Here are some tips on
Governance
Here’s more on how to govern your company’s spending, saving money and time, and preventing errors, waste and fraud
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Old-fashioned manual processes keep you from seeing your organization’s spending for weeks, maybe even months. When it’s hidden, you can’t see how much it’s costing you or where you’re vulnerable.
Hidden Spending Revealed
Policy?
What policy?
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Who knows where the policy is?
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I’m looking at the policy, but I can’t tell how it applies to this!
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This was out of policy, but it was spent weeks ago!
I can't see how much cash we have left!
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What have we spent so far?
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How much do we have left?
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What do we tell the regulators?
We spent HOW much? On WHAT??!!
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We needed that last quarter, but we don’t need it again this quarter!
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Our old office chairs were fine for another five years!
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Uh, oh! This just doesn’t add up!
5%
5%
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates 5% revenue loss per year due to errors.
Chapter 1
Policy
A corporate travel policy can be your first line of defense against waste, abuse, even fraud, but only if it’s accessible, understandable, and workable.
True or False?
CORRECT ANSWER!
FALSE! When expense management is automated, your policy can be written right into the software!
INCORRECT ANSWER!
FALSE! When expense management is automated, your policy can be written right into the software!
CORRECT ANSWER!
FALSE! Expense policies work best when you ditch the jargon and write them in clear language.
INCORRECT ANSWER!
FALSE! Expense policies work best when you ditch the jargon and write them in clear language.
CORRECT ANSWER!
TRUE! Setting management targets for policy compliance can drive down the numbers of out-of-policy claims.
INCORRECT ANSWER!
TRUE! Setting management targets for policy compliance can drive down the numbers of out-of-policy claims.
6%
6%
of T&E Transactions are out of compliance. [1]
[1] T&E Spend Analysis Report, Oversight, Fall 2014, pg. 2
Chapter 2
Visibility
How can you manage your spending if you can’t see it?
Consider these points when thinking about your visibility:
I can always catch up at the end of the month – can’t I?
You can have a lot of unseen spending in a month – for example, what if your sales team visits a customer and buys their plane tickets at the last minute, instead of in advance, resulting in thousands of dollars that you didn’t anticipate?
If I’m policing the staff well for things like last-minute plane tickets, I should be OK, right?
What if you have an opportunity to buy a piece of capital equipment for a really great price – how do you know whether you’ve got the cash on hand to do it – or have to borrow?
OK, but great deals on capital equipment don’t come along every month, or even every year.
Yes but knowing what you’re spending helps you spot both positive and negative trends, and could give you the ammunition you need to negotiate discounts with vendors. If you can’t see, then you’re missing out!
39%
39%
savings in average cost to process an expense report when an organization has visibility vs. an organization that lacks it. [2]
[2] Aberdeen – Travel and Entertainment Expense Visibility, May, 2013
Chapter 3
Errors
Manual expense and invoice processes allow errors to creep in – that’s only natural when people are entering thousands of numbers by hand.
When people are entering expense reports manually, errors happen. Most of the time, the charges are small: $40 here, $25 there. It doesn’t seem like much until you add it all up.
In many cases, organizations don’t even realize that the errors are happening, or how much they are costing.
Automated solutions with electronic capture options and tracking capabilities head off many errors to begin with, and make it easier to catch errors if they do make it into the expense process.
10%
of travelers had a suspicious or duplicate out-of-pocket expense on their reports – average value $50/duplicate [3]
[3] T&E Spend Analysis Report pg. 5
Chapter 4
Waste, Abuse, Fraud Risks
“Our employees would never abuse their expense reports.” “We don’t have a fraud problem.” Famous last words. The total loss documented in the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ annual study of occupational fraud and abuse was 6.3 billion dollars. T&E fraud was $882 million of that.
True or False?
CORRECT ANSWER!
FALSE! According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the median loss suffered by small organizations (those with fewer than 100 employees) was the same as that at the largest organizations (more than 10,000 employees). But the impact is much greater on smaller organizations.
INCORRECT ANSWER!
FALSE! According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the median loss suffered by small organizations (those with fewer than 100 employees) was the same as that at the largest organizations (more than 10,000 employees). But the impact is much greater on smaller organizations.
CORRECT ANSWER!
FALSE! ACFE says most occupational fraudsters are first time offenders. Only 5.2% of perpetrators in the annual “Report to the Nations” study had previously been convicted of a fraud-related offense.
INCORRECT ANSWER!
FALSE! ACFE says most occupational fraudsters are first time offenders. Only 5.2% of perpetrators in the annual “Report to the Nations” study had previously been convicted of a fraud-related offense.
CORRECT ANSWER!
TRUE! The ACFE annual report shows organizations with anti-fraud controls have lower fraud losses and quicker detection.
INCORRECT ANSWER!
TRUE! The ACFE annual report shows organizations with anti-fraud controls have lower fraud losses and quicker detection.
$40k
$40k
in median loss from expense reimbursement fraud schemes [4]
[4]Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report to the Nations 2016
$100k
$100k
in median loss from billing fraud schemes [4]
[4]Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Report to the Nations 2016
Chapter 5
The Solution
You've seen the numbers —you know you can't assume that waste, fraud and abuse can't happen to you.
You know it will take better governance to improve. (For example, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found victim organizations that lacked anti-fraud controls suffered twice the losses of the ones that had them.)
But what’s the solution? Automating travel, expense and invoice payment online, capturing payments as they happen with a mobile device, ensures accurate information at the front end, the policy built right in, and a clear view of what’s getting spent, and when. That all adds up to better compliance, and more money to power your organization to its goals.
Research shows that mobile users have a 91% compliance rate to corporate T&E policies, versus 59% for non-mobile users. [5]
[5] Achieve Best-In-Class Success: 10 Benefits from Embracing Mobile – Aberdeen Group, November 2014
90% Compliance
90% Compliance
The Concur Solution
The Concur Solution
$1.4 Million In Savings
$1.4 Million In Savings
90% Compliance
90% Compliance
The Concur Solution
The Concur Solution
$1.4 Million In Savings
$1.4 Million In Savings
