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The Importance of Data Security in Employee Expenses Management

By Resources

In today’s digital age, data security is a top concern for businesses of all sizes. That’s why at Capture Expense, we prioritise data security in our employee expense management platform. Here’s how we ensure that your company’s data is secure:

  1. Azure Secure Store: Our platform is built on Microsoft Azure, which provides advanced security features, including Azure Secure Store. This feature allows us to securely store sensitive data, such as login credentials and other confidential information.
  2. Cyber Essentials Certification: We are proud to be Cyber Essentials certified, which means that our platform meets the UK government’s standards for cybersecurity. This certification ensures that we have the necessary controls in place to protect against cyber threats.
  3. G-Cloud Digital Marketplace Supplier: As a G-Cloud Digital Marketplace supplier, we are approved to offer our services to UK government organizations. This requires us to meet strict security and compliance standards, ensuring that our platform is secure and reliable.
  4. GDPR Compliance: We take data privacy seriously and are fully GDPR compliant. This means that we adhere to the highest standards of data protection and are committed to protecting your company’s data from unauthorized access or disclosure.

At Capture Expense, we understand the importance of data security in today’s business environment. That’s why we have implemented industry-leading security measures, including Microsoft Azure, Cyber Essentials certification, G-Cloud Digital Marketplace supplier status, and GDPR compliance. With our platform, you can rest assured that your company’s data is safe and secure. Contact us today to learn more about how our platform can help your business manage its expenses securely and efficiently.

Five ways to reduce the carbon footprint of your business

By Resources

As the world becomes more aware of the impact of climate change, it is important for businesses to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Not only is it good for the environment, but it can also improve your company’s reputation and bottom line. Here are five ways to reduce the carbon footprint of your business:

Use energy-efficient lighting and equipment

Switching to energy-efficient lighting and equipment can significantly reduce your energy consumption and carbon emissions. LED bulbs, for example, use up to 80% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs and can last up to 25 times longer. Similarly, investing in energy-efficient equipment such as computers, printers, and HVAC systems can help reduce your energy consumption and carbon footprint.

Implement a remote work policy

With the rise of remote work, businesses can reduce their carbon footprint by allowing employees to work from home. This reduces the need for commuting and cuts down on carbon emissions from transportation. It also has the added benefit of improving work-life balance and reducing overhead costs.

Choose eco-friendly suppliers

When selecting suppliers, consider their environmental impact. Choose suppliers who have a track record of sustainability and use eco-friendly practices in their manufacturing and transportation processes. By doing so, you can reduce your company’s carbon footprint and contribute to a more sustainable supply chain.

Encourage recycling and waste reduction

Implementing a recycling program and encouraging waste reduction can significantly reduce your company’s carbon footprint. This includes using reusable materials, reducing packaging waste, and composting organic waste. Educate your employees about the importance of waste reduction and provide them with the necessary resources to recycle and dispose of waste properly.

Offset your carbon emissions

Even with the best efforts to reduce carbon emissions, some emissions are inevitable. Consider offsetting your carbon emissions by investing in renewable energy projects or purchasing carbon credits. This helps to reduce your overall carbon footprint and supports the growth of renewable energy.

Reducing your company’s carbon footprint requires commitment and effort, but it is essential for a sustainable future. By implementing these five strategies, you can significantly reduce your carbon emissions and contribute to a more sustainable business model.

At Capture Expense, we are committed to sustainability and offer an employee expenses management platform that supports eco-friendly practices. Contact us today to learn more about how our platform can help your business reduce its carbon footprint.

What is open banking and how does it make expense management easier?

By Resources

In today’s world, businesses of all sizes are looking for more efficient ways to manage their expenses. One of the latest and most significant developments in financial technology is open banking, which can revolutionize the way companies manage their expenses.

So what is open banking, and how does it make expense management easier?

Open banking is a regulatory framework that allows financial institutions to share customer data with third-party providers through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). This framework enables banks and other financial institutions to share transaction data and other relevant financial information with authorized third-party providers such as expense management platforms.

With open banking, businesses can connect their bank accounts directly to their expense management platform, giving them access to real-time transaction data. This makes expense management more efficient, accurate and reduces the risk of errors.

