Going paperless might have been an ongoing process for your organization over the last few years. Last year, in particular, the pandemic provided an extra nudge to companies handling multi-step processes like card procurement and expense review.
It’s no secret that manual reviews and paper-centric processes can slow down productivity and lead to inefficiencies in your card program. With more people working from home, online systems and processes can only accommodate this and speed up otherwise time-consuming tasks. Going paperless can help you:
- Save time when looking for items
- Quickly search for specific documents like receipts and invoices
- Free up some money in your department because paper, ink, and office supplies can really add up
Many of us do most of our day-to-day work online anyway. Moving your expense review system and process online is naturally the new normal and the next step. Here’s how to do it.
1. Have Policies Available Online
First, start by making your card program policies available online. That way, employees can quickly access and view. Given today’s technology, there are plenty of secure systems that allow you to house important documents online and even allow employees to e-sign them to confirm they received the information.
Even when going completely digital with your policies and training, it’s important to still communicate thoroughly. Take the time to provide clear and detailed terms and guidelines online including an FAQ section that could answer common cardholder questions. The online policy can serve as a basis for people to view initially but they may still come to you for follow-up questions and guidance.
2. Conduct Ongoing Cardholder or Approver Trainings Online
Cardholder training is essential if you’re looking to supplement your efforts to keep employee spending compliant with company policies. It’s worth taking out the time to train employees on your policies for commercial cards whether they be travel cards or purchasing cards.
However, you can make it more efficient by moving the process completely online. What this could look like are webinars that are set up to walk team members through the policies and procedures. You can also record team Zoom calls and store the training video online for easy future access.
Or, perhaps you’re looking for an interactive course that can be customized to fit your expense program’s policies and procedures.
3. Stop Reviewing Expense Transactions Manually
Reviewing expense records manually each month can be very tedious and time-consuming. Plus, human error is often inevitable. The new normal is having a digital paper trail to recover time and aid in any of the manual aspects of the expense review process.
Card Integrity’s in-house expense monitoring tool is designed to provide visibility and thoroughly review for 100% of your company’s spend each month. This customizable tool helps spot potential fraud and misuse while taking a lot of pressure and manual work off team members tasked with sorting through employee spending and receipts each month.
4. Automate Notifications and Reminders
While emails themselves are already paperless, consider taking things a step further by automating certain team reminders. You can set up recurring calendar alerts to remind employees to turn in their expense data each month.
5. Digitize Documentation Such as Receipts
Require employees to upload a copy of their receipts to eliminate extra paper that could get mixed up or misplaced. Also, realize that uploaded receipts are just one part of the process. You may want to outsource the job of validating the receipts and matching the data with expense transactions from each person’s purchasing card or travel card.
The New Normal: Going Paperless Will Create a Much Cleaner Expense Audit
Procurement cards and travel expense reviews need to be thorough, but this doesn’t require the use of tons of paper. Transitioning to a paperless system is the new normal and can help your processes in more ways than one.
Card Integrity’s services are there to help simplify the process of gathering, organizing, and reporting monthly spend data while further reducing the risk of fraud. With Training-Wise, you’ll be able to securely send team members to an effective online training system for your specific P-Card program policies.
Digital expense reporting is another service that Card Integrity offers to help you defend company spend from non-compliance, fraud, and abuse. The team at Card Integrity is ready to help you go paperless with ease and give you a front-row seat to seeing how these services can work in your organization firsthand. Click HERE to schedule an online demonstration, or call us 630-501-1507 to learn more.
