Why 3 Organizations Ditched Manual T&E Management
Learn how three customers transformed their overwhelming and manual T&E management processes with TravelBank. See how switching to an automated travel and expense solution helped them gain control, reduce risk, and save time and money.
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Structural Concepts
Before using TravelBank, Structural Concepts Corporation was stuck with a time-consuming, manual process for managing expenses. “Employees would fill out their Excel spreadsheet, find their supervisor, get a signature, scan it into a PDF document, then send it to me for filing,” said Cameron Hartman, AP Supervisor at Structural Concepts. Manual errors were rampant, making audits tedious.
>> Related: 7 Tips to Avoid Expense Report Errors <<
Instead, Structural Concepts wanted to go paperless, and centralize expense reporting and approvals. They chose TravelBank for its simple and user-friendly interface.
The Transformation
Switching from manual T&E management to TravelBank slashed the time employees spend on expense reports by half. “One of our more active users told me he used to spend two hours a week on his expense reimbursement process filling out the spreadsheet, stapling all the receipts together, scanning them in. And now he tells me that he is able to complete the process for a single expense walking from the cash register to his car,” Hartman said.
And thanks to TravelBank’s automation, errors are down significantly, saving the finance team 8 hours a week.
Read Structural Concepts’ Story >
Christian Brothers University
As the new Director of Procurement, Ursula Atkins wanted to immediately fix Christian Brothers University’s disjointed T&E process. “Before TravelBank, it was all over the place. Employees were going out to different sites and each and every person was choosing what they wanted. There were no policies or procedures to follow in order to choose travel means or even how to deal with the expenses that followed,” Atkins said.
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Without consolidated data, the Finance team couldn’t track employee travel, manage bookings, or accurately budget. And so they switched to TravelBank to book flights, hotels, and car rentals; track employee travel; and monitor spend holistically.
The Transformation
Travelers within the university can now make better travel decisions thanks to custom policies built into the TravelBank booking platform. In-app guidance ensures employees are aware of travel policies when it counts, and guardrails enforce those policies.
Thanks to integrated bank cards, TravelBank has significantly reduced the burden of manual reconciliation. “Where we were more at 45% accuracy, now we’re at 95% accuracy,” Atkins said.
Read Christian Brothers University’s Story >
Duncan Aviation
Before TravelBank, Duncan Aviation relied on Excel and paper receipts for expense management. Employees struggled with the antiquated process and often submitted expenses in bulk at the end of the month, overwhelming the administrative staff with hundreds of reports. Accounting had to review and manage expenses that amounted to 60 hours of work within a 40-hour work week. They needed a change.
The Transformation
With TravelBank, employees now easily submit their expenses throughout the month via the mobile or desktop app, or by syncing their corporate card transactions. “TravelBank has really helped our employees. They’re not sitting there tying a receipt back to an expense report. It’s all automatic. The expense matches the receipt, and it just goes,” said Paul Schlorholtz, Controller at Duncan Aviation.
>> Related: Manual vs Automated Expense Management <<
Having expense data instantly captured and accessible in TravelBank’s platform has also unlocked valuable financial insight, opening up opportunities for controlling spend. “We now have data behind [expenses] and can see where we’re spending money,” Schlorholtz said.