Annual T&E Outlook and Benchmarks
Expense Management insights from leading finance Professionals.
With results from more than 500 CFOs, controllers and finance professionals (non-customers),
the Certify 2016 Expense Management Trends report offers analysis on the state of expense management
today, plus a preview of where things are headed in 2016.
Review complete 2016 survey data below. You can also download the 2016 survey infographic and white
paper for additional insights and trend analysis.
View the infographic version of the 2016 Expense Management Trends Report
Demographics
The 2016 Expense Management Trends report collected responses from 508 CFOs, controllers and accounting
professionals with direct responsibility for expense management.
Role in Expense Reporting
Controller/CFO/Other - I report on company T&E expenses |
61% |
Accountant - I approve/reimburse expense reports |
14% |
Manager - I approve expense reports on behalf of my employees |
14% |
End user - I submit expense reports |
11% |
Title/Position in Company
Owner, CEO, CFO, CIO, Vice President and Director |
46% |
Manager, Controller and Accountant |
45% |
Accounting Staff, Administrator and Consultant |
9% |
Company Size
Small Business (fewer than 100 employees) |
46% |
Midsized Companies (101 -999 employees) |
45% |
Enterprise (1000+ employees) |
9% |
Current State of Expense Management
Survey participants were asked about the various systems they currently use to manage expense reporting,
features and integrations, processing costs, and compliance and policy enforcement practices.
What system or process are you currently using to manage expense reporting?
Web-based solution (Concur, IBM, etc.) |
38% |
Microsoft Excel/Spreadsheets |
35% |
Pen and paper |
10% |
Homegrown Solution |
5% |
ERP/accounting package (Oracle, SAP, etc.) |
12% |
*Any process that uses Excel spreadsheets, pen and paper, or homegrown solutions is considered to be manual |
Current Systems—Trending
System |
2014 |
2015 |
Web-based |
37% |
35% |
Manual |
43% |
50% |
ERP |
19% |
15% |
Expense Management Systems—Small Business
Web-based solution (Concur, IBM, etc.) |
22% |
Microsoft Excel/Spreadsheets |
55% |
Pen and paper |
10% |
Homegrown Solution |
4% |
ERP/accounting package (Oracle, SAP, etc.) |
9% |
Expense Management Systems—Mid-Sized Companies
Web-based solution (Concur, IBM, etc.) |
37% |
Microsoft Excel/Spreadsheets |
37% |
Pen and paper |
9% |
Homegrown Solution |
4% |
ERP/accounting package (Oracle, SAP, etc.) |
13% |
Expense Management Systems—Enterprise
Web-based solution (Concur, IBM, etc.) |
46% |
Microsoft Excel/Spreadsheets |
16% |
Pen and paper |
4% |
Homegrown Solution |
6% |
ERP/accounting package (Oracle, SAP, etc.) |
28% |
Which features does your current expense report system offer?
Direct deposit via ACH |
54% |
Automated expense report build technology |
40% |
Mobile receipt-capture technology |
36% |
Mobile report creation and approval |
35% |
Instant reporting and analytics |
30% |
Live and online support for all users |
26% |
Multi-language, multi-curency capabilities |
25% |
Integrated travel booking technology |
24% |
Which of the following integrations are you using or do you plan to implement with your travel and exense management system?
Feature |
Currently Implemented |
Will Implement |
No Plan to Implement |
Credit Card Feed |
49% |
20% |
31% |
ERP (Oracle, SAP, etc.) |
29% |
21% |
50% |
CRM (Slesforce, etc.) |
8% |
14% |
78% |
A/P |
49% |
24% |
27% |
General Ledger |
52% |
25% |
23% |
Workforce Management |
15% |
16% |
69% |
Meeting/Event Management |
8% |
12% |
80% |
What is the average cost to process a single expense report at your organization?
Under $7 per report |
28% |
$10 - $20 per report |
19% |
$25 or more per report |
5% |
We do not track these costs |
48% |
How does your company currently manage travel bookings?
Online travel sites |
36% |
Corporate travel software |
11% |
Travel agency/agent |
16% |
Combination of above |
37% |
T&E Policy
Does your organization have a written travel policy in place?
Yes |
85% |
No |
13% |
I don’t know |
2% |
If you have a policy, how does your company enforce its travel policy? (select all that apply)
Manually check each expense, matching it to corporate policy |
43% |
It is the responsibility of the employee to comply with T&E policy |
31% |
System automatically flags out of policy expenses for review |
26% |
Manually, only reviewing expenses with a high value |
20% |
Our T&E policy is not enforced |
6% |
How does your company set T&E policy maximums for meals, hotel and airfare?
We do not have expense category limits |
25% |
Based on internal historical spending |
25% |
Follow U.S. GSA per rate guidelines |
24% |
Determined by annual budgeting process |
20% |
Other |
6% |
What is the average length of time from when an expense report is submitted to when reimbursement is received?
