Automated credit card accounting platforms are streamlining expense management by replacing outdated paper-based processes and spreadsheets with mobile-friendly submissions and automatic reconciliations.
Expense reports have always been challenging for employees on the go, as well as finance teams trying to decipher often-haphazard, outdated, or incomplete information. Now, automated platforms such as Fyle enable companies to address the primary challenges of credit card management: collecting receipts, controlling approvals, and tracking card spending effectively.
Streamlining Expense Management with Automated Solutions
Using Fyle, a user is prompted by a text message to take a photo of a credit card receipt immediately after a transaction and submit the image by replying. When the receipt is sent, it’s matched with the charge and the transaction is automatically coded and ready for completion and approvals. Once reviewed and approved, the expense is automatically synced to the accounting software and charged to the appropriate account, location, department, and project.
Benefits of an Automated Management Solution
Automated solutions help finance teams address many administrative and processing challenges associated with manual expense reporting, including:
- Broken bank feeds
- Chasing down employees for receipts
- Manually coding detailed credit card statements
- Checking line items for errors or fraudulent activities
- Matching receipts to card transactions
- Keying expense data into accounting systems
- Wasting hours on the reconciliation process.
Beyond the administrative headaches, problems administering credit card expenses can affect the organization’s cash flow. For many professional service companies and some nonprofits, friction in recording card charges delays the revenue associated with invoicing customers for billable expenses.
Automated Credit Card Reconciliation
One of the primary benefits of automating credit card processing is real-time visibility into the organization’s payment card spending. As soon as a card is swiped, the user is notified to submit a photo of the receipt. The image enables immediate visibility of the transaction, and accelerates real-time updates on spending associated with specific budgets and projects.
Fyle also offers real-time integration with Sage Intacct and other accounting software platforms, allowing companies the option to process transactions as credit card transactions, accounts payable bills, or journal entries. Finance teams can tag the transactions with dimensions including employees, departments, locations, projects, or other user-defined dimensions. Over time, Fyle’s machine learning will become more capable of properly coding each company’s unique expenses.
Tips for Selecting an Automated Solution
When considering a credit card management platform, companies should look for solutions that connect directly with the leading payment processors such as Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. This connection allows companies to continue using their existing payment cards and prevents the need to rely on bank feeds to reconcile credit card transactions.
Another option to look for is the ability to issue virtual cards. They allow companies to set spending limits on transactions and restrict the type of charges that can be applied to a company credit card. Additionally, cards can be easily removed if an authorized user leaves the company.
Companies should look for solutions that allow users to submit digital receipts directly from their email or collaboration tools, and to automate user notifications for pending items such as unsubmitted receipts or unreviewed transactions.
To learn more about automated credit card management, contact us.
