What the heck is an expense management tool? And what difference does it make to a construction contractor – or the contractor’s accounting team?
Back in the Day
A long time ago, I was introduced to the concept of expense management. But I didn’t know it. You see, all I knew was that my employer reimbursed me for the company-related expenses I accrued during my workday. And it was a mess!
Every single receipt had to be kept somewhere – in a sun visor clip, in the glove box, crumpled in my wallet, stashed in a pocket. You get it.
Sometimes I forgot to get a receipt. Other times I wasn’t sure if a sales ticket qualified for reimbursement – so sometimes I included it in the packet, hoping the bean counters could sort it out.
And I found out about at least one coworker who routinely and regularly stuffed the receipt process by writing his own receipts at will. (BTW, this ne’er-do-well was caught because of his use of a single sequentially numbered receipt book. Well, well, well!)
As I said, it was a mess.
The Other Side of the Coin
What I never even considered was the bean counters mentioned above. What happened to the many weekly receipts that my coworkers and I turned in wasn’t even on my radar.
Of course, now I get it — data entry at its finest. Someone had to record all the important stuff and dollar amounts On. A. Piece. Of. Paper.
The word spreadsheet comes to mind.
Pencil, paper, eraser, calculator, and a person with at least a modicum of detail orientation and number proficiency were the tools of choice.
Along Came the Computer
At first, the expense management change that came with computers was that the spreadsheet moved from paper to screen. The pencil and eraser were abandoned for a keyboard. And the calculator still retained its position of importance on each member of the accounting team’s desks.
Paper receipts were still lords-of-the-land.
On one side, collect them, save them, submit them, then be reimbursed. On the other side, receive them, sort them, check to see if they’re correct, enter them, submit them for approval, cut the checks, then hand out or mail them to the right person. *Whew!*
Still, a bit of a mess, wouldn’t you say?
Then Along Came . . .
Then along came the hero of this story – the Expense Management app. Do you hear the angels singing?
So, what should a modern Expense Management tool do for you? Well, all the above-mentioned both-sides-of-the-coin steps AND:
Rank as affordable
Be user friendly
Integrate with existing accounting and administrative systems
Catch duplicates
Notice manual errors
Analyze overall expenses
Control excessive spending
Reject out of policy expenses
Guide multi-level approvals
In other words – save time, effort, and money
The Big (and simple) Deal
In just a few words, what an Expense Management tool does for construction contractors is aid in the processing, auditing, and paying employee-initiated expenses. Want to know more? Get in touch.
Construction Contractors look to The Profit Constructors to provide advocacy in dealing with:
Clients and customers
Employees and subcontractors
Vendors and service providers
Governmental entities
Working with The Profit Constructors gives Construction Contractors the means to organize their operations in ways that help them:
Remain informed
Avoid hassles
Reduce risks
Be future-ready
Ready for action? Or want to know more? Get in touch today to schedule a complimentary discovery call. 866-629-7735
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