{"id":22208,"date":"2025-04-19T09:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T09:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/?p=22208"},"modified":"2025-05-16T10:30:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T10:30:59","slug":"expense-approval-process-best-practices-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/blog\/expense-approval-process-best-practices-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Expense Approval Process Best Practices in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Businesses should account for every dollar that goes out the door \u2013 especially with the bleak economic outlook.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0For 2023, economic forecasts expect one of the weakest economic growths in the past decade at 2.3% growth in real terms. Rising prices, increasing interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainties make it harder for businesses to grow and stay profitable.[1]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are looking for better ways to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increase the productivity of your finance team without overworking them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduce wasteful and unnecessary spending to survive a potential recession.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improve compliance with expense policies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gain visibility over expenses to find smarter ways to cut costs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are <\/span><b>nine best practices<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that you can implement in your company.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>#1. Create a Comprehensive Expense Policy\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every business, regardless of size, needs a clear expense policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A clear set of guidelines and expectations eliminates confusion about the expense approval process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With a written policy, you can improve compliance, save time, reduce misunderstandings, and improve fraud controls.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you haven\u2019t already, brainstorm with your team to create one.<\/span><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-22211 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-8-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"budget pie\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-8-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-8-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-8-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-8-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-8.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getty by Canva<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><b>What Should Your Expense Policy Include?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At a minimum, your policy should include the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>1. <\/b> <b>Who does the policy apply to<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify whether the same rules govern employees at all levels. Spending limits for some employee expenses may be higher than others. For instance, executives may spend more on meals and entertainment than the ceiling for rank-and-file employees.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>2.\u00a0 \u00a0 Valid Corporate Expenses<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify and enumerate allowable business expenses and the expense category to which they belong. For example, airfare, cab charges, and transportation allowance should be under travel expenses.<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li><b> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Disallowed Expenses\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expenses that employees can\u2019t charge against the company account. For example, service upgrades while traveling, gambling-related expenses, and alcohol purchases.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>4. <\/b> <b>Spending Limit<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expense limits for each type of expense. The policy should indicate a budget limit for spending. For instance, travel allowances for meals and entertainment charges should not exceed $500 per trip.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>5. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Report Format\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Format for submitting your expense reimbursement reports. Indicate whether employees should use a template or an expense management app to submit expense and reimbursement reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>6. <\/b> <b>Details Required\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify what details should be included in the expense report, such as:<\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Date<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expense category<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amount\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vendor<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Details about the expense and whether it is billable to a client or attributable to a certain project.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>7. <\/b> <b>Payment Method<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indicate the means for returning excess funds from a cash advance and claiming reimbursements. Will you pay employees who paid out-of-pocket costs or covered an expense on behalf of the company by cash, check, auto debit arrangement, or another method?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If there\u2019s money left after the trip or purchase, how will employees return the money? Provide clear instructions on how to return excess funds.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>8. <\/b> <b>Deadline<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Specify a deadline for submitting expense reports and requests for reimbursement. Indicate the consequences for not submitting expense reports on time.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>9. <\/b> <b>Approver<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identify individuals (e.g., supervisors, appropriate managers) who should be approving expenses.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>10.\u00a0 Other Information<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide additional information that may be useful to employees. For example, what should employees do if a business expense does not fall under an allowable category? Who should they contact if they have questions about the expense policy? Where can they find the policy?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22213\" src=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-3-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"manager approving expenses\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-3-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-3-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-3-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-3-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-3.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getty by Canva<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>#2. Make Expense Policies Easy to Access and Understand<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A written policy improves the entire expense approval and management process. But it will be more effective if every employee understands which expense approval requests would and would not get approved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In most companies, employees only read the expense policy during onboarding. Unless an employee belongs to the finance department, they will not invest time to digest expense policies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some reasons why:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most policies are hard to comprehend.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees need to read 20-plus pages to know what to do before spending on an expense like airfare.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s more convenient to ask the boss or call finance to know if they\u2019re charging an allowable expense.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They\u2019re not sure where the expense policy is.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About 70% of employees comply with the expense policy. Of the remaining 30%, 25% happened unintentionally. Mistakes are more likely to happen in a company with a complicated policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduce issues in the expense approval and reimbursement process by:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0 Creating a simple guide that employees can understand. For instance, a process flow for different expense categories.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Making the expense policy accessible to employees. Let employees know where to find the policy through email, in-person, text, and meetings.