Artificial Intelligence has the capacity to transform expense management and compliance from a laborious, error-prone manual task into a smart, streamlined process – all while freeing up finance teams to focus on more important tasks.
The Pain Points: Manual Receipt Entry Slows Everyone Down
Most expense management processes include some combination of scanning receipts, uploading documentation, evaluating, emailing, reviewing, approvals, and more. It’s not uncommon amid all that for something to fall through the cracks. Those small, preventable mistakes drain valuable time from everyone involved in the expense reimbursement process, and that comes with a cost.
In our recent expense automation project, typical problems we noted were:
- Receipts not being entered in a timely manner
- Missing details on receipts
- Receipts entered under the wrong category
- Unintentional policy violations (e.g., meal restrictions, dollar limits, duplicate submissions)
- Reimbursement delays due to back-and-forth communication to rectify simple errors
- Time devoted to entering/reviewing receipts that could be better spent elsewhere
The Game Changer in Expense Management Is Real Time AI Validation
The InfoWorks Innovation Lab built and prototyped a lightweight AI solution that could alleviate much of the front-end burden common with expense processing. This simple but powerful expense management application automates the reimbursement process by:
- Smart scanning receipts, extracting important information such as date, amount, and merchant using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and language models
- Applying predetermined policy rules, using AI to automatically detect problems such as duplicate spending or over limit dining
- Reducing submission errors by alerting users in real time and allowing them to fix problems with their entry prior to submission
The expense management application reduced the noise, allowing reviewers to concentrate on exceptions and providing employees with greater assurance that their submissions were in compliance on the initial try. And, because the automated receipt entry process simplified the submission process, reimbursement requests were paid in a more timely manner.
A Tale of Two Interfaces: Web Portal vs. Chatbot Expense Applications
To get a better sense of the possibilities and benefits of different modalities, we developed and tested two experiences. Here is a comparison of the web-based receipt submission portal vs. the Microsoft Teams Chatbot receipt submission portal.
Strengths of the Web-Based Receipt Submission Portal
- Has a conventional upload interface that offers intelligent feedback
- Ideal for batch processing or submission of multiple receipts
- Easily trainable and deployable in organized workflows
Microsoft Teams Chatbot Expense Application
- Supports direct receipt submission through a conversational interface
- More convenient for those preferring mobile or on-the-go entry
- Reduced adoption barrier for users who spend whole days in Teams
In the end, there was no “best” fit. Each had its own strengths, which varied by use case and workflow. The key insight was, flexibility is important. The decision about which type of expense management application is best should be made based on the preferences of your users, including how and where they work.
What the Finance Team Gained
Even in a lightweight test environment, the prospective gains were easily noticed. They included:
- Fewer accidental policy infringements reaching reviewers
- Higher submission accuracy due to AI assisting in identifying problems ahead of time
- The need for fewer explanations regarding policies due to AI enforcing them throughout the submission process
- The potential for happier team members who receive reimbursement faster due to a more efficient receipt submission and approval process.
It was never a matter of moving fast for the sake of speed… It was about designing a better, more consistent, and intuitive process that improves quality of life for everyone involved.
Intentionally Used, AI Is a Powerful Tool
AI is not a panacea. But, when used mindfully and intentionally – it is a powerful tool that that can alleviate the drudgery of repetition and shine light on processes that tend to be murky.
We do not believe in cookie cutter solutions at InfoWorks. We believe in smart technologies fueled by thoughtful design, driven by people who know how to get them working in harmony.