1 - 3 days |
24% |
4 - 7 days |
39% |
8 - 12 days |
22% |
21 - 30 days |
5% |
Over 1 month |
1% |
Expense Management Pain Points
What are your biggest pain points related to expense management? (select all that apply)
Employees losing paper receipts/submitting without receipts |
50% |
Employees failure to submit reports on time |
45% |
Time it takes to reconcile, review and approve reports |
38% |
Reviewing for policy violations |
30% |
Errors on expense reports (incorrect codes, amounts, etc.) |
28% |
Reconciling the data |
27% |
Lack of tansparency/visibility into expense report data |
19% |
Negative impact on company-wide budgeting or bookkeeping |
7% |
Other |
3% |
What are the top pressures driving your organization to improve travel and expense management? (select all that apply)
Poor visibility into expense data (spending, compliance rates, etc.) |
37% |
Lack of control over T&E |
33% |
Need to reduce expense report processing costs |
32% |
Lengthy reimbursement times |
19% |
Frequent instances of non-compliant travel/expenses |
16% |
Negative impact on company-wide budgeting or bookkeeping |
11% |
Lack of business traveler productivity |
11% |
T&E Areas of Improvement
Which of the following does your organization see as the most critical to improve in 2015?
Expense management process |
37% |
Transparency/visibility into reporting data |
21% |
Travel booking |
11% |
Mobility/mobile access |
10% |
Systems and data integration |
9% |
Software deployment |
3% |
Improving T&E Expense Management
Questions in this section of the survey were designed to understand the driving forces, considerations and implementation timelines for those companies
planning to switch expense management systems.
Is your organization planning to migrate to a cloud based expense management software?
Yes |
14% |
We’re evaluating vendors |
29% |
No, we will not be switching |
55% |
We have already made the switch |
2% |
If you are planning to upgrade your system, how soon do you plan to make the switch?
within the next 6 months? |
33% |
6-12 months |
29% |
12-24 months |
26% |
24-36 months |
12% |
What are the driving forces behind moving to a cloud-based/online expense management solution provider? (select all that apply)
Simplifying the expense reporting process for employees and managers |
38% |
Provide expense system accessibility from anywhere |
20% |
Gain reporting and analytics around T&E spend |
20% |
Improve employee compliance rates to corporate travel policies |
13% |
Reimburse employees faster |
11% |
Bring multiple finance and HR systems into one |
9% |
Increase frequency of expense report submission |
8% |
If you plan to move to a cloud-expense system, what benefits does your organization hope to achieve (select all that apply)
Faster reimbursements for employees |
7% |
Increased frequency of expense reports submitted by employees |
14% |
Increased insight into travel and entertainment spend |
24% |
Decreased/elimination of manual data entry |
32% |
The Reduction or elimination of Excel/spreadsheets |
34% |
Reduced time spent creating and approving expense reports |
37% |
All of the above |
39% |
When selecting a cloud-based expense management system, what are the most important features for your company? (select all that apply)
Simplicity/ease of use for employees |
66% |
Expense management automation |
53% |
Mobile applications/accessibility |
43% |
Integration with HR/finance systems |
37% |
Reporting and insight into spend |
36% |
Functionality to enforce travel policy |
33% |
Rapid deployment and onboarding |
25% |
Integrated travel booking solution |
23% |
Benefits of switching to an automated system
For those companies that upgraded expense management systems, questions were asked about the benefits they achieved, as
well as tactics and timelines for realizing a return on investment.
As a result of switching to a cloud-expense system or ERP, has your organization experienced any of the following benefits?
Faster reimbursements for employees |
39% |
Increased frequency of expense reports submitted by employees |
22% |
Increased insight into travel and entertainment spend |
37% |
Decreased/elimination of manual data entry |
42% |
The Reduction or elimination of Excel/spreadsheets |
44% |
Reduced time spent creating and approving expense reports |
42% |
All of the above |
32% |
Since implementing a cloud-expense solution or ERP system, how long did it take to recoup the initial investment (ROI)?
Less than 6 months? |
33% |
7-12 months |
41% |
13-24 months |
18% |
24-36 months |
8% |
All companies |
74% |
Small business |
87% |
Mid-sized companies |
74% |
Enterprise |
66% |
All companies |
92% |
Small business |
87% |
Mid-sized companies |
93% |
Enterprise |
91% |
What are the ways you were able to chieve a return on investment from a new expense management system? (select all that apply)
Improved efficiency/expense reporting process |
58% |
Reduction in processing costs (less paper, postage, storage, etc.) |
53% |
Increased employee productivity |
26% |
Elimiation of payment for duplicate expenses |
22% |
Reduction in overhead/staffing requirements |
22% |
Travel booking control (pre-trip authorization, etc.) |
21% |
Reduction in fraudulent expenses |
16% |
More accurate mileage tracking/mapping |
15% |
Since switching to expense report automation, are you using the system (data, integrations, etc.) to enhance
any of the following accounting and/or finance-related functions? (select all that apply)
Annual budgeting and planning |
44% |
Auditing |
43% |
Invoicing and payments |
39% |
Regular forecasting (monthly, quarterly, etc.) |
28% |
Financial reporting (Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC, etc.) |
25% |
Procurement/vendor negotiations |
18% |
Identifying asset misappropriation (fraud) |
14% |