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Remind employees to review expense policies regularly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Encourage employees to file expense reports that comply with company policies with the help of senior employees.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Promote in-policy spending by making it part of an employee\u2019s key performance indicator or offer incentives for complying with company policy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><b>#3. Evaluate Expense Policy Regularly<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The consumer price index increased by 6.4% compared to a year ago. As prices increase, so should your expense and business policy.[3]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every year, check if the expense policy requires updates for items like:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An updated list of allowable expenses. Based on the changes that happened in the past year, some expenses may no longer be necessary. For instance, the company purchased a license to use Microsoft Office for everyone. Any recurring expenses related to software apps that Microsoft tools can do would no longer be an allowable expense.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spending limits. Review the policy and adjust expense caps based on existing prices. Average hotel prices, for instance, cost 54% higher in January 2023 compared to the same time last year. [4]<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Feedback from managers, employees, and supervisors. Weigh in on complaints, requests, and inputs from employees and approvers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-22215 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-1-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"expense report\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-1-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-1-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-1-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getty by Canva<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>#4. Use Built-in Controls to Increase Compliance<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How does the expense approval process happen in your company?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a typical company, the expense workflow process goes like this:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The employee submits an expense approval form.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> An approver reviews the expense claim.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The finance department verifies if the expense complies with the spending guidelines.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> If applicable, the employee receives reimbursement for out-of-pocket costs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Checking whether every expense complies with the policy can be time-consuming for all parties involved. Supervisors have to check whether the spending is in-policy or not. The entire process can take even longer when your finance team has questions about the expense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many companies struggle with long approval times for expense reports and invoices. If you have the same issues, consider using smart spend management tools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expense management solutions increase compliance since you can code policies into the expense management process by setting up customized rules.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, if the meal allowance should not exceed $60 per day, the system will flag expenses over this amount. Built-in controls speed up expense and approval workflow processes and reduce friction over expense reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>#5. Find a Simpler Way for Employees to Submit Invoices<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are you still requiring employees to tape paper receipts and send them to the finance team with their expense reports? What may have worked in the past could be why employees don\u2019t liquidate expenses on time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compiling receipts and preparing the expense report is so time-consuming that employees try to put it off for as long as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost 40% would rather eat a worm if they could avoid filing expense reports every day for one year. 20% are willing to squeeze lemon juice on a cut to avoid filing one.[2]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a pile of documents needing immediate attention sits on your desk when you return from a trip, you have more reasons to delay expense reporting. Reduce inconvenience from reporting expenses by using a mobile up to submit expense reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/products\/expenses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">expense management tool<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like Envoice allows employees to submit expenses using an app. Rather than taping receipts to paper, your employees can snap a photo of the invoice or receipt using the app and send it for approval.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Approves also benefit from using an app since they can sign off employee expenses even if they\u2019re out of the office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-22217 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-4-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"employee computing expenses\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-4-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-4-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-4-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-4-1536x1021.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-4.jpg 1901w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getty by Canva<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>#6. Perform A Surprise Audit to Validate Expense Reports<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When was the last time you audited an expense report?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Padding expenses is one of the most common expense management issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a UK study, 42% of decision-makers submitted fraudulent expense requests. Most of these individuals knew what they did was a fraud and the possible consequences of their actions.[5]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your employees are likely to have the same mentality, especially if they know that your finance department has too much work on their hands to focus on the expense management workflow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An effective way to catch and prevent fraud is to perform surprise audits. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners report, surprise audits decreased median loss from fraud by 50%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than wait for the annual audit, perform surprise audits.[6] By doing this, you can identify fraudulent expenses faster. Audits will also prevent employees from committing fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During your audit, look for red flags such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Merchant name and type versus the expense category. For instance, receipts of a massage that employees charged under a group meal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expenses with the same amounts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Small charges made multiple times to evade the spending limit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unusual expense trends.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22219 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-5-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"audit red flags\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-5-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-5-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-5-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-5-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-5.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getty by Canva<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>#7. Automate Expense Approvals for Recurring Vendor Payments\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many companies rely on an expense approval process where managers approve claims submitted by employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, it\u2019s not enough to improve control over expenses or prevent fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Too often, a manager approves purchase requests and vendor payments without digging too deep. Some superiors have too much on their plate to perform a comprehensive check, especially for a recurring expense. There are also managers who only do a cursory review and sign the approval to comply with the policy because they trust their subordinates.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if managers stick to the expense policy, it&#8217;s hard to catch red flags as these employees have no time to investigate every item on an expense report.