12 January 2023
In 2022, countries started to open up again, and there was an undeniable upsurge in the number of people claiming expenditures. But what expense management trends can businesses expect in 2023?
In comparison to 2020, the corporate world is drastically different now. The way businesses operate, how their employees are paid, and how they use corporate funds have all altered during the past several years. While there has been a fast transition from traditional on-site job profiles to hybrid and remote work settings, there has also been a significant change in how businesses manage company spending.
In 2022, countries started to open up again, and there was an undeniable upsurge in the number of people claiming expenditures. But what expense management trends can businesses expect in 2023? The following are some areas that businesses might want to consider:
Driving Further Efficiency In Finance Departments
The efficiency of financial departments should be a priority for businesses, which are growing overall. Technology is being used widely and quickly to advance this development. When things change quickly, those who can adapt and those who dare to think unconventionally and are willing to question accepted solutions are the ones that succeed in the future.
For many businesses, calculating expenses is a laborious procedure that could be readily automated. Businesses should invest in software that makes it simple to submit expense claims, approve reimbursement requests, and generate reports. The organization will save time and money by using an app-based solution that enables on-the-spot expense claims and technologies for receipt analysis.
When purchasing tickets or hotels, make sure the solution can connect to the company credit cards directly to the cost management platform. The transactions are delivered straight to the app in this manner. The firm payroll system should be integrated with the cost management software to further streamline the process. Both the payroll staff and those using the expense solution will benefit from a significant time savings as a result. Everyone in the firm will benefit from it, creating a win-win situation.
Make The Move To Completely Digitize The Expense Management Process
The concept of totally digitalizing the expenditure management process has been around for a while, but have all businesses actually made the transition? The significance of having effective spending management is increased by working remotely and being continuously on the road. The management and reporting of expenses, mileage reimbursement, allowances, and benefits must be quick and easy for employees. Additionally, supervisors must have a reliable method for monitoring and approving staff costs. Therefore, in 2023, businesses should put a lot of effort into streamlining the entire expenditure management process, from the point at which an employee makes a purchase to the point at which it is paid and recorded.
Using an expense management solution with interfaces to various bank cards, automatic validation, and the capability to send reports to a number of the company’s systems is one approach to accomplish this. These are tasks that free up time for workers and reduce the likelihood of accounting errors, which frees up time for managers and guarantees accurate bookkeeping and salary payments.
Employees No Longer Need Expert Knowledge In Certain Areas
The shift is obvious when discussing administration in general: it is no longer solely administered by experts. Every employee makes use of both HR and finance software. The importance of systems having automated processes with their own intelligence (AI) and becoming faster and more secure is increasing. Employees do need to possess expert knowledge, but the system takes care of that for them. Instead of performing manual inspections, experts will be able to act on automatic warnings and devote their time to other value-adding activities.
Many financial professionals are hopeful that by 2023, the entire process will be moving rapidly rather than just the administration. Employees should be able to directly enter purchases made for the workplace, such as coffee, as a cost in their expense tool rather than having to wait until their next paycheck to be paid out and see a loss in their bank account. Future solutions must be intuitive, with a heavy emphasis on usability and built-in help, since most users won’t be system specialists who utilize them on a daily basis. Additionally, they must be simple to use, which entails being connected to other commonplace tools as well as functioning effectively on smartphones.
The user now determines the requirements, according to finance leaders. When businesses choose to outsource their investment in digital systems in the past, the main goals were gathering and simplifying. Usability is now becoming more and more in demand. Because expenses are frequently entered while in motion and can be calculated automatically with the help of AI, the system must be adjusted to the user’s current demands. Because it is simple to accomplish, the user shouldn’t need to be aware of complicated VAT regulations or how allowances should be recorded.
The Need For Processes That Facilitate Both Users And Admins
After the pandemic, remote work has resumed, and travel and representation have also resumed. Because of this, businesses require sound procedures that support the needs of users and administrators who work from home offices and do not have the same possibilities to scan receipts or give those receipts to the finance department.
Budgets become more constrained by inflation and rising prices, thus you need tools to regulate certification flows and approval procedures. Businesses require tried-and-true cloud-based technologies that give them cost management and boost user productivity. More businesses will digitise their expense management procedures in 2023.
This is due to the pressure that an unpredictable financial environment imposes on businesses. Businesses will increasingly adopt process-optimizing technology, such as expense management solutions, as they can no longer tolerate slow procedures with significant alternative costs, such as lost time.
Customers increasingly want the ability to select and connect their favorite systems and apps because expectations for technology are always shifting. The expense management industry will start to see the effects of this transition in 2023. Banks, financial systems, expenditure management solutions, and customers all want to use their preferred payment method.
With a spreadsheet, managing little spending can be just about possible. However, an integrated expense app is the only sensible solution as the number of charges climbs into the tens, hundreds, and thousands. All employees’ demands must be met by effective expense management programs, which should also give finance teams control and be compatible with existing banks and systems.
All in all, these are the anticipated 2023 financial industry trends for expense management. It is clear from the key topics mentioned above, that businesses are rethinking their conventional finance operations and looking for solutions to streamline spend management. Businesses are now examining their financial stack and requesting better solutions that interface with their system rather than depending on what has historically been provided. From this, it is clear that business owners want to take back control of their corporate expense management software.
