It’s time to rethink company spending

company spending

Your workforce is changing – over the past decade there has been a sizeable shift in the way we work, where we work and with whom we work.

Global travel, international partnerships, a mobile workforce, virtual workers and the advent of portfolio careers have given rise to a challenge that all SMEs will recognise.

In the midst of all this change, how can we easily keep track of and manage company spending?
Until your business reaches a certain level, you’ll likely attend to your financial housekeeping in an ad hoc manner. However, as soon as you start to grow, the issue will undoubtedly become more complex.

A recent YouGov survey of UK SMEs and discovered that a huge £8.72billion is used to manage company and employee spending every single year. And the modern-day working environment has made the process of spend management increasingly difficult.

You may have employees located in different branches, different countries, working virtually or on the road, each with varying spending requirements from an individual basis to company level – from hotel rooms and transport to office stationery and online advertising budgets.

Then there are external contractors and departmental spending requirements. Managing the spending cycle is a headache for the finance team and employees alike, particularly as the payment process itself has been left in the Dark Ages.

Imagine if the spending part of the process so simple and streamlined that it made the rest of the accounting system a breeze, whatever accounting or expense management packages you then used.

“The complex reality of our modern-day working environment has made company spending increasingly difficult to manage”

The survey also found that employees spend an average of four hours a week tending to their financial housekeeping. Imagine how quickly your team’s productivity levels would soar if employees were free of the need to labour over spend management themselves.