Best Automatic Expense Tracking App | Expense Tracker 365
Are you struggling to manage expenses efficiently? If yes, then you have come to the right page. Handling expenses manually is time-consuming, requires constant follow-ups and is highly reliant on human effort. This process becomes more difficult to control as companies expand.
This is where expense management automation comes into play.
An automatic expense tracking app helps businesses record and manage expenses digitally. It applies company rules and provides real-time spending visibility. This makes expense tracking easier as organizations grow.
Automation is no longer a future idea. It is already shaping how businesses work today. According to a study in McKinsey, 65% of respondents said their organizations plan to increase investment in generative AI in 2025. This shift shows a clear direction: companies are actively moving toward automation to improve everyday operations.
In this blog we’ll explore how an automatic expense tracking app helps and best practices to implement it.
What Is Automatic Expense Tracking App?
Automatic expense tracking app refers to the use of software to handle business expenses with minimal manual work. Employees handle expenses electronically instead of filling out spreadsheets or sending paper receipts and the system handles the rest.
It records the expense information, sorts it, uses company regulations and makes insightful reports to the financial departments.
The goal is simple: It simplifies the process of tracking expenses among the employees and to make it more transparent to the businesses.
Why Automating Expenses Is Important for Business?
Automating expense management is not about replacing people. It concerns the minimization of daily challenges that employees as well as finance departments face. Below are five common challenges businesses face when expenses are handled manually, explained in a polite and practical way.
1. Time Spent on Routine Expense Tasks
Entering expenses manually requires the effort of the employees and finance teams. The staff members should document information, provide receipts, and reports. Each entry is then reviewed by finance teams. An automatic expense tracking application saves time on the following routine processes as it automatically captures data and implements a set of predefined rules.
2. Delays in Expense Review and Reimbursement
Reviews may take more time than expected, when the expense data is transferred via emails or spreadsheet. This may postpone the reimbursements and strain the employees. Automation assists in the speed of expense data movement with approvals by adhering to a predetermined workflow, without being reminded manually.
3. Limited Visibility Into Spending Patterns
It is not easy to see trends in real time when using manual tracking. Month-end reports can be very useful in helping finance teams to comprehend expenses. Expense data can be accessed in real-time with an automatic expense tracking app, which allows teams to see spending patterns in real-time.
4. Difficulty Handling High Expense Volumes
The more companies expand, the more claims of expenses. Manual processing is more resource-consuming and demanding. Automation helps in achieving volumes without adding workload, and that is why most of the expanding businesses embrace it at an early stage.
5. Proven Reduction in Processing Time
Before adding this point, the following industry insight that illustrates the effects of automation is provided. The recent research conducted by Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) revealed that companies that automated their travel and expense solutions saved 40-60% of expense processing time as opposed to manual processing.
This finding demonstrates that an automatic expense tracking application can save time and at the same time maintain the expenses management in order.
How Automation Works in Expense Tracker 365?
Expense Tracker 365 uses automation to the entire expense process. All the steps are aimed at minimizing manual work and maintaining expense data.
Step 1: Expense Capture
Employees add expenses using a digital interface. They can post receipts, post card-based expenses, or manually post expense details. All the expense information is stored in a single location and therefore it is easy to track and retrieve them later.
Step 2: Automatic Categorization
After an expense is added, the system will place it in the appropriate category. This is done according to the type of expense, name of vendor or previous expense patterns. Categorization assists the finance teams in knowing where the money is being spent without going through every entry separately.
Step 3: Policy Checks
Expense Tracker 365 uses automatic rules in company expenses. The automatic expense tracking app verifies spending limits, permissible categories and eligibility prior to the expense proceeding. This measure will enable the companies to adhere to internal cost rules.
Step 4: Approval Workflow
Expense requests will go through pre-established approval routes after policy checks. Expense requests are given to managers sequentially, by roles or departments. This eliminates the repetition of reminders or manual monitoring of approvals.
Step 5: Real-Time Reports and Insights
Expenses that are approved are immediately added to reports. Expense summaries, departmental spending and real-time trends can be seen by finance teams. This assists companies to look at the expenses on a regular basis rather than monthly reports.
Expense Tracker 365 is an automatic expense tracking application that assists businesses to manage expenses in an organized and automated manner that makes expense data easier to record, review and analyze.