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than relying on people for internal control, consider using an automated expense approval process and creating rules to pre-approve expense claims. Automation speeds up the approval workflow for expense reports and allows users to pre-approve expenses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, expenses like telephone and rent would likely stay within a range from month to month. With the right software solution, you can automate your expense approval process using customized rules if an expense falls outside a specific range.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22221\" src=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-2-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"approved expense report\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-2-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-2-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-2-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-2-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-2.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getty by Canva<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Suppose the estimated monthly rent is $1,200; you can create a rule to automatically approve all requests for rent payments that fall between $1,200 to $1,500. When employees send an expense claim for $1,250, the system approves the request automatically. But if someone requests a rent payment of $1,600, the system will flag the claim for manual review since it is higher than expected.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>#8. Establish Accountability for Expense Approvals\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ensure that your expense approval process allows you to create an audit trail. Proper documentation is essential since you need to know vital information such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Who submitted the expense report, and for what.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Who signed the approval? Is there additional information provided about the expense?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Which member of the finance team processed the expense report? Were there any notes?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Other relevant details related to the expense report.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Documenting information related to the expenses ensures your business is ready for audits. If you have an expense management tool, prevent employees from using the same account for sending expense reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As much as possible, find an expense management solution to have one account for each employee. It\u2019s also better to remind employees not to share email log-ins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0With these rules in place, it\u2019s easier to determine who should be accountable for an expense.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>#9. Allow Employees to Subtract Personal Expenses From Receipts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More employees go on trips that combine business with leisure. More than 70% dine, go sightseeing, and visit friends and family near the area. Many companies support \u201cleisure\u201d trips, but it complicates expense management.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As more employees go on these mixed trips, they want more flexibility in choosing which cards to use.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not surprisingly, many employees swipe the wrong card when traveling. 53% of business travelers accidentally used a corporate card for personal expenses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make it easier for your employees to subtract personal from company expenses when you:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build a \u201cleisure\u201d policy, so it&#8217;s clear what expenses are corporate and which ones are personal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Create an expense report template that allows employees to separate personal expenses included in the same receipt as the company expense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/products\/expenses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">spend management tool<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that asks whether the receipt includes personal expenditures and subtracts that amount from total expenses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22223\" src=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-7-1024x680.jpg\" alt=\"using spend management tool in office\" width=\"800\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-7-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-7-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-7-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-7-1536x1020.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/envoice.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Expense-Approval-Process-7.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getty by Canva<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>Create a Robust Expense Approval Process\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As companies become more agile, it\u2019s critical to give employees the flexibility to spend company funds to accomplish their job. However, it\u2019s equally important to control employee spending too \u2013 so, it\u2019s vital to have an efficient expense approval process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sticking to these best practices should help you improve compliance within your organization. But if your company is growing, investing in an expense management tool could be the right move.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expense approval automation could help you:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spend less time on data entry<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reimburse employees faster<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthen internal controls<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduce duplicative work with your existing accounting software<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Encourage compliance with policies<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free up time for everyone<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Automated expense approvals <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">generate savings by eliminating duplicate charges, preventing employees from charging personal transactions as a business expense, and preventing fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Modernizing your expense approval workflows with a smart software solution also helps you analyze spending patterns, so you can identify potential indicators of abuse or fraud without reviewing transactions one by one.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Automate Your Expense Approval Workflow Today<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clinging to a manual expense approval system or process could be a problem. If you\u2019re struggling with costs and you don\u2019t have visibility over expenses, it may be time for a change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try Envoice today to increase visibility, detect risks, spot patterns of suspicious behavior, and eliminate wasteful spending.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/app.envoice.eu\/desktop\/user\/register\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sign up for a free account in just 1 minute.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Article Resources:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[1]<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.euromonitor.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.euromonitor.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[2] <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[3]<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cnbc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/cnbc.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[4] <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/money.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/money.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[5] <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.concur.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.concur.co.uk\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[6] <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/acfepublic.pdf\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/acfepublic.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Businesses should account for every dollar that goes out the door \u2013 especially with the bleak economic outlook. \u00a0For 2023, economic forecasts expect one of the weakest economic growths in the past decade at 2.3% growth in real terms. Rising prices, increasing interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainties make it harder for businesses to grow and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-approval-workflow"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22208"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26441,"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22208\/revisions\/26441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/envoice.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}