CNET streamlines its expense process with Incharge

Latest news from Incharge Group

06-Sep-2007

Travel and related expenses account for around 3% of CNET’s outgoings in Australia. These high-volume/low-value transactions - consisting of local business travel, client entertainment, stationary, training courses and phones - were all processed via cumbersome forms and spreadsheets until the company decided to automate its expense management.

Unlike many Finance Controllers who cite cost-saving as the main objective of implementing automated expense management, CNET’s Ken Davison felt he already had costs under control. Therefore, his main objectives were more business process improvement related. He wanted to thoroughly streamline CNET’s expense approval process. The company’s senior managers are often away from the office for extended periods or based overseas, which often resulted in unnecessary delays and this had a detrimental effect on the time to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses. In some cases the claim cycle time tripled due to this problem.

Expenses were submitted by staff via a standard form in Excel, and there were a lot of problems with GST as staff members were never sure if expenses included or excluded it. Expenses were not grouped properly so it would take a lot of the finance department’s time deciphering and coding each line of the claim. Also, people wouldn’t provide details of entertainment to facilitate CNET’s FBT compliance.

Davison chose Incharge Group as CNET’s preferred software vendor after thoroughly researching the market. He explains why. “I found Incharge very responsive and willing to customise the system quickly to meet our business needs,” he says.

“They spent a lot of time understanding our business and how our current systems worked and this helped us to see the benefits we would get from using their system. Incharge is very proactive, they have been back to us several times to ensure everything is working properly and they have upgraded the system since we became customers.”

Davison reported the following three main outcomes from implementing Incharge Expense Management:

1. Improved recording of expenses and FBT records
2. Reduced administrative time
3. Increased professionalism - staff and managers now have a claiming system and proper procedures in place which has been very well received and streamlined the whole process

According to Davison, managers and the finance department are the main beneficiaries. The approval process is clear and simple. Claimants are also more confident of being paid quickly as they know finance see the claim as soon as it is submitted. Therefore, approval and payment has been sped up which benefits everyone and helps to maintain morale.

So, what is Davison’s advice to other companies who are unsure how to improve their expense process? “Install Incharge immediately. There are more benefits than just saving time, better record keeping and reduced costs. We have found that our staff are now much more confident submitting expenses by using the system. They submit more regularly, which means we can account for the costs sooner, and have confidence that their claim will be dealt with quickly. Incharge has added a level of professionalism to our business.”

More information

David Hancock
Managing Director
Incharge Group
Tel: (02) 8214 6522

OR

Ken Davison
Financial Controller
CNET Networks Australia
Tel: (02) 8514 9970