual work, but also get financial data that is important to decision makers in almost real-time, while the travelers receive the benefit of a system that is tuned to meet their needs.
Leveraging the latest mobile and cloud based technologies
Whether you are a mid-sized business or a large organization, the Gorilla Expense solution brings together the convenience of mobile, web, corporate credit card, and email functions that are crucial especially for traveling employees, all without the hassle of having to install a separate software or app. It is also great for managers because they can find all the information they need in one place. Reporting and analytics are a breeze since all the data has already been captured and can be sliced and diced from one comprehensive and simple to use interface. Meanwhile, accounting also gets benefits through compliant and complete expense reports, timely approvals, and overall visibility – the three main areas that most accounting/finance departments struggle with.
The Gorilla Expense cutting-edge mobile app that includes OCR and maps feature for mileage, empowers travelers to increase efficiency, work smarter, reduce errors, and eliminate late submissions. Functions such as credit card import, data entry, reporting, and approvals are all comprehensively streamlined into Oracle EBS, allowing your whole organization to get a shot in the arm for efficiency.
Very economical to own
The Gorilla Expense cloud solution for Oracle ERP is typically 15% to 40% more economical than the competitors and even the native T&E solution offered by Oracle. Our price includes free upgrades and enhancements. Plus, you don’t have to purchase separate additional software or equipment. This means you can put money back into the company’s pocket.
More performance, less downtime, less frustration
Since Gorilla Expense seamlessly integrates with Oracle EBS, you enjoy less downtime, especially because Gorilla Expense can be configured to fit your specific requirements. You also eliminate the need to do complicated coding, which may require IT expertise. You also eliminate the need for ongoing upgrades and maintenance that can add up on hours that are better spent on core business operations.
With the Gorilla Expense T&E solution for Oracle ERP, you have access to robust and the latest technology that provides great benefits to your organization. The end result – Cut costs, improve compliance and provide greater visibility to decision maker. That’s something you can’t beat!
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Gorilla Expense offer an innovate spend management solution for companies of all sizes. The three main components of this solution are T&E Expense Reporting, Timesheets and P-card Reconciliation for Oracle ERP. While the solution is typically deployed as SaaS, Gorilla Expense also supports On-Premise deployments.If you would like to see a live demo or have any questions, please contact us at sales@gorillaexpense.com.
Making the T&E expense tracking process for Sage X3 efficient and timely is increasingly becoming important to several mid-sized and large clients. The benefits are huge – in terms of cost savings, compliance to the IRS, visibility of T&E spend for decision makers like CFOs and of course improvements in productivity for travelers. Businesses invest in a robust ERP system like Sage X3 primarily to realize such benefits.
Automating T&E Expense Reporting for Sage ERP
The ERP solutions provided by Sage are comprehensive management and planning solutions that allow businesses to track their performance closely. Travel and expense reporting by its very nature is a tricky area to control and monitor. That’s where a system like Gorilla Expense makes a huge difference.
Gorilla Expense extends the capabilities of Sage X3 by providing a robust mobile + web platform for travelers to capture both, out of pocket and corporate credit card expenses. Once these expenses have been compiled and approved the expense data can be sent to various ‘pages’ in SAGE X3 (like Payables as an Invoice or as a GL entry etc.) depending on the client’s requirements.
Gorilla Expense Extends Capabilities within Sage ERP
As our company’s name suggests, we are the experts when it comes to T&E tracking and reporting. And businesses that use Sage ERP (all the way from Sage 100 to Sage 500) can benefit from and leverage our expertise and thought leadership in this space. Our automated solution for Sage ERP greatly benefits travelers, approving managers, and Accounting. In addition, Gorilla Expense now also integrates with Sage 300 and Sage 300 Construction & Real Estate
Here are some of our cool features:
Mobile solution with e-Receipts, including a new and OCR add-on feature
Web application that can be accessed anywhere anytime!
AMEX, VISA & MasterCard Corporate Card Reconciliation
Multi-Currency functionality including GST/VAT capture
Besides the features we also specialize in dedicated and personalized support which is one of the main reasons client love working with Gorilla Expense!
So, embrace the technologies of the 21st century and say goodbye to frustrating and manual expense reporting processes that use Excel and Scotch tape. Let Gorilla Expense make this painless and paperless for you! Contact us at sales@gorillaexpense.com to learn more.
When it comes to T&E expense management, the cloud has inspired a new and quick way of thinking about mobile and online expense tracking with integration to various accounting and ERP systems. Of course the ‘old’ model of companies having to purchase licenses to own the software and have the ability to deploy it on their servers still exists but faces solid competition from cloud solutions.
