-This article was last updated on 23 September 2021-
Whether you are updating your LinkedIn profile, listening to music on Spotify, or checking your bank balance on your bank’s mobile app, you will be utilising cloud technology. This convenient way of interacting with the digital world has changed the way we conduct our lives and is now becoming even more prevalent in everyday business processes.
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Cloud platforms have been optimising many aspects of business. One area in particular that has benefited from this new technology is expense management. Before the dawn of cloud technologies, spreadsheets were heavily relied upon to track the expense process. This method was and still is very time-consuming, error-prone and unable to capture information in real-time. Cloud technologies on the other hand have shaped expense management into a smarter and much more convenient process. Here are the ways that many businesses are benefiting:
Accessible Data
Utilising a cloud platform like ExpenseIn ensures that you have access to data anywhere and at anytime. Employees do not have to be tied down to their desks to sort out their monthly expenses. Cloud technologies have developed many businesses into a mobile work force with this aspect of working remotely soon to be becoming the norm. For expense management this has meant that expense apps can capture receipts and allow users to create expenses on the go. This convenient method ensures that claims are never missed or become lost.
The Data is Stored on One Central Platform
Having your data stored in one place allows your finance team to gain visibility over all aspects of expenditure. They are able to gain meaningful insights at every stage of the reimbursement process. The great thing about a cloud-based platform is that you can see these numbers in real-time, this means that if you spot alarming spending you can take corrective action when it is needed.
Getting a Holistic View of Your Expenses
Cloud technology has brought together different departments and projects under one roof. Whereas before these two areas would have tracked expenditure separately, now businesses can assign expenses by departments and projects. They can then see the overall expenditure for their business expenses instead of scrambling around with a multitude of spreadsheets from different areas of the company. Seeing the overall expenditure of your business expenses is important, but it is also essential to drill down into different areas and understand where overspending is occurring. With ExpenseIn’s software you can understand your business expenses from both a holistic and compartmentalised stance. It is this level of reporting that will ensure that you are always making better financial business decisions.
Keeping Secure
With the cloud you are improving your security on many levels. Files are not stored on site so if the worst were to happen in the event of a fire for example, you have one less thing to worry about. Even less dramatic instances like hardware failure or even lost laptops are covered, because your data is being stored remotely. From an expense management point of view this is extremely important. In HMRC’s eyes lost records can be avoided. With the introduction of cloud technologies data will never be compromised. HMRC are expecting this level of data security, especially with their new shift towards Making Tax Digital. Soon you will have no choice, but to store your expense data digitally so utilising cloud technology for security assurance will be an added bonus.
