Are you tired of the complicated and tedious administration of receipts and expense claims? Do you wish for a way to make the process smoother and more enjoyable – for all parties? Then we have some smart tips for you!
Collecting and gathering receipts, trying to decipher what is written on them, filling in numbers, stapling them together, and submitting them. Waiting for the manager to approve the travel expenses, receiving them back because you missed some details, and starting over again... The administration of travel expenses, receipts, and expense claims can quickly become a time-consuming task and a source of irritation. Luckily, this doesn’t have to be the case – if you replace old manual working routines and outdated systems with the latest digital solutions. Below we have gathered some tips and tricks, smart features, and functions that will help you sharpen the management of your travels and expenses.
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Bring the App With You on the Car Trip
Zoom, Teams, and Skype are great, but sometimes there are situations when you want to have that important meeting in person. And indeed, it can feel nice to spend as little time as possible on administrative hassle during and after the trip. So that instead, you can focus on preparing for your meeting or follow up on what you agreed on when you met. For example, did you know that there are services that allow you to record your car trip digitally – directly on your cell phone? It’s a clever way of keeping track of the distance and duration of your trip.
The principle is simple: You sit in the car, take out your phone and start the recording with a quick tap in the app. When you’ve reached your destination, you simply press Stop. Now, the entire trip, including any stops along the way, has been recorded with the help of satellite positioning. The app not only keeps track of travel time and driving distance but also automatically calculates the reimbursements you are entitled to – so that you don’t have to waste time doing it yourself. After this, add any receipts, and the travel expense claim is ready. Pretty clever, isn’t it? -
No More Receipt Hassle
Honestly, how good are you at taking care of your receipts? Are they often piling up on your desk? Do they end up crumpled and unreadable at the bottom of your bag? Or do you even lose them entirely? Through digital receipt management, you avoid all these issues – just use your cell phone to take a picture directly after your purchase. It’s that easy! In fact, the newest and sharpest expense report systems have even more tricks – so you can get help all the way to the finish line.
For example, many suppliers nowadays offer the possibility to scan and interpret your receipt – speeding up the process even more. This means the app interprets all essential details, such as dates, amounts, and VAT, which will automatically end up in the correct field in the travel expense claim. So, the receipt interpretation means minimal work effort. Just take a quick scan to make sure it looks right, save, and mark it as complete. The manager receives a notification and can approve it with a single click. Done! -
From Card Purchase to Complete Travel Expense Claim in just a Few Clicks
Managing expenses that have been manually paid for with a credit card is often both time-consuming and complicated. The more details you have to enter manually, the greater the risk of miscalculations and mistakes. In other words: there is a lot to gain from digital expense management! Ideally, all expenses that employees make with their card – whether it's for the purchase of office supplies, representation expenses, or expenses for wellness – should easily be retrieved directly into the expense report with just a few clicks.
In addition, in some expense reporting systems, you don’t even have to worry about choosing the correct expense code for the transactions. For example, suppose you pay for your parking with a card. In that case, the system will automatically identify the purchase location – and ensure that the expense is sorted into the correct category in the expense report. Simple, quick, and secure! -
Avoid Surprises with Automatic Reminders
Flexibility at every step – that's what characterizes a genuinely excellent travel expense report system, according to us. Go for functions that simplify the workday not only for the employees but also for the approving manager and payroll department. For instance, many travel expense report systems now have a reminder feature where you can set deadlines with notifications when it's time to mark as done and approve.
In addition, there is usually the opportunity for a manager to flag if a registered travel expense claim contains any errors and quickly bring the employee's attention to what needs to be corrected. A smart way of ensuring that everyone knows what to do and when – and getting rid of all those tedious Post-it notes and reminder emails. -
Travel Expense Claim in the App – Work Whenever, Wherever
Work in the waiting room, on the bus, at the breakfast table, or your customer’s location… Many appreciate the freedom to register travel expenses wherever and whenever they want. For example, you may want to register a few receipts on the go to complete and finalize your travel expense report while you’re at your computer. With an app or cloud solution for your travels and expenses, this won’t be a problem. It’s a smart way of making the job more flexible, smoother, and more enjoyable – thereby also increasing the chances that it will be done now rather than later.
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Easy to Do it Right the First Time
According to us, you shouldn’t need a long education or a heavy manual to fix your travel expense claims – it should just be easy to get it right. Another advantage of choosing a modern digital solution is that the system helps you keep track of all values and amounts correctly, from currencies and VAT rates to allowances and mileage, and that nothing is registered that contradicts the company's policy and regulations.
In the perfect expense report system, even inexperienced users can quickly understand what to do and in what order. If you are choosing between systems, it is therefore a good idea to take a closer look at the user interface. Is there an intuitive flow or built-in support to guide the user step-by-step through the entire flow? Warnings that indicate when a detail has been forgotten or filled in incorrectly? All features that increase the chance of getting it right from the start reduce time-consuming manual work and check procedures afterward.
Regardless of which solution your company uses for travel and expenses today – with this list, you’ve hopefully gained some valuable tips to take with you 😊 Travel safely, and good luck!
Does our perfect expense report system philosophy sound good? In that case, we believe you’ll like Flex HRM Travel – our cloud-based expense report system. Web-based, of course, and comes with a user-friendly mobile app for reporting and approving on the go. You can find support for receipt interpretation, car trip recording, credit card integration, and all the other great features in the list above. The system is suitable for those who want a complete, seamless, overall solution for travels, expenses, receipts, and trip logs – everything you need in one place! Want to know more? Contact us here!
