Client Success Stories

The Problem

• 5,000 reports coming in a month, in many different formats
• Many reports out of compliance with corporate travel policies
• Reports sent in from all over North America using a variety of costly delivery methods, including fax, Federal Express, and the post office
• Nearly four full-time accounting staff required to review and correct expense reports
• Weeks required for reimbursement

The Solution

• Standardization of 4,000 business travelers on Concur Expense software (formerly known as Xpense Management Solution-XMS)
• Integration with CASE's Dun & Bradstreet E Series payroll software for automatic reimbursement in semi-monthly paychecks
• Prepopulation of American Express charge card data, at the option of the traveler

The Benefits

• 62 percent reduction in accounting staff required to process expense reports - from four to one and a half
• Significant reduction in report distribution costs
• Significant reduction in mailing, printing, and distribution costs of separate reimbursement checks
• Consistent reimbursement for employees
• Regular analysis and delivery of spending reports for cost center managers

When CASE Corporation's chief financial officer asked Al Derga to standardize the company's travel expense reports in 1994, the expense process was less than satisfactory. As Manager of Payroll and Travel Processes, Derga and his staff were receiving as many as 5,000 expense reports a month, some handwritten, some in the company's standard Excel or Lotus spreadsheets, some in spreadsheets modified at whim by employees. Derga had four people working nearly full-time deciphering expense reports, correcting data, verifying currency exchanges, and dealing with the Canadian Goods and Services tax.

CASE Corporation, which manufactures construction and earth-moving equipment, employs about 9,000 people in the U.S., 1,000 in Canada, and 6,000 in other countries. To meet the expense reporting needs of its 4,000 business travelers, Derga chose Concur Technologies' Concur Expense after reading an article about the expense software in The Wall Street Journal. "I liked it immediately," he recalls. "It was easy-any user can fill out the entire expense report without a problem."

Derga first tested Concur Expense software with a small group of travelers. When favorable reports came back, Derga began companywide standardization, along with several other policy changes. By March 1996, he had decentralized airline billing in favor of an individual pay system, introduced American Express as the corporate travel card so expense reports could be prepopulated with charge card data, and shifted expense reimbursement from Accounts Payable to Payroll. Within nine months, 95 percent of CASE's travelers were using Concur Expense software and being reimbursed in their semi-monthly paychecks.

By now, Derga had seen the advantage of integrating Concur Expense with the company's e-mail system. Derga knew that travelers who could submit reports electronically would get reimbursed more quickly, while the company saved on delivery costs. "The whole thing is now automatic," says Derga. "E-mailed reports go directly to the server, and each night the expense software sends them into the payroll system for automatic reimbursement in the next paycheck or by direct deposit."

Derga is now turning his attention to Concur Expense analysis and reporting features. "We're beginning to rank the spenders for each cost center," Derga explains. "I'll also be looking at who's turning in reports with a lot of charges under $25 [which don't require receipts]. Cost center managers like published information, so I want to make data like this readily available to help them control costs."

Concur Expense standardization at CASE has involved integration with many systems - their PCs, server, e-mail system, and Dun & Bradstreet E Series payroll software. Concur, he says, has been there every step of the way. "We've been happy with the whole relationship," Derga says, "and I really appreciate their technical support - they understand both the systems and the business."

As for Derga's overall impressions of Concur Expense? "There's a lot of flexibility to meet our needs," he answers. "It's pretty slick."