Maximize Your Business Efficiency with Expense Management
One way to achieve business efficiency is by having a record of your cash flow and one way to do this is through implementing an expense management strategy. A few years ago, managing expenses was a chaotic, time-consuming process for many businesses. With employees using personal cards to make work-related payments, it was virtually impossible to track all related expenses.
One way to achieve business efficiency is by having a record of your cash flow and one way to do this is through implementing an expense management strategy.
A few years ago, managing expenses was a chaotic, time-consuming process for many businesses. With employees using personal cards to make work-related payments, it was virtually impossible to track all related expenses.
As a result, business owners were often left with no choice but to pull their hair out when it came time for expense report submission. Even with receipts in hand, spending patterns weren’t always straightforward. And the process of tracking down all those receipts would prove to be frustrating at some point.
Today, however, businesses have access to various innovative tools that streamline the expense management process and provide greater visibility into spending habits.
Such tools include expense tracking apps that are specifically designed to track all expenses made and centralized expense management platforms that allow employees to spend, upload expense receipts and generate reports electronically.
And a good example of an all-in-one centralized platform that removes clutter and inefficiency of traditional expense management platforms and puts you back in control is Boya.
However, what is this expense management platform?
How does it work?
And what does it mean to your business? Keep reading to learn more.
What Is a Centralized Expense Management platform?
A centralized expense management platform is a consolidated platform that combines transactions from multiple channels into a single platform where users can easily monitor all their spending. Considering Boya, for instance, businesses in Kenya can monitor any payments they make via channels like Bank and M-Pesa on a single dashboard so they have better control of how everyone – including employees – uses their funds at any given time.
Each employee typically has their own spending record, and the management can allocate the desired limit to ensure controlled expenditure.
How Centralized Expense Management platforms Work
With the Boya expense management platform, you can turn a tedious reporting process into a relatively seamless one. But how does centralized expense management work?
The process starts with making payments to different channels like bank and M-Pesa from one dashboard. The expenses are tracked and recorded in the platform. Receipts can be captured in real-time by taking a photo and uploading it to the platform via the app. The platform then generates the expense reports in a matter of clicks, which then eliminates the stress of creating an expense report.
Boya gives you real-time access to your business expense record. Plus, you can download the expense report for offline use at any given time.
Ways a Centralized Expense Management platform Will Steer Your Business Growth
Improving Spending Visibility and Control
Centralized expense management platforms provide complete visibility into where and how much money is being spent. You will be able to identify any irregularities, such as spending on items you don’t need for your business or employees exceeding their budget limits when purchasing supplies or equipment.
Ultimately, when you have full visibility into your company’s expenses, you will gain more control over its spending habits, a key practice for business growth.
Analytics Tools Can Reveal New Opportunities and Threats in Your Market
According to research, more than half of businesses experience cash flow problems each month. So without a proper platform in place to track expenses, it can be hard to tell where your money is going and what areas need improvement.
A centralized expense management solution will give you access to analytics tools that can shed light on your spending habits and help you identify threats and opportunities in your market.
You might also be shocked to discover that some categories have been taking up too much of your budget or discover ways to cut costs in a particular area. These insights will help you make smarter decisions about where to invest and where to cut back.
Help With Cash Flow Management
Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business. A healthy cash flow means being able to pay employees, vendors, and other bills on time and having money left over for reinvesting in the business. Cash flow problems can result from late payments from customers or poor expense management.
A centralized expense management platform can help you avoid these issues by providing real-time visibility into how much money is coming in, how much is to be spent and how much is available for future expenses. This will help you monitor and manage your cash flow more effectively which ultimately amounts to business growth.
Reduce Expenses Through Greater Efficiency
When you centralize expense management, you effectively create a single source of truth for all your finances. This allows you to see all the expenses incurred by your organization in one place, which makes it easier to analyze and take action accordingly.
Additionally, you could optimize costs through better planning or negotiate better terms with suppliers and vendors. Ultimately, this helps you identify ways to reduce expenses and save your business revenue.
Reduce Errors and Fraud
The first feature that you should look for in an expense management solution is the ability to automate data entry. You can upload receipts from various sources, including your email, mobile apps, and cloud storage.
Your employees will no longer need to type out long descriptions of their expenses or key in amounts from receipts. This reduces the risk of errors, fraud, and human error. In addition, your employees won’t need to spend as much time reporting. They can instead focus on more productive tasks.
Streamline Reporting
In addition to reducing errors, Boya makes it easier to track all your expenses. You’ll be able to access all the information you need in one place, rather than searching through piles of paper receipts.
This will make it easier for you to analyze your spending patterns and identify areas where you can save money. Plus, you’ll be able to spot any potential problems sooner and take corrective action before they become worse.
Save Time and Effort
A centralized expense management platform allows employees to submit their expenses online in minutes by uploading relevant receipts. This saves time for both the employees and their managers, who no longer need to manually check each receipt or wait for employees to submit paper-based expenses reports.
It also saves time for your finance team, who no longer need to spend hours reconciling accounts and preparing cheques. A central repository of all expenses helps them get accurate insights into company spending without working overtime.
When you have one common place where all your company expenses are recorded and managed, it becomes easier for your finance team to do budget tracking and forecasting — things that help you make smarter business decisions.
Bottom Line
In a nutshell, a centralized expense management platform streamlines all your business finances into one central location. This makes it easier for you to manage expenses in all departments of your company.
For instance, using an online expense management tool like Boya, which provides you with a central hub for all your employee expense reports, simplifies your work. In the end, Boya will help you make better spending decisions that will ensure maximum growth to your business.