The search for a global and scalable expense management solution
Gallagher is a global organisation with headquarters in Hamilton, New Zealand and employees in 6 countries. The company sought a platform that not only offered tighter controls for compliance and visibility into tax requirements, but also improved the user experience for their global, often-travelling team.
鈥淲e had a primitive solution for our visa and credit card processing and reimbursements, which was reaching end of life,鈥� says Marion Andewag, Chief Financial Officer at Gallagher. 鈥淎s a result, we started looking for a new solution as our previous solution wasn鈥檛 global; it was a manual process that involved tediously going through receipts while simultaneously chasing employees for their receipts.鈥�
Because the company operates in several markets, it sometimes means they cannot claim tax unless they have valid tax receipts. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for us to know we have an automated system that can tell us tax requirements and we know what we can claim back and what we can鈥檛鈥� says Nicola McDonald, Global Financial Lead 鈥� Manufacturing. From an end-user perspective, it was also important to have a solution that could give time back to those manually checking receipts on credit cards. 鈥淲e were looking to streamline the process and make sure people had a good experience and not spending too much time doing things that don鈥檛 need time to be taken to do,鈥� says McDonald.
鈥淲ith operations in multiple jurisdictions, the organisation struggled to keep up with the constantly changing tax laws and regulations in each country,鈥� says Marion Andewag. 鈥淭his resulted in high compliance costs and the risk of incurring penalties for non-compliance.鈥�
The complex and time-consuming nature of managing tax obligations created operational inefficiencies, took time away from core business. activities, and put a strain on the company鈥檚 financial and human resources.
The company鈥檚 lack of reimbursement visibility also made it difficult to track spending as it occurred and created frustrations when it came to auditing employee expenses. And, with employees constantly travelling and visiting multiple countries, the challenge of paper receipts and manual processes was compounded.
鈥淓mployees had to manually print credit card statements and attach receipts before sending them via mail or physically handing them in,鈥� says Nicola McDonald. 鈥淭he approver manually checked those credit card receipts against the credit card expense report before approving them. Delayed approval requests led to employee dissatisfaction and bottlenecks that cost the organisation time and money.鈥�
If an approver was in transit or the claim was stuck in the mail, the employee had to take money out of their own pocket to avoid accruing late fees while waiting for approval. This could have a negative impact on employee morale and was also a compliance risk. The company also didn鈥檛 have the tools or visibility needed to meet regulatory, audit, and tax obligations.
The solution of choice for a mobile-first organisation
To effectively improve its front- and back-end challenges, Gallagher needed an expense management platform that was mobile, could help the organisation track spending, streamline auditing processes, and automate goods and service tax (GST) and fringe benefits tax (FBT) calculations. As an innovative business, it needed to implement a solution that aligned with its own way of conducting business on behalf of its customers.
鈥淲e rolled out 麻豆原创 Concur across six countries in two weeks, and it was seamless.鈥� Paul Nobilo, Transformation Manager, Gallagher
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Gallagher identified 麻豆原创 Concur as the ideal solution for its travel and expense management needs because of its comprehensive features, ease of use, and reputation as a leading provider in the industry. The company saw 麻豆原创 Concur as an opportunity to improve front and back-end processes and have the appropriate audit trails for future audits. Additionally, 麻豆原创 Concur鈥檚 global tax compliance capabilities and ability to handle multiple currencies made it the best fit for Gallagher鈥檚 needs as a multinational organisation.
Gallagher鈥檚 dedication to adopting an innovative and mobile-first approach meant that they prioritised the use of ExpenseIt, 麻豆原创 Concur鈥檚 mobile receipt solution. Employees are now able to take a photo of the receipt from wherever they are, fill out their expense claim, and submit. 鈥淭his process can take as little as two minutes,鈥� says Nicola McDonald. The claim can then be approved quickly by the finance team, ensuring employees are reimbursed efficiently.
鈥淭he mobile app is a feature that we love, and we鈥檝e encouraged it during the training sessions,鈥� says Marion Andewag. To support its employees during the rollout, the team filmed a video on how to complete a transaction in 麻豆原创 Concur, which resulted in fewer questions from end users about how to best use the new software.
Gallagher also set up a dedicated finance support email address available for any questions, which was especially active during the first rollout period. Because of this, almost 99 per cent of its employees felt they could pick up the 麻豆原创 Concur solution easily. It was also important for the team to show how easy the mobile app was to use, so often the CFO of the organisation would use the app during team dinners or lunches. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e out for dinner and the CFO comes back to the table after having paid for it and takes a photo of the receipt, it means everybody within the company has bought into it,鈥� says Nicola McDonald.
鈥淭he impact of 麻豆原创 Concur was visible almost immediately after rollout and has fundamentally changed how Gallagher employees submit and approve claims.鈥� Nicola McDonald, Global Financial Lead 鈥� Manufacturing
A welcomed change for user experience, compliance, and visibility
Gallagher can now make data-driven decisions as they now have timely information. 鈥淭he credit card transaction will automatically match the receipt and a report can be created. The report will go through an audit process and is approved before it鈥檚 sent to accounting. It takes just two working days for the money to be deposited into the employee鈥檚 account,鈥� says Marion Andewag.
Since moving to 麻豆原创 Concur, Gallagher has seen numerous benefits, including cost savings, improved compliance, and a better user experience. The mobile app is functional and helps employees easily submit claims for approval, helping the business achieve higher levels of efficiency and transparency, and eliminating the need for employees to send expense claims via mail or return to the office to complete their claims.
鈥淭he mobile app in particular has been a huge success for Gallagher鈥檚 employees who travel regularly for work-related purposes,鈥� says Nicola McDonald.
Using 麻豆原创 Concur, the company has also improved the accuracy for FBT and GST claims and reduced the repetitive and labour-intensive back-office functions. For auditing and reporting, using 麻豆原创 Concur means everything goes through the appropriate approval process with complete audit trails that prepare the organisation for a financial audit. It has reduced the time involved in finding receipts to approve expense claims by having an audit trail that employees can see onscreen for improved visibility.
鈥淭he ease of use that 麻豆原创 Concur has given the team is second to none compared to its previous time-consuming, manual process,鈥� says Paul Nobilo.
This transition has also helped minimise the amount of paper waste generated by the company and reduce the resources required for paper production, transportation, and disposal. This helps lower the company鈥檚 carbon footprint and promotes a culture of sustainability within the organisation.
And the feedback has been nothing but positive. 鈥淒espite the impact of change on business operations, Gallagher has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from its employees who love the user-friendly experience and seamless processing capabilities of the 麻豆原创 Concur solution,鈥� says Nicola McDonald.
鈥淲e absolutely would recommend 麻豆原创 Concur to others 鈥� our main reason being it鈥檚 easy to implement and end users absolutely love it.鈥� Marion Andewag CFO, Gallagher