Document your true TCO for expense management

The real cost of expense management is not the licence

TL;DRThe real cost of expense management goes far beyond the licence price. A fair Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model should compare suppliers consistently across 3–5 years and include subscriptions, implementation, integrations, support, internal hours, compliance, data and exit costs. When you put a price on friction and manual work, the true financial value of automation becomes much easier to see.

There is a particular silence in the finance department when a new system is being selected.

The quote is on the table. Licence prices look reasonable. The presentation promises simplicity.

And yet, you know it.

It is rarely the licence itself that blows the budget. It is everything that comes with it: internal hours, integration work, small fees that add up, and the cost of getting out when the day comes to move on.

If you want to compare Visma Acubiz with alternatives such as SAP Concur and Pleo on a fair basis, you need a TCO model (Total Cost of Ownership) that can stand up to both management's questions and the auditor's scrutiny. Over a 3–5-year period.

Here are three things to focus on:

Create one standard model for total cost of ownership – and use it consistently across all suppliers
Make pricing models comparable: cost per user, per transaction, per integration, per volume of data and per support level
Include what you experience in practice: internal hours, operations, compliance, integration usage and switching costs

A closer look

1) One model. No special rules.

Start with fixed categories so you are always calculating the same things:

Subscription and licences
Implementation (configuration, training, testing)
Support and operations
Integration with corporate cards and banking connections
Data storage and receipt retention (documentation)
Integration with your finance system and other core systems
Traceability and documentation for audits
Switching and termination costs (exit)

When everything is presented in the same format, “cheap” and “expensive” become something you can document – not something you simply have a feeling about.

2) Make prices comparable, even when suppliers don't

Some charge per user. Others charge per transaction. Some bundle functionality into modules, add-ons and different support levels.

The solution is simple in principle: Define unit prices and expected volumes over 3–5 years, so you can compare like with like. How many users? How many expense claims? How many integrations? How much data? What level of support?

Market experience shows that total costs can increase significantly as volumes grow, or when premium support and additional packages become necessary. Your model should therefore show what happens as your organisation grows – not just what it costs on day one.

3) Put a price on friction

The same classic problems appear across many organisations: excessive administration time, manual processes, lost receipts, late expense registration at month-end, slow approvals and limited visibility.

These aren't “soft” problems. They are staff costs, errors and a month-end close that takes longer than it should.

Make them concrete in your model. For example, ask:

How much does your expense approval process cost in internal hours each month?
How many receipts require manual data entry or additional processing?
What do corrections, payment reminders and additional controls actually cost you?

The fundamental point is this: It is easier to allocate and manage a cost when it occurs than to fix it afterwards. This is also where the true financial value of the solution often lies.

When calculating TCO, you should therefore look beyond the system price and consider the value of bookkeeping-ready data, rules that are enforced automatically, and card integration that reduces manual work. This is typically where expense management can make a real difference to both time and risk.

And remember: expense claims rarely exist in isolation. If you also have bottlenecks in invoice processing, they need to be included in the calculation. Otherwise, you risk optimising one area only to move the work somewhere else.

Peace of mind

TCO isn't a spreadsheet for show. It is your insurance against hidden costs.

Build a model that is fair and consistent across all suppliers. Use realistic volumes. Include internal hours. And factor in exit costs from the start.

That gives you peace of mind – and a decision-making framework that still holds when the silence in the meeting room is replaced by the question: Why did we choose this solution in the first place?