3. Difficulty in meeting policy requirements
Are staff and volunteers adhering to the organisation’s expense policy? With manual expense management, it can be very difficult to ensure that this is the case. Is there an upper limit on certain expenses? Are there certain expense types that need authorisation? What are the travel policies? Trying to make sure that everyone is expensing correctly is a task in itself. The finance team can’t tell until someone has submitted their expense claim. This, in turn, makes it difficult for the finance team to implement a fair and consistent policy.
4. Doesn’t support decentralised workforces including volunteers
Many organisations have staff and volunteers that aren’t based in a single office, making it more difficult to submit manual expense forms for approval and payment. This means expense forms could be delayed or get mislaid. Quite simply, manual expense processes eat into valuable time for everyone – from staff or volunteer member to approver and the finance team. When expense forms are received, they’re often rekeyed into the system, making them prone to further mistakes. It ultimately means that volunteers and staff possibly don’t get paid as fast as they should do.
5. Poor controls leave organisations open to expense abuse
Manual expense processes lack a robust framework that safeguards the not-for-profit from expense abuse. From exaggerated expense mileage to non-existent or inappropriate expenses, these all reduce funds for the cause. Whilst most people in the sector would never dream of submitting false expense claims, it’s still something that the not-for-profit should monitor if only to show diligence and accountability for the funds that have been entrusted to them.
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