Need of expense management automation for consulting firms
Traditional expense management tools - spreadsheets, pen-paper, etc. - are losing out at a rapid pace. The rise of software-based expense management tools has transformed the finance industry, beckoning an era where expense management has gone from being a days-long process to one that now only takes a few minutes, or hours at most.
Consultancy firms, in particular, require an expense management tool or solution that is capable of managing expense claims made by their army of consultants. They also require a solution that is smart enough to distinguish between expenses billable to clients and non-client billables.
Expense management solutions available today are capable of easily handling this workload. Now that we know these tools exist, let’s see how they can help consultancy firms with their expense process woes.
Simply put, expense management is an overarching term that covers a large array of business functions. It is used to describe all the processes a business has to follow, and the systems it has in place, in order to process, pay and audit all expenses initiated by employees and vendors.
These expenditures could include a host of different types of purchases. It can include anything, from T&E expenses, food and beverage costs, office supplies to vendor payments, software subscriptions, and so on.
The primary purpose expense management serves in business is the tracking, recording, and analysis of company spend, cash flow, revenue, and expense channels. It includes all the protocols and guidelines to be followed and the tools used to manage a company’s expenses.
The manual expense process is the root cause behind the majority of hurdles a company’s expense management system faces. Not only is it time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive but it is also prone to errors, data loss, misrepresentation, and mismanagement.
In contrast, software-based expense management tools available today can automate most of the heavy lifting and admin work consulting companies would have otherwise had to do manually. These tools can track, record, and reconcile expenses by themselves, without the scope of errors or any delays.
Consultancy companies work with a large array of clients, each requiring individual attention as well as its dedicated team. Handling multiple clients simultaneously, that too with a manual expense management tool is the stuff of nightmares for finance teams.
The best approach to making this whole aspect of business management easier is to automate it. Volopay's expense management automation is capable of consolidating your expenses on one unified platform so that you can handle multiple clients and associated expenditures from one dashboard.
If you’re a consultancy firm there’s always a high probability that your client base is going to be spread across the globe. These clients, again, will probably be making payments and sending invoices in different currencies. Managing multi-currency expenses is another headache. Instead, you can just adopt an expense management tool, like Volopay, that provides multi-currency wallets and exchanges.
Expense management tools are not only gaining popularity because of the services they provide but also because of the perks and benefits they come with. Not only do these platforms streamline the expense management consulting firms do, but they also come with a host of benefits. Volopay offer multiple partner benefits, cashbacks, and as much as in rewards.
Nowadays nearly everything that can be done on the desktop can be done on the phone. As technology advances, adaptability and transferable capabilities of software will go a long way in determining how a company will perform in the long term. Consultants in particular need to be constantly available to their clients.
In this context, the mobile support that expense management tools come with can eradicate the need to use a desktop for your consultants. They can have an expense claim tool at hand at all times, take clients out for dinner or coffee and pay for out-of-pocket expenses directly via the expense management app on their mobile.
Expense management solutions that consultancy companies need might appear to be complex systems that probably involve following a list of protocols before implementation. The truth, however, is much different. All you have to do is onboard the provider and let their teams handle the rest. Not only are these solutions easy to implement, but they also easily sync with your accounting systems, HRM platforms, and other operational software.
Fast processing, reduced errors and delays, easy claims, and impeccable service are only some examples of the benefits expense management tools can bring to your company reputation. These boosts are only going to improve trust in your services and ultimately build relationships with your clients that are amicable and long-lasting.
The bottom line, the most basic reason why consultancy firms need expense management solutions is that they simply eradicate most of the burden manual processing places on your finance teams. By leveraging the power of automation these tools take over the mundane administrative tasks and clear up time and effort for your finance teams to work on more important, value-creating tasks for your company.
Last, but certainly not least, expense management tools need no paper to work. They also replace the paper-based tasks that you were previously needing. Moreover, moving to a digital tool means you not only get to cut down on paper but consequently also storage and resource handling costs.
For firms across industries and markets, the need for expense management solutions has found many proponents. A good expense management tool for consultancy firms will not only cut down on time, money, and effort but will grow into a real asset for the company in the long term.
Volopay has the best expense management software tool, and it is changing how finance works every day. It is a digital one-stop shop for all your expense management woes. With Volopay you can:
- Automate reimbursements, invoice processing, approval workflows, etc.
- Issue corporate cards in both physical and virtual forms to employees.
- Track these cards and all expenses in real-time via a unified expense management dashboard.
- Stay safe and protected from errors and data loss or corruption.
- Enjoy loads of perks and benefits.
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