Expense report software is used by many organizations, both private and public, to maintain accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive expense accounts. Such accounts include travel costs, sales and expense, and the administrative expenses related to the business operations. These software packages are designed to make the tasks associated with expense management easy and effective. There are two types of software available: web based and desktop. Each type has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Web based expense reports software includes a single centralized location that provides a number of different user profiles. This allows for the creation of expense reports within differentdepartments at a time, without requiring additional deployment of staff to create each department’s report. This also means that the company can increase productivity as departments expand. A typical package includes territory management software, the POS system, the ability to export data, and the ability to integrate the reports with other systems, such as those for payroll and accounting.
Desktop software requires minimal setup, and is typically installed on the user’s computer. It then provides log in access to an accounting system that allows the user to create custom expense reports, to enter relevant information, and to print the data. The main disadvantage of this type of program is that it does not provide the ability to share information between departments or to examine past transactions. Desktop software is typically only suitable for large companies, since it may not be useful to small business that normally do all of their own invoicing.
To use expense report software effectively, the user should be able to describe the types of information needed. The sample input fields are described next. These allow the user to select the account that needs to be entered, the number of business units to include in the transaction, the employee that will be billed for the service, the date the transaction occurs, the amount of money to be charged, and the customer that is being billed for the service. Additional information can also be entered if needed by the representative.
Most electronic billing systems include an electronic claims entry feature, which enables the client to electronically assign expenses to designated vendors, and to track the status of their claims. Electronic claims also make it easier to manage recurring transactions. The next section of the expense report describes the actual expense data. This includes the date and dollar amount for each transaction, and includes the service code associated with the service that was contracted for. The following line provides the invoice number of the contract that was originally given, the service code for the service that was contracted for, and the service description that pertains to the services that were contracted for.
After describing the different types of information, the final line item is the actual dollar amount associated with each transaction. Most fields will list the items in the expense account by vendor name, service code, or service description. There will also be one to three lines for the actual dollar value. If there is a tie between the amount of the total charges incurred and the dollar amount of the original contract, a word box must be included here. The final line item in an expense report is the chargeback status, which is indicated by an asterisk in case the field has been paid but the invoice is still being delivered.