The Gorilla Expense software can be delivered as a SaaS or on-premise when it comes to our online T&E solution. Of course, when the SaaS solution is purchased, it comes as a complete turnkey package that includes software and the entire delivery mechanism.
The inter-webs is ripe with discussions on the pros and cons of on-premise vs SaaS when it comes to expense reporting and several topics on how best to assess the costs. With SaaS, the business pays less upfront while on-premise requires higher initial costs because you buy the software in terms of licenses and maintenance. However, the details lurk below this cursory assessment – the often heard concept of ‘Total Cost of Ownership’ a.k.a TCO. Let us explore this in more detail by segmenting the comparisons by company size relative to our customer base.
Expense Reporting for Small Business
With small businesses, the initial cost of licensing the expense reporting software on-premise is usually several orders higher than a SaaS expense solution. Plus the on-premise solution will require additional internal infrastructure and may incur personnel costs to maintain the solution. So, for small businesses SaaS cloud based expense reporting may offer better ROI and quicker value than on-premise.
Mid-Market Expense Management
For mid-sized businesses, the comparison between the two approaches can be closer to break-even. The costs usually level out because the cost of the fixed license and recurring SaaS payments typically increase proportionately while the infrastructure cost remains fixed. However, the big difference is labor costs – the standard assumption is that mid-sized business would have the cost of paying for 1/2rd to 1/4th of an IT team’s (consisting of anywhere from one to ten people) salary to maintain the server, OS and ancillary software applications; so these costs may mean that the on-premise deployment could potentially be more expensive.
When is SaaS Better?
The biggest benefit of going the SaaS route is when companies cannot dedicate IT resources and personnel to install and manage the applications. The general rule of thumb for on-premise is that upgrades are needed at least four times in a year and require several hours to install and manage up-time.
In addition, with SaaS, the expenses are deferred (the classic CAPEX vs OPEX debate), so, from a cash flow standpoint, the model becomes attractive for cash strapped small businesses.
Conclusion
While we have reviewed the key piece of the equation which is related to cost, note that this is just one part of the puzzle. The other factors to consider when you compare Saas vs on-premise expense reporting solutions are:
– Level of internal IT expertise and talent to manage on-premise solutions
– Comfort level with outsourcing the work, if not possible in house
– Tolerance for downtime and risk mitigation
– Capability to support requirements from an evolving and growing business operations
– Level of engagement with the solution (SaaS gives you a ‘rent and forget’ approach whereas on-premise requires constant monitoring)
– Cash flow management
At Gorilla Expense, we provide both options and work with the customer to closely understand which format will benefit their business and employees the most. We advise and support our customer’s rapidly changing requirements when it comes to deployment options, since we have seen all the combinations and the respective challenges. If you would like to learn more or would like for us to review your requirements, please send an email to info@gorillaexpense.com
Here is a frequently heard request from Accounts Payable departments (AP) in companies around the world –
‘Can we integrate T&E with our Payroll system to issue reimbursements faster and error-free?’ And a very pertinent request at that – considering that AP is largely responsible for issuing T&E reimbursements.
A recently conducted survey, with results displayed below, showed that at least 74% of T&E reimbursements fall largely within the domain of AP. This becomes an additional burden to handle for AP among other important tasks. Plus, the ripple effects of delayed reimbursements or wrong reimbursements affects the heart of the business: the morale of the workforce. So it really is a no-brainer to automate this process through integration.
And this fits into the overall theme for companies in the 21st century which is – religiously examining ways towards becoming more efficient and effective at what they do. And on that list is frustration and delays with T&E reimbursements for employees after a trip. This is especially true after an international trip where the employee could have sizable out of pocket expenses with imminent due dates on their credit cards. Therefore integration of T&E and Payroll systems is paramount and companies are investigating in more detail on how to maintain a seamless integration between these two systems which are essentially two sides of the same coin.
Payroll systems look at an employee at one point in time, chiefly, what is that employee’s salary or hourly wage today. They automatically calculate net pay for a given pay period, federal, state and local taxes, deductions for such items as health care copays and contributions to charities etc. These systems also automatically cut checks to employees or have their pay automatically deposited into their bank account.
T&E Expense Reporting systems, on the other hand, help manage the employees expenses from a trip. If the company utilizes a corporate card, then the employee submits those expenses are part of the same system. The key pieces of the expense transaction includes details about the trip, expense type, vendor and mainly the receipt of the transaction.
