Counting THE COST
Traditionally tackled only by multinationals, Linda Fox discovers a trend among SMEs for getting to grips with expense management systems
AN ANNUAL client survey conducted by TMC giant Carlson Wagonlit Travel last year revealed that improving traveller compliance and optimising online booking adoption are the top two priorities for travel buyers in 2011. While the 187 respondents that participated
in the study cover some US$5million in annual travel spend, it is likely that a similar trend will permeate down to the SME sector who will also be keen to scrutinise costs and create efficiencies at a time when cashflow is tight and a double-dip recession is looming. The general consensus out there is that SMEs are beginning to investigate expense management technology. “Everyone is looking to do something but the question is how much they are willing to pay for it,” says Yossi Zuckerman, vice president sales and marketing, Atriis Technologies. Smaller organisations started with simple online booking tools and the focus is now moving on to automating the expense process. Talk of cloud computing – working remotely off a central server – and software as a service is likely to have contributed to any surge in interest in the area. “SMEs are taking advantage of online technology across the board and in a small business environment they still have to account for things,” says Robert Kirby, chief executive of SpendVision. While a few years ago expense management systems were seen as beyond the reach of
smaller companies because of their cost, hosted online systems that require simple sign up are now much more readily available. “It was only larger companies that saw any return on investment, but the noise around cloud computing has made smaller companies realise there is no upfront cost. There are all the bells and whistles and links to booking platforms but what we try to offer is a service where they can take as little or as much as they like,” says Adam Smith, commercial director, expense management, Meridian Global Services. He argues that his company can offer SMEs
a complete expense service with recording of expenses at the front end and receipt verification and VAT recovery in the backend. “People don’t have the employees to deal
with all of that and we tend to find SMEs embrace that because we are here to make life a lot easier for them,” says Smith. He adds that the SME sector is still a relatively untapped market and that there continues to be an education process because many customers think it is a huge financial commitment. A KDS survey released in November supports this view with statistics revealing an even split between employees submitting paper expense claims and online expense claims. The reality is that most technology suppliers follow a pay-per-use type model and offer an easily accessible online tool.
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