Expense management platforms that support open banking can also automate the process of categorizing transactions, making it easier for businesses to track their expenses. This helps businesses to identify areas where they can reduce costs and improve their financial management.

Open banking also enhances security by using tokenization technology, which enables secure access to financial data without requiring the actual account details to be shared. This protects businesses from the risk of fraud or data breaches.

The benefits of open banking are not limited to expense management. It also enables businesses to access a wide range of financial services, including loans, savings accounts, and insurance. This makes it easier for businesses to manage their finances and make more informed decisions about their financial needs.

Open banking is a game-changer for businesses of all sizes. By integrating their expense management platform with open banking, companies can streamline their expense management, improve financial efficiency, and reduce the risk of errors or fraud. As more businesses adopt open banking, we can expect to see significant improvements in financial management and security across industries.

At Capture Expense, we offer an expense management platform that supports open banking, enabling businesses to take advantage of the benefits of this new technology. Book a demo today to learn more about how our platform can help your business manage its expenses more efficiently and securely.

Why Manual Expense Tracking is Holding Your Business Back (And How to Fix It)

By Resources

Spreadsheet expense tracking can be a significant hindrance to a business’s success.

As a business owner or finance manager, you know that tracking expenses is a necessary part of running a successful business. However, manually tracking expenses can be a time-consuming and error-prone process that can hold your business back in several ways.

Here are some reasons why manual expense tracking is holding your business back, and how to fix it with a modern expense management platform.

Manual Expense Tracking is Time-Consuming

Manually tracking expenses involves collecting receipts, entering data into spreadsheets, and cross-checking information to ensure accuracy. This process is not only time-consuming, but it can also be tedious and prone to errors. For businesses with a high volume of expenses, this can become an overwhelming task that diverts time and resources from other important business functions.

Solution: A modern expense management platform automates the expense tracking process, allowing employees to quickly and easily enter expense data into a central system. This system can then automatically process and categorise expenses, saving time and improving accuracy.

Manual Expense Tracking is Prone to Errors

Manual expense tracking is inherently prone to errors, whether from mistakes in data entry or lost receipts. This can result in inaccurate expense reports and cause delays in reimbursement or approval processes. Additionally, manual tracking makes it difficult to identify fraudulent or erroneous expenses, leaving your business vulnerable to financial losses.

Solution: A modern expense management platform can help minimise errors by automating the data entry process and validating expense information against pre-defined rules. This system can make flagging suspicious expenses much easier, alerting administrators to potential issues and thus improving accuracy and reducing the risk of fraud.

Manual Expense Tracking Limits Visibility

Manually tracking expenses in spreadsheets or paper forms makes it difficult to gain a complete and accurate picture of your business’s spending patterns. Without real-time visibility into expense data, it can be challenging to identify trends, track spending, and make informed decisions about budgeting and forecasting.

Solution: A modern expense management platform provides real-time visibility into expense data, allowing businesses to make informed decisions about spending. With customizable reporting and analytics, businesses can gain insights into spending habits, identify cost-saving opportunities, and optimise their overall financial performance.

Manual Expense Tracking Delays Reimbursement and Approval Processes

Manually tracking expenses can cause significant delays in reimbursement and approval processes, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction among employees. With a manual process, employees may need to wait several days or even weeks to receive reimbursement, which can negatively impact morale and productivity.

Solution: A modern expense management platform streamlines the reimbursement and approval process, allowing employees to submit expenses quickly and easily, and administrators to approve or reject expenses with just a few clicks. This can significantly reduce the time and resources required for expense reimbursement and improve employee satisfaction.

In conclusion, manual expense tracking can be a significant hindrance to a business’s success, resulting in time-consuming processes, errors, limited visibility, and delays in reimbursement and approval. By implementing a modern expense management platform, businesses can automate the expense tracking process, improve accuracy, gain real-time visibility, and streamline the reimbursement and approval process, ultimately leading to improved financial performance and overall business success.

See the solution in action by signing up for our webinar, taking place on 23rd March 2023. In this live product demo, we’ll show you how Capture Expense allows your people to raise, submit and approve expenses at any time, from any location and streamlines the way your organisation manages spend. Sign up here.

The Importance of Mobile Expense Management for Remote Teams

By Resources

By streamlining the expense reporting process, remote-first businesses can save time, money, and improve their bottom line.