Processes That Can Be Automated With an Expense Tracking App
An automatic expense tracking app assists businesses with repetitive expense operations by automating them. This is the way it benefits businesses.
1. Capturing Receipts
The system enables employees to submit receipts through a desktop or a mobile phone. Receipts may be added during the spending or later based on the stored files. All receipts are stored electronically and are associated with the corresponding expense record. This assists teams to find receipts easily when they are reviewing expenses or during audit preparation. The storage of the receipt digitally also minimizes the necessity to store paper copies.
2. Approval Workflows
The expense approval process in an automatic expense tracking application are based on predetermined rules. The expense requests are forwarded to the right manager depending on his or her role, department or level of expenditure. The approval process is simple to follow as each request is considered in a specific order. Managers can analyze expense information, receipts that are attached, and categories all at a single location.
3. Expense Recording
Expense recording is handled digitally within the automatic expense tracking app. Employees enter key details such as amount, date, category, and payment method. All the expense data is stored centrally in the system. This saves on repetition of a similar information and helps in better organization of expense records among teams.
4. Reporting & Analytics
The automatic expense tracking app generates reports by using the data of expenses recorded. Dashboards can show finance departments the overall spending, expenses by department, and usage trends. This assists the businesses to look at their expenses on a regular basis and budget based on the actual expenditure information.
5. Per Diem Management
Per diem management enables companies to establish daily restrictions on meals, travel or work allowances. The automatic expense tracking app uses such limits in accordance with company regulations. Per diem expenses can be recorded without the need to be calculated manually by the employees. This assists in accuracy in the recording of travel related costs.
6. Quick Reimbursements
After approving an expense, the automatic expense tracking application automatically prepares reimbursement details. Recorded expense data can be used to process payments faster by finance teams. Employees also get reimbursements faster and this enhances their experience in submitting expenses.
7. Audit Logs
Audit logs document all activities that have been performed on an expense. This encompasses the time of submitting, editing, approving or reimbursing an expense. The automatic expense tracking app maintains a full record of such activities. Audit logs assist businesses to revisit the past costs and facilitate internal audits or external audits.
Difference Between Manual and Automated Expense Tracking App
| Aspect | Manual Expense Tracking | Automatic Expense Tracking App |
| Expense entry | Entered manually in sheets or forms | Captured digitally with automation |
| Receipt handling | Physical or email-based | Stored digitally in the system |
| Approval process | Email-based approvals | Rule-based approval workflows |
| Expense processing time | Takes longer with follow-ups | Faster processing with automation |
| Visibility | Limited until reports are created | Real-time expense visibility |
7 Benefits of Automating Expense Management
An automated expense tracking app assists the employees, managers, and finance departments in enhancing the process of recording, reviewing, and reporting expenses. Below are seven practical benefits of automating expense management.
1. Faster Expense Submission
An automated expense tracking app enables employees to fill in expenses electronically through a mobile phone or a desktop. In a few simple steps, employees can add expense details, upload receipts and choose categories. It does not need to keep paper records or use spreadsheets. This assists the employees to make expense submissions fast and move back to their regular work.
2. Reduced Manual Work for Finance Teams
Finance teams usually spend time monitoring the expense entries, verifying the amounts and comparing receipts. A lot of these activities are managed in the system through an automatic expense tracking app. Automatic calculations, category assignment and basic checks are used. This saves repetition of work by the finance teams and facilitates them to spend more time reviewing spending patterns.
3. Clear Expense Records
All the expense data is digitally saved in a single system. In every record, the amount of expenses, date, category, payment method, and receipt will be attached. The automatic expense tracking application allows one to search and review previous expenses at any time when necessary. This level of organization helps businesses to maintain expenses accurate data and available within departments.
4. Better Spending Control
Automated expense systems provide the businesses with a clear picture of the way the money is being used. The costs can be monitored against the budgets and company policies when they are documented. Recent industry trends indicate that 78% of CFOs report that they have a significant focus on technology spending on finance operations. This objective can be achieved with the help of an automatic expense tracking app that will enable the timely provision of spending data.
5. Easier Audits
Audit preparation is easier when the expenses are recorded and stored digitally. All the approval history, receipts, and expense details are at one place. The records can be viewed by auditors via the system without having to look at emails or paper documents. Automatic expense tracking app assists companies in keeping well documented expense records all year round.
