Upcoming Webinar: Taming the Travel & Entertainment Expense Beast

We here at Certify have held numerous webinars that have helped organizations of all sizes. From helping the small physician’s office stay compliant with the Sunshine Act to the multinational financial corporation, Certify is no stranger to assisting the growth and success of these organizations.

From the traveling sales rep to the meticulous accountant, we are empowering all employees with an easy to use expense management solution. Because of this, we have created a relationship with our clients that is unique to our industry. Each Webinar we have is another opportunity to engage directly with organizations who might be looking for the key to the growth and success.

With that in mind we invite you to join us for our 9th official webinar, in conjunction with Proformative, in which we discuss some of the many ways cloud technology is helping every organization “tame” the increasing costs of travel expenses.

Our own president, Bob Neveu, will help you discover how organizations are managing the increasing costs of business travel with ease and reducing pain points across each step of the expense reimbursement process through the use of cloud technology.

The topics we will be highlighting include: Understanding all of the current and emerging technologies you can leverage for T&E Management Discover how to retain visibility and control of everyday business expenses Learn all of the steps necessary to build a case for new technology by breaking down the ROI of a T&E management solution.

How an automated solution can mitigate the stress of everyday complications from expense management including improving compliance, increasing submission rates and reducing hours of manual entry.

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The Big Importance of Expense Software

There won't be any dispute regarding the importance of income and expense spreadsheet. Apart from this one will also in need of expense management software program which gives plenty of options for reporting analyzing information easily. The communication of the expenses software with the users is through the reports and the quality of the software which separates the software from other inferior quality software. The income expense spreadsheet the vital feature of this software also makes it possible. If the budgeting software is easy to use and the given information is not bothersome then only the software will be regarded as good software.

Good expense management software used by the people must have the reporting fundamentals in the part of management tool. They must be instinctive and easy to use since they are the essential features for getting the certificate of better software. The two features basic income and spending are not in the software then it is useless. The click of a button must show the income and spending. A good expense tracking software must provide the detailed and correct breakdown of the expenditures that are made. These expenditures must be appropriately categorized and easily defined according to the day, month and the year. An income expense spreadsheet can also provide these details.

Expectation is that this information is given graphically in the Expense management software. Using the color blocked graphs and picture charts making it easy to check figures whether the expenses figures are proportionate to income figures. Next alternative to do this is by analyzing the numbers and in some cases to calculate the money using mathematics. If all income, expenditure and all the user's credit card transactions can be handled by the online expense management software then it is supposed to be a good. The reporting side of the software must be capable of showing account used and must spontaneously create reports such as full income expenditure of each account. They must also show the category on which the expenditure is made.

People are living in different types of life. So it is important that the expense management software must be customized for the use of various types of people. If the software is not flexible to the demands of the people using it then it won't be of any use. It will be considered as waste since it is not suitable to the life style and expenditure of the people who want to use it. Online expenses software is also available.

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Expense Software in Controlling your Employee Expenses

There are numerous activities on which money is spent by various organizations. All organizations which make some kind of product need to spend money on purchasing raw materials, hiring labor, operating production process etc. If expenses are not done with proper planning then companies may end up spending a lot more money than they should spend on various activities. No organization would want such a thing to happen because if they incur more costs then their profits will surely decrease. In order to maximize profits, costs must be reduced to the maximum possible extent.One of the major areas of expenditure by companies is employees. The salaries and incentives which are paid, the traveling expenses etc; all are costs to an organization. However, it is very important to take care of the needs of all the employees otherwise they will not be satisfied with their jobs. If the employees of an organization are happy then they will work in a desired manner. This is important for the success of any organization. In order to stay ahead from the competitors, organizations take several measures like spending heavy money on promotions etc.

Various efforts are done by the marketing departments of different organizations to make sure that their companies get a lot of business. A lot of traveling is involved sometimes when employees need to go to other cities and countries for making new clients. These expenses are to be paid by the organizations. You might have heard about the expense software; which is used to track the expenses made by employees while they travel for business. The expense software is very important software which is used by a large number of organizations at present.