As more and more businesses adopt remote work, mobile expense management has become increasingly crucial for companies to keep track of their finances. With employees working from various locations, it’s essential that expense reporting is streamlined and easily accessible from any device. In this blog post, we’ll explore why mobile expense management is vital for remote teams and how it can help businesses save time, money, and improve their bottom line.

Ease of Access

One of the primary advantages of mobile expense management is its ease of access. With employees working from various locations, it’s important that they can submit expenses quickly and easily, no matter where they are. Mobile expense management allows employees to easily submit expenses through their smartphones, eliminating the need to wait until they return to the office to submit expenses. This not only saves time, but it also helps ensure that expenses are reported in a timely manner, which is crucial for accurate financial reporting.

Reduced Costs

Another advantage of mobile expense management is that it helps reduce costs. Traditional expense reporting methods, such as paper-based expense reports or manual spreadsheets, can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Mobile expense management eliminates the need for manual processes, reducing the time and costs associated with manual data entry. Additionally, mobile expense management allows for real-time tracking of expenses, reducing the risk of duplicate or incorrect expenses being submitted.

Improved Accuracy

Accurate expense reporting is essential for businesses to stay financially accountable. With mobile expense management, employees can easily attach receipts and other relevant documentation to their expense reports, ensuring that all expenses are accurately documented and recorded. This eliminates the need for manual data entry, reducing the risk of human error and ensuring that expenses are accurately reported.

Improved Workflow

Mobile expense management can also improve the workflow of remote teams. By automating the approval process, expenses can be approved quickly, reducing the time it takes for employees to receive reimbursement. Additionally, mobile expense management provides real-time visibility into expenses, allowing managers to see the status of expenses in real-time and make any necessary adjustments.

 

Increased Productivity

Finally, mobile expense management can increase the productivity of remote teams. With the ability to easily submit expenses from anywhere, employees can spend less time on manual expense reporting and more time on their core responsibilities. This not only saves time, but it also helps improve the overall productivity of remote teams.

In conclusion, mobile expense management is essential for remote teams. Its ease of access, reduced costs, improved accuracy, improved workflow, and increased productivity make it a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. By streamlining the expense reporting process, businesses can save time, money, and improve their bottom line. To learn more about mobile expense management, contact us today to schedule a demo.

Capture Expense becomes part of The Payroll Software and Services Group

By Resources

The Payroll Software and Services Group has completed the acquisition of Expense Once; an expense management software platform designed to simplify how organisations manage spend.

PSSG, backed by growth-equity tech investor Tenzing, was formed in 2019. The Group specialises in providing software and outsourcing solutions for HR, payroll and business support in the UK and international markets. It has over 1,500 clients and more than 260,000 employees are currently paid using its software.

Expense Once is a modern, all-in-one desktop and mobile application that allows businesses to easily automate and manage expenses. The acquisition of Expense Once will greatly enhance The PSSG’s service offering, enabling it to offer a wider range of products to clients and the larger market.

Both Expense Once and The PSSG are focused on providing a market-leading service to clients. James Rowell, Founder of ExpenseOnce says of the acquisition, “We are very excited to have joined The PSSG. Drawing on the powerful expertise and support of this growing company will greatly improve the experience to our clients.”

“PSSG are delighted to have acquired Expense Once. The acquisition will strengthen the Group’s service offering and aligns with our vision to provide business-critical services and products which support every stage of the employee journey. We are very excited to welcome James and the Expense Once team to PSSG.” Eric Dunmore, CEO of PSSG

PSSG is actively focused on expanding its portfolio and interested in speaking to successful and well-managed businesses based in both the UK and internationally, with software or services offering payroll, compensation & benefits, HR advisory, expense management or time and attendance. If you are a business owner or founder and interested in learning more about joining PSSG, please contact us here.

HMRC Mileage Rates for 2022

By Resources

Did you know you can reduce your tax bill by knowing the most up to day HMRC mileage claim rates? Even if you have a company car, you can still save on taxes through the HMRC fuel rates.

You can use this guide to help you on your business travel finances.

 

What are the HMRC mileage rates and what should I know about them?