6. Consistent Expense Policies
Expense policies are automated on each submission. Whether it is spending limits, the categories that are permitted and the level of approval are based on pre-defined company rules. This assists companies in using the same criteria for every employee. A tracking app that is automatic helps with the uniformity of handling expenses by teams and departments.
7. Improved Employee Experience
Employees spend less time filling out expense forms or checking approval status. Expenses are submitted more easily and reimbursement information is ready shortly after approval. The automatic expense tracking application will assist employees in handling expenses with less effort and fewer clicks, enhancing their experience with expense reporting.
Steps to Consider Before Implementing an Automatic Expense Tracking App
We have explored how automatic expense tracking app benefits business and the steps will assist teams in selecting an automatic expense tracking app effectively.
1. Understand Current Expense Challenges
Reviewing the existing expense process helps businesses identify where time and effort are being spent. This creates clarity on what needs improvement.
- Identify steps that the employees take the longest time in filing expenses
- Determine phases where costs are pending too long
- Examine the existing method of storing and retrieving expense records
2. Define Expense Policies Clearly
Expense policies are used to direct the recording and reviewing of expenses. Clear policies assist the system in the application of rules.
- Establish a limit on spending on such typical expenses as travel or meals
- Pre-defined procedures of necessary receipts and expense documentation
- Approve based on expenses or position
3. Check Expense Categories and Volume
Knowing the nature of expenses recorded and the frequency of occurrence assists businesses to make the appropriate system configuration.
- Identify typical cost areas applied in teams
- Check the number of expense entries that are made each month
- Determine departments that are more expensive to operate
4. Review User Experience
The user experience is significant in the level of adoption of an expense system. Looking at actual user reviews will enable companies to know how the application works in real-life application.
- Check user reviews and ratings on reputed software review platforms
- Get feedback on ease of use and day to day expense management
- Review how quickly users can search and access past expense records
5. Plan Employee Training
Training assists teams to know how to utilize the system at an early stage. It supports quicker adoption, reduces the basic usage inquiries, and assists the employees to take the proper steps when submitting or reviewing expenses.
- Make short guides on how to submit and review expenses
- Conduct basic training to employees and managers
- Share help materials for common questions
Tracking Expenses Efficiently with Expense Tracker 365
Expense Tracker 365 is built within Microsoft Ecosystem and is aimed at serving businesses of various sizes. It integrates with the tools that are already in use by many teams, including SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Power BI, QuickBooks, and Xero. This enables the transfer of expense data without introducing additional complexity to the daily work.
Expense Tracker 365 assists companies in tracking their expenses online, using company policies, and creating reports via a secure and user-friendly interface.
Employees can submit expenses through tools that they are familiar with and finance departments are able to examine and monitor expenditure through a central system.
Over time, this approach has helped many organizations manage their expense tracking workflows more effectively and keep expense data well organized.
Conclusion
Expense management plays a major role in daily business operations. With the increasing size of companies and the implementation of automation in different departments, the process of tracking expenses also requires an improved strategy.
An automatic expense tracking app is an automatic program that assists companies in abandoning manual labor and transitioning to an organized and digital one. It saves time, assists finance teams and enhances the management of expenses in the organization.
If you would like to improve how your business tracks expenses, you can start a 14-day free trial of Expense Tracker 365.
Join Our Creative Community
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is expense automation essential?
Expense automation is necessary because it helps to minimize the manual work while handling expenses and enhances the way businesses record, review, and report expenses.
How does expense automation reduce finance team workload?
Expense automation reduces the workload of the finance team by managing the repetitive work in the system. Calculations, receipt matching, and report preparation are completed automatically using recorded expense data.
How are expense categories handled automatically?
The expense categories are automatically managed by analysing expense information like type, vendor name and historical expense trends. When an expense is submitted, the system uses set rules of categories.
How does automation support faster reimbursements?
Automation helps to make reimbursements faster since it prepares reimbursement data the moment expenses are approved. The system takes the recorded amounts, categories and payment details to produce reimbursement ready information.
How are approval workflows managed automatically?
Approval workflows are managed automatically through predefined rules set by the business. The expenses are routed to the appropriate reviewer according to role, department, or spending limit. The system follows every step, eliminating the necessity of manual follow-up.
_JiluXJRGNl.svg)
