Business Advantages of Using a Time and Expense Reimbursement Form Doc
Business Advantages of Using a Time and Expense Reimbursement Form Doc
No matter how long you’ve been in business, one thing you’ll be very familiar with is the fact that tracking expenses can be a stressful and long-winded process. When running a business, we want solutions, not problems, which is why more and more business owners are investing their funds in time tracking software. You see, tracking and reporting employee expenses is one of the more common frustrations for business owners and managers alike. You see, when it comes to accounts, you need to ensure that the info you have at hand is accurate. With employee expenses, whether it’s materials, travel, accommodation, food, or anything else, you need to know exactly how much has been spent, and what is owed. Employees will want reimbursement as soon as possible, which is why an expense reimbursement form doc (documentation) as part of your time tracking system is so effective. Here’s a look at several business advantages associated with these specific types of software.
Simplify expense approvals
If you have employees working on the road a lot, or freelancers that are out-of-office, they will almost certainly incur certain costs and expenses. Now, some employers have been known to simply leave their employees to it when it comes to expenses, and have simply told them to ‘try not to run up too much of a bill’. Unfortunately, there have been instances where employees have taken advantage of this and have either used company money to run up expensive food and accommodation bills when staying out of town with work, or they’ve used company funds for personal use and have passed it off as an expense. Because of this, many business owners nowadays have to approve employee expenses. This can make life complicated and can result in a lot of time being wasted with various emails, text messages, and phone calls required for employee expense approvals. By using time tracking software with expense reimbursement form doc (documentation) and tracking, employee expense approvals can be simplified. Employers simply log into the software, they’ll see an alert icon and will then see which employee requires approval, and which expenses need approving. The employer can then either approve or reject the expenses with the click of a button.
Simplify expense reporting for all parties
It isn’t just employers and managers that benefit from time tracking software with expense tracking capabilities. Time tracking software with expense tracking capabilities benefits all parties involved. Rather than having to waste time with paper receipts, phone calls, emails, text messages, and complex paperwork, employees can instead simply log into the system and begin tracking expenses with the click of a few buttons. Based online and via the cloud, there is no need to wait until you get back into the office before you begin logging expenses. You can start tracking and logging them anywhere, at any time. So, whether you’re at a restaurant on a business lunch, or if you’re about to check into a hotel for the night because you’re on an out of town business trip, using time tracking software with this feature will make tracking your business expenses easier than ever.
Monitor projected costs
Not only does time tracking software help with employee expenses which have already been occurred, it is also very useful when it comes to tracking projected costs in the process. You see, different tasks will cost different prices. These costs can be influenced by a wide variety of different things including hourly wages, overheads, costs of materials, and much more besides. Now, the great thing about time tracking software is the fact that it allows you to track and monitor projected costs for upcoming tasks. The software will allow you to not only see how far along your employees are with the projects they are working on, but you can also get a clearer idea of how much the finished tasks are going to end up costing your business. Time tracking software with an expense reimbursement form doc lets you see get an overview of each project and how much has been spent, and how much is likely going to be needed to be spent. It also means that there are no nasty surprises upon completion, perhaps in the form of hidden expenses that you hadn’t budgeted for or taken into account.
Accurate client billing
As well as helping to keep tabs on your business expenses, another great benefit associated with using time tracking software in a business environment is the fact that it also helps you to more accurately bill your clients. With a time tracking solution, you can easily get an overview of how many hours you’ve spent on specific projects, the expenses accrued and possibly also hourly rates, and based on that invoice your clients. So, if your business bills its clients on a materials and time basis, this is very useful as you can provide an accurate invoice to your client with virtually no chance of error. This in itself is very useful because it helps ensure that you maintain a strong working relationship and keep them happy. Nobody likes being overcharged for something, which is why its so important to utilize time tracking software. In terms of maintaining a friendly and effective working relationship, you simply cannot go wrong with time tracking software.
Monitor freelancers and contractors
If you employ freelancers, obviously they work for themselves and so are not tied exclusively into you and your company. This means that they are free to work with other clients. The last thing you want is to be paying a freelancer to focus on getting a task complete with an approaching deadline, only to find that they have taken on too much work from other sources and are therefore falling behind. How they manage their workload is up to them, but if it negatively impacts your business and your reputation, that’s when you have a problem. Missed deadlines or sloppy work because the freelancer/independent contractor was rushing will not only tarnish your reputation, it could also potentially cost you regular clients and the chance of future work. With time tracking software you can have freelancers/contractors utilize the software just like you have your regular employees do. This helps show how many hours they have worked, how far along they are with the task they are working on, and whether or not they may need assistance in order to meet an approaching deadline. The more contractors and freelancers you employ, the more the importance of accurate time tracking really becomes apparent.
Keep employees happy with an expense reimbursement form doc
This next advantage is one which is often overlooked, yet it is perhaps the most important of all. A business is only as strong as its weakest employees, and if your employees are unhappy, their productivity will drop drastically. When this happens, morale drops, which again can negatively impact employee productivity. As a business owner, you need to ensure that your employees are happy and that their morale remains high so that their productivity remains high. Now, if you have employees on the road that are having to pay for fuel, food, drink, accommodation, and other materials for business purposes, out of their own pockets, they will want reimbursement, and rightfully so. With a system that can provide a report and automatically turn this into an expense reimbursement form doc, and one that can be signed by both employee and manager, you can ensure that employees are fully reimbursed for what they have spent. The quicker and easier the process is, the happier all parties will be. Remember, when it comes to productivity in the workplace, a happy employee is a productive employee.
Get a more accurate overview on pricing
As a business owner, understanding your profit margins is vital. After all, how will you know when the time has come for you to raise your rates? Well, you’ll know by utilizing time tracking software and analysing the data collected. By utilizing this software you can look at how much time is being spent on each task, costs of materials etc, charge out rates, and overall profit margins on each job. Here you can see how much you are making in profit, compared with how much each project is costing you. If your profits aren’t as high as they should be, it could be time to increase your rates slightly.
Review employee performance
Finally, the last advantage that we are going to focus on is the fact that time tracking allows you to review overall employee performances. The data collected allows you to see how well each employee has performed since the software was implemented. Here you can see whether deadlines have been met, how efficiently project deadlines were met, and overall employee attendance and performance. You can also track individual employee expenses to ensure that they aren’t spending more than they should. This is very useful as it allows you to see who is performing well, and who perhaps requires a little assistance. With time tracking software you can identify employee strengths, and employee weaknesses, and can then act accordingly.
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