 

These mileage rates allow employees of a business to claim travel expenses when using a vehicle. This doesn’t just include fuel costs, it includes wear, road tax and insurance. Obviously it’s a little difficult to work out the general wear on someone’s car, even more so if you have to keep track of more than a couple employees. So HMRC uses a system which uses pence per mile instead of just fuel rates (known as Mileage Approved Payments (MAPs)).

As you don’t usually have to pay taxes on business expenses MAPs make it so you can make sure you’re paying the right amount of taxes. Even when you incur business vehicle expenses from a personal account, this mileage allowance also makes sure these expenses are exempt from tax.

 

Cars and Vans – UK Business mileage rates for 2022

 

The current mileage rate is the same as previous years, except there are different expense policy rates for cars and vans vs motorbikes and bicycles.

For cars/vans, the business mileage rate in 2022 is 45 pence per mile before you hit 10k miles. After 10k miles you can only claim 25 pence per mile.

Hybrid cards use the standard rate of 45p per mile, whereas electric car mileage rates are 4p per mile as electricity is not seen as fuel. This rate stays consistent for electric cars, even about 10k miles.

 

For example, if you’ve driven 12,000 miles for work in the last year you could claim:

10,000 x 45p = £4,500

2,000 x 25p = £500

£4,500 + £500 = £5,000 total tax free reimbursement

 

Motorcycle rates in 2022

For motorbikes, you can claim back 24p per mile when you use your bike for business travel. This remains the same no matter how many miles you travel.

For example, you drive 6,000 miles on your motorbike for business:

6,000 x 24p = £1,440 total tax free reimbursement

 

 

Bicycle rates this year

If you ride a push bike for work, perhaps delivering food or just to do local trips, you can have 20p per mile award for tax free reimbursement to cover insurance and general bike wear. This has no cap and can be claimed for an unlimited amount.

 

 

What trips count under the HMRC Mileage Allowance?

 

Examples of valid trips:

  • Travelling between offices
  • Travelling to a different location such as a conference or exhibition to conduct business
  • When you can’t get a job done without travelling to this place, for example a colleague has broken down
  • Driving to a client
  • Driving to anywhere outside of your usual office space in order to do your job

 

Examples of invalid trips:

  • Your daily commute to your fixed office
  • Travelling less than 10 miles to another location for work (seen as too close)
  • Toll payments
  • A trip where you primarily do personal errands and not work errands

 

There are lots of others, so make sure to check out HMRCs website for the full list to make sure you are compliant.

 

 

How are mileage tax rates calculated?

As most companies reimburse employees monthly on their expenses, companies must keep track of total mileage over the tax year. At the end of the tax year you need to compare the actual amount paid to the number of miles driven. Once you’ve used a mileage calculator, the HMRC does not require any information or reporting as long as you do not go over the approved MAP amount.

 

 

 

 

How can I increase my mileage allowance?

 

If you drive a colleague to work, you can actually get a further mileage allowance. Mileage rates increase by 5p per mile when another employee travels with you in your car.

 

For example say you drive your college a total of 70 miles a month in carpooling (840 miles per year):

840 x 5p = £42

That’s £42 extra you can receive tax free.

 

If you have any questions, contact us today. Expense Once works hard to keep mileage allowances up to date in the app, ensuring you keep track of your mileage and get the most out of the allowances the government offers. Book a free trail today to find out more.

How to Manage Expenses

By Resources

One of the many trails new businesses have to face is the matter of expenses. How do you keep track of them? How can you process them? And how can you reduce them?

Here is a list of just a few ways you can reduce business expenses, especially made for small business:

First things first, make a plan

You need to have a look at where your company is now and where you want it to go in the future. To adequately predict expenses and account for contingencies, a well-thought-out road map is very much needed. If you’re looking at expanding in the next year, for example, you need to work this into your plan in order to accommodate for new expenses.

Keep track of current expenses diligently

Make sure you’re keeping a close eye on what you’re currently spending and where. You can use expense management software like Capture Expense to help you get a good overview of company spending, and use the data to analysis costs and where you can cut back or work more efficiently.

Understand where your expenses will vary

This is called variable costs, and they are basically when production may increase or decrease throughout the year. This is especially important for small businesses where certain times of year are a lot more lucrative, such as Christmas. Manage these variable costs to keep them under control and to ensure you always have the budget you need to cover these costs.

