In Most organizations, travel and entertainment (T&E) expenses are often overlooked as insignificant or inevitable. Because of that, they do not immediately come to mind in the context of traditional supply chains.

Understanding Expenses

Many leading global companies with the most sophisticated ERP systems can provide detail such as the exact quantity, location and price of the smallest component of a commodity in their products supply chain.

The Power of EMA

As is true with any automated process, EMA is about enhancing collaboration, streamlining processes, controlling costs, and enhancing the information exchange within and across organizational boundaries.

Part II:

Functions of Expense Management Automation

Expense Management Automation (EMA) improves expense policy compliance by examining expense items for designed compliance issues. It proactively identifies expenses with missing information, flag out-of-line expenses, and let organizations configure policy compliance specific to company rules.

In addition, EMA solution providers such as iEmployee, ADP, Gelco, and others include features such as automatic workflow and approval processes that accept credit card purchase feeds, as well as disbursement of payments to different accounts, payment notifications, currency conversion, reporting, and data security. Employees can prove what they spent without receipts because any or all company charge credit card transactions from online bills added to expense reports. Employees also need to add out-of-pocket cash expenses and issued a tracking number. The employees put a number on an envelope, send the receipt to accounting, which then marks off receipts received, and approve expenses.

Making Decisions

When choosing an EMA solution, one needs to decide among Web-Based, client/Server, and/or outsourcing models. While each of these options has unique benefits, the selection criteria vary from one organization to another.

iEmployee, for example is a Web-Based Solution provider offering a 100% Web-Based Expense management solution along with time and attendance and HR/Benefits. All the functions (timesheet, HR/benefits, time off, expense management, overtime calculation, etc.) within iEmployee come in a single package with a single user interface and a common database to avoid duplicate entries and improve ease of use. All needed is an internet connection and browser. Users can access iEmployee at any time, anywhere in the world.

ADP provides expense management solutio

As is true with any automated process, EMA is about enhancing collaboration, streamlining processes, controlling costs, and enhancing the information exchange within and across organizational boundaries.

Part II:

Functions of Expense Management Automation

Expense Management Automation (EMA) improves expense policy compliance by examining expense items for designed compliance issues. It proactively identifies expenses with missing information, flag out-of-line expenses, and let organizations configure policy compliance specific to company rules.

In addition, EMA solution providers such as iEmployee, ADP, Gelco, and others include features such as automatic workflow and approval processes that accept credit card purchase feeds, as well as disbursement of payments to different accounts, payment notifications, currency conversion, reporting, and data security. Employees can prove what they spent without receipts because any or all company charge credit card transactions from online bills added to expense reports. Employees also need to add out-of-pocket cash expenses and issued a tracking number. The employees put a number on an envelope, send the receipt to accounting, which then marks off receipts received, and approve expenses.

Making Decisions

When choosing an EMA solution, one needs to decide among Web-Based, client/Server, and/or outsourcing models. While each of these options has unique benefits, the selection criteria vary from one organization to another.

iEmployee, for example is a Web-Based Solution provider offering a 100% Web-Based Expense management solution along with time and attendance and HR/Benefits. All the functions (timesheet, HR/benefits, time off, expense management, overtime calculation, etc.) within iEmployee come in a single package with a single user interface and a common database to avoid duplicate entries and improve ease of use. All needed is an internet connection and browser. Users can access iEmployee at any time, anywhere in the world.

ADP provides expense management soluti

In addition, EMA solution providers such as iEmployee, ADP, Gelco, and others include features such as automatic workflow and approval processes that accept credit card purchase feeds, as well as disbursement of payments to different accounts, payment notifications, currency conversion, reporting, and data security. Employees can prove what they spent without receipts because any or all company charge credit card transactions from online bills added to expense reports. Employees also need to add out-of-pocket cash expenses and issued a tracking number. The employees put a number on an envelope, send the receipt to accounting, which then marks off receipts received, and approve expenses.

Making Decisions

When choosing an EMA solution, one needs to decide among Web-Based, client/Server, and/or outsourcing models. While each of these options has unique benefits, the selection criteria vary from one organization to another.

iEmployee, for example is a Web-Based Solution provider offering a 100% Web-Based Expense management solution along with time and attendance and HR/Benefits. All the functions (timesheet, HR/benefits, time off, expense management, overtime calculation, etc.) within iEmployee come in a single package with a single user interface and a common database to avoid duplicate entries and improve ease of use. All needed is an internet connection and browser. Users can access iEmployee at any time, anywhere in the world.

ADP provides expense management soluti

Making Decisions

When choosing an EMA solution, one needs to decide among Web-Based, client/Server, and/or outsourcing models. While each of these options has unique benefits, the selection criteria vary from one organization to another.

iEmployee, for example is a Web-Based Solution provider offering a 100% Web-Based Expense management solution along with time and attendance and HR/Benefits. All the functions (timesheet, HR/benefits, time off, expense management, overtime calculation, etc.) within iEmployee come in a single package with a single user interface and a common database to avoid duplicate entries and improve ease of use. All needed is an internet connection and browser. Users can access iEmployee at any time, anywhere in the world.

ADP provides expense management soluti

ADP provides expense management solution using client/server technology. ADP offers an integrated expense solution with other functions such as time and attendance, payroll and HR/Benefits. While ADP offers a complete solution, each of these packages are different solutions with different databases and a different look and feel. This approach could be useful for companies with a strong IT background and enough IT staff to manage it.

Gelco, on other hand, has a different approach to its expense management solution. Gelco provides complete outsourcing of expense management which not just software but the work force to handle the expenses. This approach could be more useful for large companies that wish to outsource the entire expense management function.

EMA yields Quick ROI

Whatever options chosen; in today economic environment, EMA is a viable means for companies to achieve their bottom-line goals. Deploying a Web-Based, client/server or outsourced expense management system allow companies to eliminate paperwork inefficiencies. EMA solutions provide policy compliance and approval mechanisms that are missing in some of today have most sophisticated ERP systems. Best of all, some of the Web-Based solutions require no IT or implementation investment, and ROI can be realized immediately.