5 Questions for You, CFO! | Visma Acubiz

The CFO’s role is particularly challenging during the year-end process, as it involves reviewing all departmental budgets, financial statements, efficiency, and much more. For the Finance department, this encompasses both accounts receivable and accounts payable, as well as the tools and processes necessary to produce accurate year-end financial results. This is no small task, so we’re here to equip you to tackle expense management in the best possible way!

TL;DRAs year-end approaches, Acubiz challenges CFOs to audit five critical aspects of their expense management: the hours lost to manual processing, the accuracy of their reporting, their compliance posture, the integration quality of their tools, and how well their current setup supports strategic decision-making. Automated expense management frees finance teams to move from routine administration to value-adding analysis.

How much time does your team spend on manual expense management?

Accounting tasks are often manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors. Consider how many hours your employees spend creating, reviewing, and processing expense reports each month. This can and should be optimized and automated.

Automated expense management solutions don’t replace employees; they empower them to be more productive and spend more time on value-added tasks, enhancing employee satisfaction and delivering better results for the business.

Imagine if your team spent 15-30 minutes per expense report. In smaller organizations, this could amount to over 10 hours of work per week for a single accountant. That’s a quarter of an employee’s working hours in a single week. This doesn’t create added value for the company; it’s a routine task that needs to be done efficiently.

The time spent on manual and labor-intensive expense management administration could be redirected toward strategic and business-critical tasks that create value for the company. Automating your expense management process would achieve precisely that.

How do you ensure accuracy and visibility in your expense management?

Are your expense reports prone to errors? How do you keep track of employees’ receipts and expenses? Consider solutions like Acubiz, which digitize the process and ensure accuracy through:

• OCR technology: Scan receipts with optical character recognition for precise data entry.
• Digital archiving: Store expense documents electronically for easy access and prevention of loss.
• Automated approvals: Implement automated approval processes based on company policies.
• Real-time reporting: Gain ongoing insights into expenses for swift action.
• Analysis and reporting: Use analytics tools to identify savings opportunities.
• Regular auditing: Review the process regularly to uncover errors and weaknesses.
• Employee training: Ensure employees are trained in the system and policies.
• Supplier control: Collaborate with suppliers for accurate invoices.
• Data quality: Maintain consistent expense coding for accurate reporting.

How do you track expenses and costs in real-time?

Can you easily access detailed, real-time information on expenses, approvals, and status?

An Acubiz expense management solution provides you with insights into each expense process, from submission to approval, control, and payment. Furthermore, it allows you to categorize expenses by department, cost, category, or any other relevant factor.

If you’re curious about which department incurs the most expenses, whether the highest spending is on fuel or air travel, or which expense category represents the most significant cost factor for the business, you can find out with Acubiz. This insight provides valuable information for making informed decisions and reporting on expenses.

Consider the value of having a unified expense management platform that offers instant insights.

How do you optimize your vendor relationships with your expense management provider?

• Continuous Evaluation: Regularly review your suppliers to ensure the best price and terms. Assess whether your current suppliers still meet your needs and if there are opportunities for improvements or savings.
• Process Automation: Implement automated solutions to negotiate and optimize processes. Automation of expense management can reduce errors, increase efficiency, and free up resources for more strategic tasks such as supplier negotiations.
• Data Insights: Use insights from the expense management solution to analyze expense patterns, volume, and trends. These insights provide a better understanding of expense categories and opportunities for savings that can strengthen your negotiation positions.
• Strategic Negotiations: Use accurate information from the expense management solution to negotiate more strategically with suppliers. Present fact-based arguments based on past expenses and volume to achieve better prices and terms.
• Supplier Dialogue: Establish an open dialogue with suppliers and share data and insights about the collaboration. Discuss opportunities to optimize processes and achieve mutual benefits through collaboration.
• Focus on Quality: Ensure consistent coding of expenses for accurate reporting and analysis. This ensures greater transparency and precision in expense data.
• Continuous Adaptation: Choose an expense management solution that can adapt to changes in your company’s needs and supplier structure. This allows for quick responses to changes and better results.

By considering these points and leveraging the expense management solution as a strategic partner, you can optimize supplier relationships, achieve savings, and create mutual value for both your company and your supplier.

How do you simplify the year-end financial close and reporting?

Are the last months of the fiscal year stressful for you and your department?

Closing financial transactions can be an intimidating and time-consuming task. However, you can make it less burdensome for you and your department. Automated expense management solutions help you keep track of expenses and receipts or invoices by digitally storing them, allowing you to easily retrieve the necessary information and documents at the end of the fiscal year. No need to chase loose papers or ask employees to submit their expenses on time.

And if you ever face an audit, the process will go smoothly thanks to digital documentation.

What can you, as CFO, take away from this article?

As CFO, there are several crucial questions to ask yourself to ensure efficient expense management that can optimize value for your employees.

By considering the time and costs spent on manual tasks, accuracy and visibility in expense management, and simplification at the end of the financial year, you can strategically improve your company’s performance while freeing up resources for more value-added tasks. With the right insights, automation, and collaboration with solutions like Acubiz, you can transform your expense management into a seamless and value-creating process.

Acubiz is one of the many excellent solutions in this field and has been helping companies digitize and streamline expense management processes for over 25 years.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time does manual expense management actually cost a finance team?

Research and Acubiz's own findings suggest it takes approximately 15 to 30 minutes to process a single expense report manually. In a smaller organization, this can add up to more than 10 hours of work per week for one accountant, which is roughly a quarter of their working hours spent on routine administration rather than value-added tasks.

How does Acubiz ensure accuracy in expense reporting?

Acubiz uses OCR technology to scan receipts and extract data with optical character recognition, reducing manual keying errors. Expenses are stored digitally with all documentation attached, and automated validation flags discrepancies before they reach the approver. This significantly reduces the error rate compared to paper-based or spreadsheet-based processes.

What should a CFO review about expense management at year end?

Five key areas: the time your team spends on manual processing, the accuracy and audit trail of your expense data, compliance with internal policies and tax rules, the integration between your expense tool and finance system, and whether the data from expenses is informing strategic decisions. Gaps in any of these areas are good targets for automation investment.

Can expense management automation help with regulatory compliance?

Yes. Automated systems enforce company policies and bookkeeping requirements at the point of submission, not after. Acubiz applies rules around receipt documentation, VAT categorization, and per diem limits automatically, which means finance teams spend less time chasing corrections and auditors face a cleaner, fully documented record.