Keep an eye on fixed costs

Things you consistently spend on such as services or materials can often be forgotten about because you are so used to spending x amount per month or year. It is important to keep an eye on these costs and evaluate if they can be cut down from looking elsewhere for sourcing, or renegotiating.

Learn to automate

Using technology to your advantage will definitely help you save money overall. Expense management software such as Expense Once is a perfect example of how OCR technology and automation can be used to increase the speed of expense processing, saving you time on T&Es, letting you better spend that time elsewhere.

Review your expenses often

With a better overview of spending (using Expense Once) you can much more easily review your expense spending and learn where you can reduce spending. Reviewing this often will make sure you are keeping on top of what goes where.

Keep expense categories and make sure they’re consistent

This again feeds into the idea of how important it is to track your expenses accurately. Ensuring they are categorised correctly and consistently will lead to better data analysis, and more accurate insights into spending.

Most of these issues are solved by using an automated expense manager. There are many apps available, but Expense Once prides itself in being one of the most easy to use and smart apps out there. It uses OCR technology to extract data from receipts so you don’t have to, it allows for custom categories and visibility over data.

 

Book a free demo today to see for yourself. 

How to Keep Track of Expenses for Small Business

By Resources

Currently, 1 in 5 finance teams still use manual expense reports to manage operational spend (Spend Journal, 2020). This means using software like Excel to input data and manually create expense reports, maybe using a downloaded excel expense report template or creating one from scratch. Either way, with the advancement of technology this is an insane statistic, as it means so much time is held up in processing reports manually. Why do small businesses insist on using excel when there are much better solutions out there that overall save money?

Here are a few reasons you may still being using excel to manually process travel and expenses:

It’s highly available and accessible

Almost everyone has Excel installed as part of the Microsoft Suite, and if not you can access it online via Google Sheets. However just because it’s easy to access doesn’t mean it’s the best fit.

Lots of people know how to use it


You don’t have to learn something new, or pay someone to try a new piece of software. It’s not only self explanatory but most people have used it for many years, meaning it requires no time to begin using. However with expense automation software like
Capture Expense, the ease of use of the software means very little training is required, mainly only for accountants.

Works on a small scale


You’ve not had any problems yet because your business is only a certain size, so why change? Unfortunately this is not forward thinking and when your business grows, as it should do, you can suddenly find you are having to put a lot more time into the expense process than planned. Not only will you have to do more chasing of receipts, but checking of errors and discrepancies. This snowballs and it’s a part of the business you don’t want to be spending time on as it grows.

 

Has always been the way you do it


Just because you’ve done it one way for a long time doesn’t mean it’s the best way! Even trying something as a simple demo can give you an insight as to how much better it can be with an expense management package.

Now on the flipside, what are the issues you may be facing?

Receipt storage hassle and lost receipts

Keeping track of many receipts is a chore and a burden, and bad management leads to greater inaccuracies and less Tax reclaim. This is a loss which is totally avoidable, and T&E management software really helps with this.

Poor visibility of spend


40% of companies have little or no visibility into how money is spent (
Spend Journal, 2020). This tends to be from a lack of comprehensive and useable data. As we all know in the technology age, data is incredibly valuable and is lucrative industry, so why are you not paying attention to your own company data. Apps like Expense Once not only help you input data correctly, but visualize and categorize the data for analysis.

Out-of-policy bottle necks and reiterating policy to employees


Two thirds of employees haven’t read their companies expense policy (
All Star). This is understandable, it tends to a document which is overlooked when you’re first given it. However, this leads to a much higher rate of out of policy claims and a need to reiterate the policy to employees. One great thing Expense Once does is provide custom policy reminders on applicable forms to ensure claims are filed correctly in the input process. For example, when putting in a mileage claim, a custom policy reminder can pop up reminder what they can and can’t claim back on.  

Lack of expenditure control


How do you stop someone from spending too much when they have unlimited funds essentially on card? Expense management software can help create caps for spend, so they won’t spend more than they can claim back.

Overestimated mileage


Manually interesting mileage data can lead to way overestimated fuel costs, so using a program which has HMRCs rates automatically implemented and routinely updates eliminates this issue.

