What is expense reimbursement? Basic information you want to keep and recommendations for expense reimbursement system

"Expense settlement" is one of the indispensable tasks for both small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises. Basically, the accounting person is in charge, but it is recommended that the employees who are in charge of other tasks also acquire it as knowledge. This is because if you reimburse your expenses, you will need to create an application document called an "expense settlement report" yourself.

Therefore, this time, we will introduce the outline of expense settlement, the issues of expense settlement work, and the method of efficient expense settlement. Let's learn the basics of accounting again through this article.

What is expense reimbursement in the first place?

First, I will explain the outline of expense reimbursement, the target expenses, and the flow of expense reimbursement work.

Expense reimbursement means that when an employee reimburses expenses incurred in business-related activities, he / she applies to the company for the expenses and receives a refund. We mainly apply for three expenses: "general expenses", "travel expenses", and "entertainment expenses". In making each application, the employee who reimbursed the expenses must submit a receipt or receipt to prove that "this money is related to the business".

Not all expenses incurred in doing business are subject to expense reimbursement. Your superior or accounting staff will confirm / approve the purpose of using the expenses, and only the applicable expenses will be settled. Then, what kind of expenses are subject to expense reimbursement, for example?

Includes travel expenses when using buses, taxis, trains, planes, etc., and accommodation expenses when traveling on business.

The cost of entertaining customers and business partners on the premise that they can contribute to the company (lead to sales). This includes eating and drinking at restaurants, gifts for year-end gifts and midyear gifts, congratulatory money, and incense gifts.

The cost of purchasing consumables with an acquisition price of less than 100,000 yen or a legal useful life (the period during which they can be used without problems) of less than one year. This applies to stationery and ink cartridges.

Expense reimbursement work is carried out in the following flow.

Employees reimburse expenses
Employees use their own cash or personal card to reimburse expenses such as travel expenses, transportation expenses, and entertainment expenses.

Create an expense report
Create an expense report with "contents", "date", "amount", etc. Be sure to attach a receipt or receipt as a proof that this expense is related to your business.

Approved by superior
Once you have created an expense report, submit it to your superior. Once approved, the expense report will be handed over to the accountant.

Accounting staff journals
The accounting staff will check the contents and make journal entries based on the account. If there is no problem, it will be approved and the accounts payable will be recorded for the employee who reimbursed the expenses.

The amount of money paid to the employee
Employees will be paid the amount paid on the specified date of the company (payday, etc.).

Keep the expense report
The accountant will file the expense report and receipt / receipt and keep it for at least 7 years.
The above is the general flow of expense settlement work. As you can see, not only the accounting staff but also each purifier has a role in expense settlement, so it is important to grasp the basics of expense and expense settlement in advance.

Expense reimbursement issues and how to do it efficiently

Here, we will introduce the advantages and disadvantages of conventional expense settlement and the advantages and disadvantages of expense settlement using a dedicated system.

Most of the expense reimbursement is basically done manually. While anyone can do it with knowledge, it can take time and make mistakes.


Benefits of traditional expense reimbursement

The merit of conventional expense reimbursement using paper or Excel is that "anyone can do it". Since you can work with existing item tools, anyone can respond immediately if you have the knowledge. 

When using Excel, there is also an advantage that you can utilize the spreadsheet function. It is easier to work than using paper.

Disadvantages of conventional expense reimbursement

One of the disadvantages of traditional expense reimbursement using paper or Excel is, for example, "business delays". In expense reimbursement, the employee who reimbursed the expense first creates an expense reimbursement based on the information on the receipt and invoice. Then, the superior or accounting staff who received the document confirms and journals the contents, and manages the detailed data in a dedicated file or Excel.

If you use paper or Excel, this kind of work will take a huge amount of time, and as a result, you will not be able to handle tasks other than expense reimbursement. In addition, inefficient work may increase, such as going to work for stamping stamps or gluing receipts. In addition, expense reimbursement may be postponed due to the balance with other operations, and as a result, expense reimbursement may have to be performed at the end of the month or the beginning of the month, which is already busy.

Another disadvantage is that it is easy to make mistakes. Manual multiple expense reimbursement can lead to capacity over and can result in mistakes. If one mistake occurs, you will have to recreate the expense report or re-journalize it, further increasing the time it takes to settle the expense.

In order to cover these disadvantages of conventional expense reimbursement, it is essential to review the work method. Therefore, we recommend "expense reimbursement using a dedicated system".

The "dedicated system" will be the key to expense settlement in the future. Since it has a function that covers the disadvantages of conventional expense reimbursement, you can work accurately without hassle by introducing it.

Benefits of expense reimbursement using a dedicated system

The advantage of expense reimbursement using a dedicated system is that you can work efficiently.

Functions differ depending on the system, but for example, with "Staple" developed and provided by Crowd Cast, Ltd., it is possible to read information such as the date and time and amount of money simply by taking a receipt with a smartphone. You can apply for expense reimbursement as it is without entering it manually. Another point is that the specifications and design are easy to use, such as being intuitive and easy to operate, and being able to check the usage status of expenses in real time.

