ESTIMATES put the number of small to medium sized organisations using an automated expense management system at about ten per cent. It is no wonder then that technology specialists in the sector see a huge amount of untapped potential. Many have introduced scaled-down versions
of their systems in the past couple of years and highlighted the benefits of automation in an attempt to attract the SME market. While technology has advanced in leaps and bounds, much of the sector is still reliant on basic manual processes. Some put this down to companies being reluctant to change because Excel works fine, as well as the fact that many businesses see themselves as too small to use
a travel management company, let alone an expense management system. “A lot of it is very manually based. Less than
ten per cent have a system in place and most people are still using spreadsheets,” says Sanjay Parekh, managing director of online solution WebExpenses. Parekh’s view is supported by many other industry professionals who say the number one expense tool in the sector is still Excel. Travel management company Click Travel has
been studying the market recently and plans to introduce its own expense management tool this quarter. Managing director Simon McLean says, “Very few of our clients – who tend to have a travel spend range of up to £5million –
have expense systems. There are a few exceptions with clients that are part of huge organisations and have Enterprise Resource Planning systems but there is zero proliferation in the SME market.” However, a number of things are driving a change in attitude, from a deeper scrutiny on all costs to systems that cover more of the process and are easier to use, as well as developments in the mobile technology arena. “Recession has impacted everyone’s bottom
line so there is an increased focus on expense management. It’s more important to increase transparency and no longer about providing a corporate payment tool. It’s increasing visibility and achieving savings,” says Robert Anconca, ➔
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