When making business software buying decisions, the general tendency is to look at the organization as a whole and see how the software benefits the organization and how soon the organization can see a return on investment (ROI).
However, an organization is not made up of bricks and mortar; it is made up of employees, and it is these employees who would be using the software in the future once it has been deployed.
In this article, we'll see how online expense management software, a web-based business management application that helps organizations with end to end travel and expense management, will impact the individual stakeholders, i.
e.
, the users.
IT expert: Perhaps the predominant emotion that the IT expert feels about this software is relief.
Since this software is hosted by the vendor and is offered as a service over the web, the in-house IT expert has little to nothing to do in maintaining this software.
Unlike on-premise enterprise applications which need a lot of coaxing to be integrated with other applications, these online applications are built on an open platform and can be integrated easily.
The traveler: This is another stakeholder that will be immensely relieved.
This software simplifies the process of creating expense reports so much that it can be done in a matter of minutes.
Before going on the trip, the traveling executive would create a pre-trip request that could be converted into an expense claim in seconds.
Receipt management becomes exponentially easier as they don't have to carry them back anymore.
As soon as they receive a receipt, they simply take a picture of it and attach it to the pertaining expense.
Departmental heads/supervisors/approvers: Far from becoming bottlenecks and being swamped with reams of paper, the supervisors can clear out their approvals within seconds with expense software.
Apart from clearing requisitions, the supervisors have another major responsibility - acting as the first check of the expense report before it goes to for a second validation by the accounting department.
Without this software, the supervisor would have to have done all these tasks manually.
But the software now automates a large part of the work so that the supervisor becomes an administrator or facilitator and can complete the task in very little time.
Accountant: We already mentioned that the accountant acts as the second level of validation.
The same way the software aids the supervisor, it helps the accountant complete the verification in a short time as opposed to the days that it would normally take.
Reimbursements also become easier as credit cards and accounting systems can be integrated with the software and the whole process could be made seamless.
Senior management: One of the biggest grouses of the senior management is that they have very little to no visibility into the process.
The usage of multiple disparate systems to manage parts of the process is the chief culprit in this.
In contrast, the expense management software application alone handles the entire process and hence creates visibility.
Reporting also becomes easier as now, all it takes is a few clicks.
However, an organization is not made up of bricks and mortar; it is made up of employees, and it is these employees who would be using the software in the future once it has been deployed.
In this article, we'll see how online expense management software, a web-based business management application that helps organizations with end to end travel and expense management, will impact the individual stakeholders, i.
e.
, the users.
IT expert: Perhaps the predominant emotion that the IT expert feels about this software is relief.
Since this software is hosted by the vendor and is offered as a service over the web, the in-house IT expert has little to nothing to do in maintaining this software.
Unlike on-premise enterprise applications which need a lot of coaxing to be integrated with other applications, these online applications are built on an open platform and can be integrated easily.
The traveler: This is another stakeholder that will be immensely relieved.
This software simplifies the process of creating expense reports so much that it can be done in a matter of minutes.
Before going on the trip, the traveling executive would create a pre-trip request that could be converted into an expense claim in seconds.
Receipt management becomes exponentially easier as they don't have to carry them back anymore.
As soon as they receive a receipt, they simply take a picture of it and attach it to the pertaining expense.
Departmental heads/supervisors/approvers: Far from becoming bottlenecks and being swamped with reams of paper, the supervisors can clear out their approvals within seconds with expense software.
Apart from clearing requisitions, the supervisors have another major responsibility - acting as the first check of the expense report before it goes to for a second validation by the accounting department.
Without this software, the supervisor would have to have done all these tasks manually.
But the software now automates a large part of the work so that the supervisor becomes an administrator or facilitator and can complete the task in very little time.
Accountant: We already mentioned that the accountant acts as the second level of validation.
The same way the software aids the supervisor, it helps the accountant complete the verification in a short time as opposed to the days that it would normally take.
Reimbursements also become easier as credit cards and accounting systems can be integrated with the software and the whole process could be made seamless.
Senior management: One of the biggest grouses of the senior management is that they have very little to no visibility into the process.
The usage of multiple disparate systems to manage parts of the process is the chief culprit in this.
In contrast, the expense management software application alone handles the entire process and hence creates visibility.
Reporting also becomes easier as now, all it takes is a few clicks.
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