The high functionality and design of such a dedicated system leads to reduction of work time and mistakes for expense settlement, and as a result, work efficiency is realized.

Another advantage is that you can reduce costs. If efficiency is improved, the amount of work will be reduced, and the effort can be allocated to other tasks.

If you use the corporate prepaid card "Staple Card " that is integrated with "Staple", you can eliminate the management, advance payment, temporary payment, and expense reimbursement of small cash, etc. by realizing cashless payment. You can reduce the time spent on these tasks to zero, which may reduce the cost of reimbursement.

Cost reduction image when using Staple and Staple card (for 100 people)
Expense reimbursement work: Hourly wage 2,500 yen x 100 people x 1.5h x 12 months = 4,500,000 yen / year cost reduction

Click here for more information on Staple

Disadvantages of expense reimbursement using a dedicated system

One of the disadvantages of expense reimbursement using a dedicated system is, for example, that it takes time for each employee to become accustomed to the operation. Certainly, some employees may be confused at first, but if you hold a lecture on how to operate it or create an environment where you can easily ask questions about operation, you should be able to use it in a short period of time without problems.

Another possible disadvantage is that it does not have the necessary functions, but this can be covered by carefully selecting a dedicated system.

Each system has different functions, so first compare and consider multiple systems to see which one suits your company best. If you select the system to be introduced after that, you can prevent troubles such as "there is no function you wanted" and "expense reimbursement is not efficient".

Expense reimbursement that is absolutely necessary in corporate activities. It is important to change the shape according to social trends and improve efficiency.

Below, we introduce three social trends that will become important in the future.

Currently, Japan has a policy to promote cashless society. In 2014, the government announced "Measures for Cashless", and in 2018, announced "Cashless Vision", which set a target of 40% cashless payment ratio by 2025 * 1.

Currently, the usage rate of QR code payments is rapidly increasing, triggered by the consumption tax hike in 2019 and the “cashless / consumer return business” * 2.

The cashless / consumer return business ended in June 2020, but the government has announced a new point return policy for minor points, and the cashless vision announced that it should aim for the future. We are moving toward a cashless payment ratio of 80% * 3. In this way, the government and the private sector are working together to popularize cashless payments, and it is expected that the cashless payment usage rate will continue to increase.

For some time, as an initiative of individuals and companies, paperless offices have been promoted with the aim of "eco" and "reducing costs."

Recently, in addition to that, the promotion of digitalization in society as a whole has raised awareness of paperless offices. With the progress of digitalization, data is being uploaded to the Internet and the cloud more often, and it is no longer necessary to print them, so paperless offices are being promoted. In addition, this will lead to stronger security such as prevention of data tampering, rather than a system for managing information on paper.

In addition to private sector movements, the government is also promoting digitalization. The policy decided by the Cabinet in July 2020 advocates "realization of a robust digital society where people can live safely and with peace of mind and feel affluence" * 4, and various activities aimed at digitizing society as a whole. We have come up with measures.

As digitalization continues, the awareness of paperless offices will increase.

With the "Work Style Reform Law" that will come into effect in 2019, remote work has been attracting attention in order to achieve a work-life balance for people. Furthermore, recently, the number of companies adopting remote work is increasing due to the influence of the new coronavirus.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is also making efforts to promote telework, and in addition to work style reform, in 2014, it announced as "Government's efforts to promote telework" as follows.

"By utilizing IT services such as the cloud, we will enable employment regardless of location, such as on the go or at home, and realize a society where diverse and flexible work styles can be selected." * 5

Ultimately, we have also set a goal of "10% or more of the total number of employment-type home-based teleworkers who work at home all day at least one day a week" * 6. As work style reforms continue to progress, remote work is expected to permeate as a new work style.

With such changes in society, it is required to improve the efficiency of expense reimbursement from the conventional method. The disadvantages of continuing to settle conventional expenses in the future include the following problems.

Due to the diversification of payment methods due to cashless payments, expense settlement operations will become complicated.

While there is a movement toward digitalization due to paperless operations, operational efficiency will deteriorate if expenses are settled on paper.

While the introduction of remote work will reduce face-to-face work, it will be difficult to settle expenses that involve direct communication using paper.

To avoid this situation, choose an expense reimbursement method and corporate card that suits the movements of society . If the expense settlement service "Staple" mentioned above and the corporate prepaid card "Staple card" are integrated, not only the reimbursement by employees but also the expense settlement itself will be as close to zero as possible.

You can reduce the time and effort of the person in charge and improve the efficiency of work.

Expense reimbursement is one of the indispensable tasks for a company, but it has a lot of flow. It is necessary to streamline the method of expense settlement according to social trends and working styles.

* 1 * 3: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Cashless Vision"

https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2018/04/20180411001/20180411001-1.pdf

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