This blog post is part of the eBook T&E Best Practices Every Manufacturing Company Should Know. You can download it here.
Some finance teams hesitate to switch from manual processes to automated expense management systems because they're worried about seamless integration and adoption.
This is a valid fear — often, employees are attached to a process even if it's not the best solution.
Thankfully, your manufacturing company can choose expense management software that facilitates easy employee adoption. The more user-friendly features baked into T&E expense software, the more likely your employees will be enthusiastic about using them.
This facilitates your team to create efficient processes, even when everyone isn't in the same physical location. Look for a product that has these intuitive features, with little need for employee training or reinforcement:
High-quality implementation and support
Make sure to look for a company that offers first-in-class implementation and support so that you have an account manager to turn to when questions arise. Companies that offer webinars and onboarding sessions lead to a seamless transition for your team (and the employees who make the switch).
Automated approvals, rejections, and policies
When employees submit out of policy T&E expenses, this creates a time-consuming and costly challenge that frustrates both finance teams and employees alike. A 2019 survey conducted by Certify found that nearly half of the organizations reported less than a 75% compliance rate with their T&E policy.
Look for a solution that bakes expense policies into the software. That way, employees know what the policy is upfront. Automated rules that drive approvals or rejections save the finance team plenty of time and prevent employees from making the same mistake over and over again before it's caught.
A user-friendly mobile app
Remote team coordination and mobile-friendly expense software go hand-in-hand. Your team will appreciate switching from manual to automated when they can submit and receive reimbursement even faster through a convenient mobile app.
Make sure the expense report solution you choose has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface, so you won't have to spend much time on training — or convince them about the benefits of using it.
Expense submission that auto-populates data
The faster the process, the less likely employees will put off the task of submitting expense reports. Technology like Certify's auto-populates data from receipts, meaning employees don't even have to type in most of the information.
This makes T&E expense software adoption more seamless for them, and it saves the finance team time on manually inputted errors.
These travel-friendly features make it easier for employees in the manufacturing sector to adopt a new expense software solution and finance teams to enforce expense policies. If you're still worried about getting all employees on board, Cerity's eBook includes some easy plug-and-play answers that will help convince them.