Don’t Make Workers Wait for Expense Reimbursements
We’ve probably all said or heard the phrase “patience is a virtue” a few times. Maybe when we were kids, an adult used to say the phrase as part of a life lesson. Have you tried using the phrase with employees when they’re waiting for expense reimbursements? It could lead to a temper tantrum.
Reimbursing Employee Expenses Quickly
Virtue or not, patience probably isn’t the first thing on an employee’s mind when they’re waiting for an expense reimbursement. In fact, it might be the opposite of what they’re thinking, and of what they expect.
In many professional environments, there’s a collective disdain for waiting.
Customers want fast service. Employees want to move to the next career level. Managers want projects to continue up the chain quickly. And workers at all levels want HR and senior leaders to respond to their needs as quickly as possible.
Expense reimbursements are part of this same train of thought.
What happens when workers feel like the company isn’t meeting their needs? For some, it can convince them to start looking for a new job. That’s especially true in the current job market, where unemployment remains historically low.
If certain employees are on the fence about switching jobs, could the speed in which you reimburse their expenses push them in one direction or the other?
A mobile-friendly expense management solution such as ExpenseWire can make it easier for your company to approve and process expense reports. This will also speed up reimbursements, so your employees don’t have to wait. Schedule a demo, and learn more today.
Speeding Up Expense Reimbursements
It’s hard to point to one thing that prompts an employee to stay at their current job, or look for something new. It could be salary, commute, perks, opportunities, or a combination of these plus other factors.
No matter what keeps an employee happy, or what sends them toward something new, all employers can agree on the fact that replacing workers can be costly.
- The average cost per hire is more than $4,000, according to SHRM.
- And it usually takes 42 days to fill a vacated position
Many employees appreciate recognition, whether it comes as a bonus, or acknowledgement in the company newsletter.
A speedy expense reimbursement is another way that you can recognize your employees. That’s because your employees care about their time. They also care about managing their personal budgets. When they make work-related purchases with their own money, it can put a strain on their finances if you’re not reimbursing them in an efficient manner.
There can also be a psychological factor at play.
Employees care about what “might be happening” while they wait. It’s easy for anyone to start wondering why they’re not getting their reimbursement back quickly.
- Did they fill out the paperwork wrong?
- Did they claim something that the company won’t reimburse?
- Is their expense report sitting on someone’s desk, buried under a pile of trade show tchotchkes?
You can save them from dealing with long, unnecessary reimbursement delays by turning to cloud-based expense management software like ExpenseWire.
Here are three ways that ExpenseWire brings new levels of speed and efficiency into every phase of expense reporting and reimbursements:
1. Faster submissions and approvals With ExpenseWire, information sharing happens digitally, and can occur via mobile phone. That means you can phase out paper expense reports.
- Employees can track miles and upload receipts from the road, straight from a meeting, or any time after a work-related purchase.
- Managers can quickly review and approve expenses, or follow up with the employee if they have questions.
2. More robust expense tracking and reporting ExpenseWire gives employees and managers new ways to use data, which can save time in the moment of a purchase, and provide insight for future budgets.
- Employees can access information about limits and restrictions in real time, and receive alerts if they’re approaching limits.
- Managers can generate reports that highlight spending and trends, and help them track expenses vs. revenue to measure ROI.
3. An efficient reimbursement cycle
- Employees can submit expenses immediately after a business-related purchase. They won’t have to wait to get back to work to wrestle with the expense report spreadsheet.
- Managers can receive alerts when employees submit expenses, as soon as they come in. Alerts come via the software, rather than as a receipt on a manager’s desk, or a spreadsheet attached to an email. This can lead to a faster response time.
There’s no telling what metric employees use when they decide whether or not they like their employer. It could have to do with their coworkers, or whether or not they feel challenged in a productive way.
Waiting too long for an expense reimbursement is something you can take out of the equation by switching to a mobile expense management solution like ExpenseWire.
Expense management software such as ExpenseWire can help employees forget the worry of lost receipts or wonky spreadsheets, and enjoy a more efficient process. Contact ExpenseWire to learn more.
