A Case Study on how Diriger’s Enterprise Expense Claims (EES) solution was implemented at Australia’s most historical energy generation corporation and was able to cater for standard Government Business Enterprise (GBE) level policies, financial standards, and employee agreements.

Our customer required a modern, easy-to-use, and interoperable Enterprise Expense Claim Management solution to meet the needs of its compliance and regulatory obligations. Key requirements included the need for both online and off-line usage and administration, have a user friendly mobile UI/UX, be cloud hosted, and fully integrated with their ERP system of record to ensure data integrity and governance.

The current expense claim submission process was primarily manual and was dependent on the individual claimant to have a detailed understanding of the organisation's expense claim policies and procedures. There were regular omissions of data and information due to lack of understanding of the salient policies, regulations and ATO requirements; hence manual processes often resulted in too many iterations and delayed payments. 

The accompanying documentation needed to support these claims was often incorrect or missing, resulting in further delayed processing.

All the above situations led to a strong reliance on an already overextended Accounts Team to ensure that correct, readable, and accessible receipts and accompanying documentation are lodged in a timely manner and that the claims met the organisation’s policies and tax eligibility requirements.

Enterprise Expense Claim Management processes are essential components of financial management within organisations. These processes ensure that employees are reimbursed for business-related expenses they incur while performing their duties. An effective expense claims process helps control costs, maintain accurate financial records, and ensures compliance with company policies and relevant regulations

The key steps typically involved in an expense claims process are:

• Expense Policy: Establish a clear and comprehensive expense policy outlining what expenses are eligible for reimbursement and the documentation required. Provide access to and communicate the policy to all employees to ensure awareness and compliance.

• Expense Report Submission: Employees should submit detailed expense reports, including receipts and supporting documentation, within a specified time-frame e.g. monthly.  Modern expense management software will streamline the required submission process.

• Review and Approval: Designate individuals or teams to review and approve expense reports as per the endorsed Delegations of Authority policy. The Reviewers and Approvers shall ensure that expenses align with the company policy and that all required documentation is attached.

• Documentation Verification: Verify that receipts and supporting documentation are authentic and meet the policy requirements. Confirm that expenses are legitimate and directly related to business activities and rules.

• Coding and Categorisation: Assign appropriate expense codes and categories to ensure accurate tracking and reporting. This step is crucial for financial reporting and budget analysis.

• Approval Workflow: Implement an approval workflow that may involve multiple levels of authorisation based on the amount and nature of the expense. Diriger’s electronic approval systems shall automate this process.

• Reimbursement: Process approved expense claims for reimbursement via Diriger’s interoperability platform that supports reimbursement to employees through payroll, direct deposit, or other agreed-upon methods.

• Record Keeping: Maintain organised records of all expense claims, approvals, and reimbursements and ensure that relevant Officers have timely access for monitoring and control purposes. Ensure compliance with record retention policies and legal requirements.

• Communication: Provide ease of access feedback or clarification of status to Users as required. 

• Auditing and Compliance:  Provide the ability to conduct regular audits to ensure compliance with the expense policy. Display and address any discrepancies or policy violations promptly.

• Continuous Improvement: Periodically review and update the expense policy and procedures to adapt to changing business needs and regulations. Solicit feedback from employees and stakeholders to identify areas for improvement. 

Following these steps and leveraging technology such as Diriger's Enterprise Expense Claim Management, organisations can establish efficient and transparent expense claims processes that contribute to financial accountability and compliance.

Diriger deployed Diriger's Enterprise Expense Claim Management mobile using the latest modern Material Design and Offline experience.