One of the most important questions which someone may ask about the expense report software is the source from where one should buy this software. There are many companies which claim that they are offering the best kind of software for tracking employee expenses. However, one should know that proper research needs to be done when it comes to finding out the company from which an organization should buy the expense software. Organizations should take the help of the internet in order to know about the best websites which offer reliable software for tracking employee expenses.

The benefits which are offered by the online expenses management are numerous. A large number of organizations have become able to control their expenses on business trips of their employees by using the software for recording employee expenses. Organizations which are not using any kind of software to record the expenses done by their employees on business trips should consider the option of buying such software. The online expenses management is all about keeping a close eye on the expenses which are done by various employees of an organization. These expenses are to be paid by organizations and they should make sure that its employees are spending its money in an appropriate manner.

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Top Signs of Expense Reimbursement Fraud and How to Stop it from Happening

Top Signs of Expense any company that sends employees on business trips has to have some sort of expense management so travel costs are reimbursed. These companies also have to be concerned with reimbursement fraud, as employees might try and pull a fast one and report an expense that wasn't for business purposes.

According to Washington's State Auditors Office, there are numerous red flags an employee might be committing reimbursement fraud, including:

Expenses are higher than previous years: Unless a company is in its first year, chances are they have sent employees to the same destination multiple times. That being said, when it comes time to add up expenses for those trips, if they are much higher than the previous year there could have been some reimbursement fraud. However, small increases likely shouldn't be cause for concern as costs for food and travel can fluctuate from year-to-year.

Expenses are claimed on non-work days: If a trip lasts through the weekend, employees might be inclined to report business expenses on days they aren't working. While they might feel as though this is acceptable, it isn't and could constitute reimbursement fraud. Employees can only report expenses that are considered work related, and that doesn't include anything on days that they aren't working.

How can organizations prevent reimbursement fraud?

Any company that begins to notice employees are falsely reporting expenses might want to do some research and figure out ways to prevent this from happening.

Require original documentation. In order to ensure that all business expenses are legitimate, companies should require employees to provide original documentation, such as receipts, StoneBridge Business Partners noted. These documents should be turned in after a trip and kept on file for auditing.

Employ a travel reimbursement policy. One of the best ways to keep everything on the up and up with expense reporting is to have a solid policy in place. Employees should have guidelines as to what can and can't be reported as an expense. These guidelines should be easily accessible to anyone who will be embarking on a business trip.

Have a formal review process. No matter how honest companies feel their employees are, a formal review process for expenses is necessary. This gives managers and supervisors the opportunity to audit expense reports, and ensure they are legitimate.

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Make Your Next Business Trip Fuss-Free with Certify

From Booking to Kayak, TripAdvisor to Expedia, there's no shortage of online travel websites that you and your employees have likely spent a lot of time on, setting up the next business trip on the schedule. As helpful as these website may be however - especially compared to what the booking process was like prior to the advent of the Internet they're far from being user-friendly. And the process is only complicated further when you start to think about all the expenses that you or your workers will need to keep track of for billing purposes.

Fortunately, Certify has the tools you need to make booking a whole lot easier. Take a look at the following tips from now on when you or your employees need to schedule a trip to another part of the U.S. or the world.

Log in to Certify. Start out by entering the address of Certify into your web browser, whether that's through your personal computer, tablet or handheld device. Then enter your login identification. This really expedites the process because this data helps the system know who the user is, what their travel preferences are and whether they have any airfare credits that they may be able to use.

Input travel itinerary. Here's where the system needs more information from the user. Simply enter the travel booking details you have, such as the flight, hotel and/or rental car. Once the system knows when the travel period will be - which, like the other information, can be entered in the requested area - a variety of potential vendors will appear. The one chosen, of course, is a decision for you and/or your employee.

Book the chosen selection. Once you or your workers decide on the appropriate vendor, it should all be smooth sailing from there. In fact, just to confirm, Certify will email you and your worker about the most important details of the upcoming travel itinerary. It's a good idea to really look this over as it will contain information that is crucial to the "en route" portion of the trip going smoothly.