Backlogged reimbursement and chasing staff to submit claims


Due to the lack of automation in manual expense processing, you can often end up with big backlogs of reimbursement, as well as having to chase staff to submit claims on time. This is both stressful and a time intensive job. Using Capture Expense helps reduce backlogs due to the aid of automation, and due to the ease of use of submitting claims using the software it means chasing staff no longer becomes an issue.

Duplication and errors


One key issue with using software like Excel to manage T&E’s is the high change of duplication and errors. This can be due to having multiple versions of the same document, or not seeing the discrepancy between a receipt and the data input into a form. Capture Expense uses technology to check receipts against input data for accuracy, as well as maintaining consistency across all platforms, including both desktop and mobile.

Difficultly with Remote Workers


With Capture Expense being available both on desktop and mobile, staff can submit claims anytime, anywhere. With all the data saved securely on the cloud, it can be kept up to date and consistent, no matter where it is being sent from.

Of those who use software to help them process expense claims, only 10% of expense approvals are automated (Spend Journal, 2020). This is a very low number, even with the addition of technology and software to speed up the process. However, it isn’t enough as it’s all well and good using software to help you input your data, but if its just as slow as using an Excel template because nothing is automated, what is the point?

This is why you really should use expense automation software. Contact us today for a free demo to see for yourself how easy it is to set up and use and begin your journey of better visibility over money spent as well as reduced time spend on expenses.

White Label Software Solutions in Expense Managment

By Resources

As a business owner, you may jump to fixing problems yourself with DIY solutions.

However, making a custom solution from scratch is often a disaster because you may:

  • Slow down your time to market as you have to take on something completely new.
  • Continue to make mistakes others have made, when there are people out there with more practise and expertise, having ironed out those problems.
  • Watching money go down the drain on tools and solutions which already exist in other formats.

So what’s a better idea? Well to use a white label solution of course. White label products/services are packages which as made by one company and sold by another. The reseller can then customise the product with branding, logos and their identity. This helps create customer association to the product. And while the reseller benefits from not having to worry about the manufacture, the producer can focus on more cost effective ways to build up the product without having to worry about its marketing.

Almost every product can benefit from these white label solutions, and expense management is no different. It allows companies to use and implement important expense management automation with their own branding and layouts, increasing their portfolio and adding massive value.

Consider the following factors if you’re still not convinced if a white label solution is right for you:

  • It makes your clients happy. Your consumers have an end goal in mind, and a white label solution can help them get there quickly and easily. Customers may be forced to look for answers elsewhere due to the extra months (or even years) it takes to develop your own solution. You may avoid this by providing a ready-made solution that suits their demands right away.
  • It helps you save both time and money. Creating a solution from the ground up requires significant financial and human capital resources, not to mention time. While a custom solution may appear to be the greatest option at first, the effort may soon disrupt internal business processes and blow budgets. Even if you believe you can create it yourself, you must account for marketing time. Consider how long it will take to architect, develop, build, and test the solution. If you need to deploy quickly, skipping any of these procedures could put you even further behind. When time is of the importance and you need to act quickly, it may be more cost-effective to invest in an established solution.

  • It’s simple and quick to brand. If you’re attempting to come up with innovative ways to improve your business, white label solutions can help. Because white label products are typically fully integrated and ready-to-use, branding is a breeze. You don’t have to worry about time and money spent of R&D. You can then add your own branding and identity before getting back to work.

  • It allows you to concentrate on your company’s main strengths. In many situations, the solutions that businesses aspire to develop on their own are much beyond their areas of expertise. Stretching your resources to do anything outside of your core strengths is not a good idea. To determine whether a white label solution might help you achieve your goals more efficiently, take a thorough look at the solution you require and compare it to your available resources. Pre-packaged solutions allow you to put your trust in the experts in the field you’re interested in, and avoid making the same mistakes that others have.

White label solutions allow you to use your company’s distinctive branding to offer a product or service without having to invest in infrastructure or technology. As a consequence, you can concentrate on developing your brand and marketing your services while streamlining your consumers’ conversion process.

Expense Once offers API solutions for customers which means you can expand your software portfolio in an instant. By adding your own branding and marketing, you can greatly increase software value with no real added work.

Contact us today to discuss this further or if you have any questions. We’d love to hear your thoughts.