The benefits of integration between these two systems are:
– Reduce reimbursement time
– No more manual keying of data in multiple places
– Utilize the existing flow and scheduling for T&E reimbursements
– Real-time visibility of reimbursement status for all parties
– And most importantly, the emotional aspect – employees expect the company to reimburse them for out-of-pocket expenses ASAP. And by automating the process as much as possible (which in turn reduces errors, delays and frustrations), it shows the employees that the company cares!
So how does this typically work?
The natural next step for T&E data after it has been reconciled in the expense reporting & ERP systems is sending it to the Payroll system. Think of it as ‘Passing the expense report data baton’!
Expense-Reporting-Payroll-Integration
Here is how it works in steps –
– Once the expense reports are approved within the Gorilla Expense web application, Gorilla Expense can automatically generate 2 files 1) Payroll file precisely in the same format as expected by your payroll provider 2) GL File precisely in the same format as expected by ERP System
– The payroll file can be imported into the Payroll system to issue reimbursement
– The GL file can be imported into the ERP system for GL entries
– If the Payroll system setup for T&E reimbursements is the same as payroll, then the employee will be reimbursed for T&E expenses during the next payroll cycle
Contact us at info@gorillaexpense.com if you have any questions or if we can help you manage this process more efficiently for your company.
In the last few months we have received several questions from our prospects and customers related to deploying our T&E expense reporting application in a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model versus a licensing model. We are one of very few vendors that provide both options to customers.
While SaaS is quickly becoming the model of choice for many, there are good reasons to evaluate the licensing model as well. So how does SaaS really compare to the more traditional licensing model? Well, let’s review some of the typical questions and comments we have seen.
‘We are interested in subscribing to your SaaS model because it is cheaper than licensing it. Is this a valid statement?’
Short answer: Yes.
Generally speaking, an on-premise deployment through licensing requires greater upfront capital investment (CFOs typically amortize this cost as Capex) compared to the SaaS model. And there are several reasons for this – installing expensive hardware & software on-site, requiring resources and personnel to manage the hardware and software, ongoing maintenance expenses, upgrades, support fees and license fees. However with SaaS the company doesn’t have to allocate resources and personnel to manage the application. The additional charges for upgrades, hardware and administration fees are avoided and included in the monthly subscription. Customers simply have to login and go!
What are the benefits of SaaS and Licensing?
The SaaS model gives the buyer immediate business benefits with frequent updates, shorter deployment times and independence from having to maintain an IT team to support the application. There is also an easier adoption and more flexibility for end-users because SaaS vendors typically utilize the latest technology to include mobile apps, web based applications etc. compared to internal IT teams in end-user companies that cannot keep pace with vendors.
Licensing with On-premise deployments have typically provided more integration with existing IT and operational systems. But many SaaS solution providers (including us) now provide seamless integration with several systems. Also, there is always the risk with management of data which might be easier to accomplish in an On-premise model vs SaaS. But then again, vendors like us provide customers with the option of sending them backed-up data periodically to alleviate any concerns.
SaaS or Licensing: which one is more flexible?
That depends – on the company, their operations, availability of resources and personnel and their goals in choosing between the two. Both hosted (through SaaS) and On-premise are scalable, easy to configure and have technical flexibility. However, SaaS is probably more flexible for the end user as there are no limitations in accessing it from anywhere with an internet connection through multiple mechanisms (web, mobile phone, tablet etc.)
Is SaaS still a risky proposition?
Licensing has always been the de-facto model compared to SaaS over the last several decades, at least. Hence SaaS is perceived to be more risky. And the main areas of risk revolve around impact risks such as loss of control, integration challenges and data storage being off-site. The risks with licensing a solution are more related to implementation such as deployment, support and training. And the risk can vary a lot and depends on the company’s operations and structure.
In conclusion, which model is better? Sorry, but there is no one single answer. It really comes down to the business objectives, goals and culture of the company. Some of our customers that have small IT teams have opted for our expense reporting solution in the SaaS model because it is much easier for them to manage. Other customers have opted for the licensing model because they wanted more control and some of them were bound by corporate policies to retain all technology applications and data within the company which is managed On-Premise. So the question really becomes – ‘SaaS vs Licensing: which size fits your company best?’
Additional resources:
* Very nice white paper on ‘On-Premise’ VS. Cloud-based solutions provided by GFI software – Link
* Educational video on Cloud Computing vs. On-Premise Solutions
Contact us for more information or if you have any specific questions we can help answer info@gorillaexpense.com