But even if there is a problem - no sweat. So long as you make the appropriate changes within 24 hours, you won't have to worry about incurring a penalty. As far as the expense recording goes, most of that is take care of.

By booking a trip through Certify, the system automatically creates an expense reports document that you or your employee can easily fill out on an as-needed basis.

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Certify Automatically Links Credit Card Data to Expenses

From mobile phone receipt capture to quick and easy reimbursements, we make sure the expense reporting process is simple and straightforward. Certify promises to make travel and expense easy for you, and we take that promise seriously. From mobile phone receipt capture to quick and easy reimbursements, we make sure the expense reporting process is simple and straightforward.

One of the ways we ensure this is by automatically linking credit card data to expenses. No more trying to match up receipts and credit card statements – we do it for you. Even if you’ve already processed and reimbursed the expense!

Certify works directly with the credit companies and the issuing banks to automatically receive your corporate credit card data in Certify. We receive nightly data feeds from all of the major credit card companies, including American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and Diner’s Club. So you can simply swipe your credit card today for a business lunch, and see it tomorrow in your Certify Wallet. It’s that simple!

Here’s how it works: On Monday, Fred makes a $32 purchase using his company credit card. Fred then uses Certify Mobile to capture the receipt and expense details and synchronizes to his Certify account.

In Fred’s excitement to use Certify he does not wait for the credit card charge to be imported to his Certify Wallet and decides to create an expense report using just the receipt. Later on Monday, Fred creates and submits his expense report.

On Thursday, Fred’s company credit card sends the $32 transaction to Fred’s Certify Wallet. On Tuesday, Fred’s approver's quickly approve his expense report and send it to the Accounting team for final processing. On Wednesday, the Accounting team processes his expense report for reimbursement. And here’s where the late credit card linking feature comes in! This feature automatically searches "late" credit card transactions, and then automatically reconciles them by identifying the late credit card expenses and linking them with the matching expense that has already been submitted for approval or has been processed.

When the matching expense is linked with the correct credit card, the expense is then “Imported”, and the "late" expense is deleted from Fred’s Certify Wallet. Pretty nice, right?

With Certify, there’s no need to waste time trying to match receipts to credit card statements when it can be done for you automatically. Let us do all that pesky expense reporting work for you, so you can focus on more important tasks.

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With the 6 Million Receipts Can't Be Wrong

Each quarter, the Certify SpendSmart Report reveals how business travelers are spending the corporate dime while on the road. The report analyzes Certify's most recent business expense and vendor ratings data, providing valuable insights to Certify clients as well s the corporate T&E industry at large.

One expense category that the SpendSmart Report reviews is restaurants. The restaurant summary is a snapshot of the most frequently expensed restaurants, top rated restaurants, and the most expense restaurants by meal type. Some of the top rating in the restaurant summary include:

Most Expensed Restaurants Starbucks McDonald's Subway

Top Rated Restaurants Chick-Fil-A Chipotle Dunkin Donuts/Olive Garden

Most Expensed by Meal Breakfast - Starbucks Lunch - McDonald's Dinner - McDonald's

The SpendSmart Report offers insight into where and how much money business travelers are spending while on the road. It also shows the competition among the varying companies for the business traveler's buck. This quarter's report highlighted a new competitor on the scene. Seamless, an online and mobile company that allows you to order food for delivery and pickup from over 12,000 restaurants replaced Starbucks as the most expensed vendor in New York City. Seamless has over one million members, and spans across 1,000 cities in the US, with over 80 cuisines to choose from. As CEO of Certify, Robert Neveu, told CNN in a recent article, "It's Seamless over Starbucks for business travelers...Seamless is aggregating a lot of the meal traffic." Neveu explained that business travelers want something fast, convenient, and of reasonable quality and price. Indeed, Seamless allows you to search, check prices, and read reviews and ratings, which is especially valuable for business travelers in new cities on a budget.

This quarter's report also found that fast food is still number one in the life of a business traveler, with Starbucks and McDonald's continuing to be the top two most expensed restaurants, with a reported low average speed of $8.17 at McDonald's to a high average spend of $39.83 at Panera bread.

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