Half the companies in a recent survey are still using some type of manual system to process their expense reports, according to a new survey.
The survey, by expense reporting software developer Certify, found that 50 percent of companies are using some form of a manual system, the highest percentage in the history of Certify’s annual survey. In addition, 35 percent of companies are currently on a web-based system, while 15 percent manage their expenses using an ERP system.
Among small businesses, 70 percent are using some form of a manual process, compared to just 26 percent of large enterprise companies.
In terms of the “pain points” for T&E reporting, employees losing paper receipts took the top spot for the first time in the history of the survey, cited by 50 percent of the companies that responded to the survey, followed by employees failure to submit reports on time (45 percent), the time it takes to reconcile, review and approve reports (38 percent), reviewing for policy violations (30 percent), and errors on expense reports (28 percent).
Certify asked the survey participants to identify their processing costs per report. The cost was under $7 per report for 28 percent of the respondents, $10 to $20 per report for 19 percent, and $25 or more per report for 5 percent of the companies polled. The survey also found 48 percent of the companies surveyed do not track their expense-processing costs.
A 63 percent majority of the companies surveyed said they are able to reimburse employees within seven days, while 35 percent require between eight and 30 days for reimbursement.
The full survey data and an infographic are
