Submitting claims: use app or software?

There is almost no financial administration that does not involve expense claims. Within many a company, employees advance expenses out of their own pockets. They then want to claim the amount concerned. They used to use a paper form for this, but today digital claims are the way to claim expenses incurred. However, receipts can arrive at the finance department in different ways. The key question: do you use a claims app or software for filing?

Processing submitted claims and invoices: what does the process look like?

Submission and processing: challenges

First, employees submit a digital claim. Then the processing process kicks in. You can choose to process expenses claims through payroll. Then an extra component will appear on the payslip: ‘submitted claims’. Another option is to process expenses as invoices. In that case, you briefly consider an employee to be a supplier during the booking process. In either case, you run into issues if you go through the process without an automation solution. Multiple people have to perform various actions. It often goes wrong at the first step: within many organizations, it is difficult to get all employees to submit claims according to company policy. For example, sometimes they don’t know that there is a maximum amount that can be claimed, so you get a claim that doesn’t meet the right conditions. Or people have lost receipts before submitting them. And in some cases, discussions about expenses arise after the fact. Such challenges often cause stagnation in the finance department. Troublesome, because as a financial administrator, you need specific information in a timely manner to process expense claims correctly and within your deadlines. And once you start doing this, another problem soon arises: the average receipt is so faded after eighteen months that it is illegible, which can cause problems when the tax authorities carry out an audit and you have to provide documentation. After all, you are required by law to keep receipts and purchase invoices for 7 years. Want to know more? Read our blog posts ‘Recordkeeping requirements: 3 conditions to keep your accounts in order‘ and ‘Keeping receipts: here’s how to keep streamlined records‘.)

Claiming digitally: how do you perform fewer operations and save time?

If you process claims as invoices, you can take advantage of smart OCR software that makes the process a lot easier and more efficient (read how this works later in this blog post). Because your process is streamlined and smooth, you can proceed with payment at the appointed time. But what about filing? Often employees do business expenses out of the office. And there they don’t have a laptop or PC handy. If they have to wait after a business lunch until they are back at their desks, they may have lost the receipt. How to solve this? With a claims app!

Claiming app: how does it work and what are the benefits?

Submitting claims with an app: this is the process

Many employees are reluctant to file a claim. The first thing you want to do is lower the barrier. With a special claims app, you can make it a lot easier for them. They can install this on their smartphone to take photos of receipts with it, which they send directly through the app to the e-mail address you want to receive expense claims on. So expense claims apps eliminate the need for employees to scan and add expense claims as email attachments. If your company employs a lot of field staff, an app is especially useful. After all, it allows them to keep track of their expense reports anytime, anywhere – even when they are on the road.

Processing digital claims as invoices: what to do with submitted versions?

Do you process claims as invoices in your ERP system? Then OCR software can save you a lot of manual work. Because it processes invoices automatically. If you use a total solution for document processing, you benefit from an app, ‘scan and recognize‘ and digital approval. You can also easily ask a question about a declaration within the system. However, it is important to set up the process properly. Because OCR software does not recognize all the information on a receipt, it is best to work with standard forms. On these, employees fill in things like their name and IBAN number. You can also add columns for the date, amount and description. When employees submit such a form along with a photo of the claim via the claim app, you simply book the claim!

Is the best claim digital? The benefits of an app

Employees can submit claims anytime, anywhere at lightning speed;
Paper receipts are instantly delivered digitally, allowing you to keep your records up-to-date and eliminating the need to retype data (if you use the app in conjunction with smart OCR software);
You comply with retention requirements more easily because there are no faded or lost paper documents to give you headaches;
Old and recent expenses are saved at the touch of a button.

Process claims digitally?

Benefits

Easy-to-use app
Collect expense claims
Flexible workflow

Discover “simplicity. Request a demo.

Want to learn more about expense claims processing with Whitevision? Request a no-obligation demo with us. We would be happy to tell you more about our solution.

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