Expense Reimbursement
The Problem: A transport company manually performed the expense reimbursement process which was time-consuming, error-prone, and led to delays in reimbursing employees for their expenses. The Finance department at the company faced challenges in managing the manual expense reimbursement process. The process involved employees submitting paper receipts, which then had to be manually reviewed, verified, and entered in the expense management system. This process was not only slow and error-prone, but also created frustration among employees due to delayed reimbursements.
The Solution: The company decided to implement Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution to automate the expense reimbursement process. The RPA solution aimed to streamline the end-to-end process, from receipt submission to final reimbursement, resulting in faster processing and reduced errors. The RPA bot enabled employees to submit digital receipts through a dedicated portal. The bot cross-checked receipt information with company policies to ensure compliance and flagged any discrepancies for manual review. Valid receipts were automatically entered into the expense management system, reducing manual data entry errors. The bot routed expense claims to the appropriate managers for approval based on predefined approval matrix. Approved claims were automatically processed for reimbursement, and the bot updated the reimbursement status in the system. Automated notifications were sent to employees at different stages of the process, providing transparency and updates. The RPA solution was integrated with the company's expense management system, email system, and other relevant software applications. The RPA bot was deployed on the company's RPA platform and configured to run on a regular basis, processing expense claims as they were submitted.
The Outcome: Total 10+ bots were deployed to complete the Expense Reimbursement process within a period of 8 months. The company realized below benefits after the successful RPA implantation:
- Speed: The RPA automation drastically reduced the time taken for expense reimbursement by 50%, ensuring that employees were reimbursed in a timely manner.
- Accuracy: The automation minimized errors caused by manual data entry and verification by 90%, leading to accurate reimbursement records.
- Employee Satisfaction: Employees appreciated the faster reimbursement process, leading to improved morale and reduced frustration.
- Compliance: The bot ensured adherence to company policies and regulatory requirements, reducing compliance risks.
- Resource Optimization: The Finance staff were freed from time-consuming manual tasks, allowing them to focus on more value-added activities.
- Manual Efforts Saved: Total manual efforts were reduced by 90% per month.
- Cost Reduction: The reduction in manual efforts led to cost savings associated with expense reimbursement approval tasks. Total dollars saved were ~50K per year