Choosing an Expense Management Software Product

Back in the days when most people managed their expenses in Excel, we couldn't believe we used to work with paper and calculators in the past. The times they are changin', and nowadays, spreadsheets are outdated as much as paper and calculators were back then. Although spreadsheets are still relevant for a lot of things, there are more effective solutions on the market for expense management.

Professionals like representatives, contractors, sub-contractors or technicians are likely to submit expenses to get reimbursed. Expenses may include, among others, traveling fees (e.g. lodging, food, flights or gas), material, cell phone or Internet expenses or PR fees (e.g. trade show booths, advertising or conference tickets). Such expenses are often reimbursed, but must be recorded somewhere and get justified. This is where the expense management system comes in.

Depending on the tool you choose, expenses can be tracked in different ways, with different parameters. The most basic tools will let you give the expense a name and an amount, period. This may be sufficient if your boss isn't the analytical type and only wants to know "What was it?" and "How much did it cost?" However, if you need to provide more details regarding your expenses, there are more elaborate tools that let you submit them with many details. Some products also allow you to associate a document to justify every expense (e.g. invoices in PDF format). Furthermore, reporting capabilities vary from one tool to another, and the same goes for integration with third-party software.