How universities can save time on manual expense reporting

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Universities share many similarities with large corporations, including department size, diversity, and tightly controlled budgets. As universities grow and expenses increase, it can be difficult to maintain control over expense reports. Today, it is critical for schools to articulate and enforce policies to control costs while remaining compliant. One way to meet these requirements is through automated expense management. Today, we’ll look at how schools can reduce costs, save time, and improve efficiency by eliminating manual expense reporting.




The Pitfalls of Manual Expense Reporting
Universities face several hurdles when it comes to submitting, processing and paying fees. Here are some examples that illustrate the hassle that manual filing often creates in higher education

Paper-intensive process. A typical manual reporting process would be as follows: keep the receipt, create an Excel spreadsheet, enter the correct budget ledger code data, staple the receipt to a printed version of the spreadsheet, and then fax or mail it to another department for approval. This process is labor-intensive, mundane, and a huge waste of time and resources.
Difficult Migration and Integration. Not all automated expense software is created equal. It’s difficult to find a solution that connects to third-party systems, especially those tailored to the higher education sector. Adopting a robust solution for universities is key.
Data entry errors. Mistakes are easy to make, especially when entering data manually. Entering the wrong number can have huge consequences on the correct General Ledger (GL) Code (financial codes used by the Financial Management Office for regulatory purposes).
Delayed Travel Reimbursement. The inability to easily example of taiwan phone number create expense items while traveling often delays the submission and reimbursement of travel expenses. This can be especially frustrating when department chairs, staff, or faculty travel for conferences, assignments, or other work requirements away from their home campus.




Fraud. Ellucian Fraud is estimated to cost $2.8 billion annually in the United States. Manual reporting leaves gaping holes in security because tracking manual entries is nearly impossible.
It's not hard to see why manual reporting is time-consuming and costly. Fortunately, there are solutions to this problem.

The benefits of automation
Automating any menial task is going to be a huge relief for any organization. For schools—which typically rely on multiple paper and legacy solutions that don’t talk to each other—this couldn’t be further from the truth. Who doesn’t want increased efficiency? If you want to be more convincing, here are four major benefits of automating your expense management system: 1. 1. Reduced costs. Manual expense reports require a lot of hands, eyes, and time. All of these things add up in terms of costs. With expense automation, the costs and time spent by staff on entering and sending reports are significantly reduced. 2. Saved time. It takes time to track and organize receipts, create the expense report, send it to a manager, get it approved, wait for reimbursements, and then do it all over again. With expense automation, everything is updated and sent in real-time, making the approval process much faster . 3. Easier accessibility. The world is digital and so are modern business solutions. For your school, going digital means everything is quickly and easily accessible at your fingertips. Expense automation allows your staff to access receipts and track expenses anywhere, anytime. 4. Error-free reporting. Trying not to make mistakes when entering data is a real headache. When mistakes are made, a manual process usually leaves you waiting until the following month to submit your corrected expense report. With automation, this process is reduced to a matter of minutes .