Procure4
Procure4 is a team of supply chain management specialists working across Europe, the USA, and the UAE. They deliver cost base reduction and performance enhancement across companies in the public and private sectors.
Procure4 helps companies across a wide range of commercial sectors, including fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), hospitality and leisure, hotels, property and retail, and the public sector.
“It used to take me at least a day to consolidate, analyse and process all the expenses claims for the company but now, using Webexpenses, it only takes me a couple of hours. I can quickly ensure all the details are correct when I submit the claims to our Financial Controller before passing for payment. I already know that everything is correct so I can give my final approval with confidence. It’s so easy to administer too. I have had experience of other expense systems that are far less intuitive or easy to learn and use.”
- Laura Mills, UK Business Analyst for Procure4
Challenges faced with expense management
The UK division of Procure4 was formed in 2001 and over the last decade its staff has grown to approximately 40 people. During the first three years of using the Webexpenses system, the number of staff doubled. As a result, its reliance on its expense management software has grown.
Procure4’s US division is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Every member of the staff incurs work expenses, such as travel, food and corporate entertainment, or the office manager buying supplies and planning a social event. Prior to Webexpenses, staff had to keep receipts for all expenses or use the company purchasing card.
Previously, the reimbursement process of tedious and manual. Each member of staff would use a spreadsheet to list expenses and attach all relevant receipts as evidence. Towards the end of each month, each expenses sheet would be submitted to the company book-keeper to process, which required time-consuming manual data entry. Hard copies of everything had to be kept and records maintained.
This created a great deal of extra paperwork and filing for the US team.
Back in the UK, Procure4’s team of business analysts and consultants incurred expenses from travel to the generic costs of running a busy office. Previously, a simple spreadsheet system had been in place requiring manual data entry where every individual expense claim had to be typed into Sage.
“It was very time-consuming,” stated Laura Mills, Business Analyst for Procure4 UK. “As we increased in size, the administration of such a system was becoming more prohibiting. We couldn’t do it all on a spreadsheet anymore. It was also very cumbersome and laborious for the end-users, they felt they could make better use of their time.”
How Webexpenses helped
Across the continents, using Webexpenses eased the claims submittal process. The simple layout provided by the expense software has recreated a process that is easy to navigate and is fully accessible online. Members of staff can now manage their expense claims (and the time spent doing them) more efficiently. They no longer need to process their claim all in one go but can revisit it and amend it several times until it is complete and ready to submit.
Procure4’s consultants like the SMS function of the system, as it enables them to text expenses details using their mobile ‘phone. This facility gives them greater working flexibility, allowing them to process their claim wherever they are, without the need for connection to a pc or laptop.
The use of the Sage interface with online entry package has negated the need for hard copies and made the system far easier and quicker for the office bookkeepers. Now if it’s necessary to reference any expenses claim data, copies can simply be pulled off the system.
For claimants, there has been a great time-saving benefit when submitting their expenses. The electronic receipts attachment feature of Webexpenses provides electronic receipt attachment, e.g. from an image or email confirmation. Mileage verification uses postcode data to provide precise distance calculations for every business journey, creating a simplified process for both claimants and approvers.
“It used to take me at least a day to consolidate, analyse and process all the expenses claims for the company but now, using Webexpenses, it only takes me a couple of hours. I can quickly ensure all the details are correct when I submit the claims to our Financial Controller before passing for payment. I already know that everything is correct so I can give my final approval with confidence. It’s so easy to administer too. I have had experience of other expense systems that are far less intuitive or easy to learn and use.”
