5 steps SMBs can use to cut employee expense costs: A practical guide to automated expense management

Employee expenses are one of the largest controllable costs for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Manual processes - spreadsheets, paper receipts, and fragmented systems - waste time, create errors, and increase risk. By moving to an automated, integrated expense management solution, SMBs can speed up reimbursements, reduce fraud risk, and turn expense data into actionable business insights. Here are five practical steps to cut costs and improve control. 

Step 1 - Stop relying on spreadsheets 

Spreadsheets are manual, error-prone, and slow. Replacing them with a cloud-based expense platform streamlines submission, review, and approval workflows, reduces human error, and frees finance teams to focus on higher-value tasks. Automated solutions like Concur Expense let employees submit expenses quickly and give finance teams accurate, reconciled data for reporting. 

Step 2 - Eliminate the need for paper receipts 

Most employees have mobile devices - use them. Mobile apps with machine learning can digitise receipts instantly. Tools such as ExpenseIt let employees snap photos of receipts and automatically build expense reports, eliminating paper, reducing data-entry time, and improving accuracy. If suppliers provide digital receipts, upload them directly to keep records clean and searchable. 

Step 3 - Embrace AI and automation to drive compliance 

Automation reduces unintentional mistakes and flags potential misuse. AI-driven tools (for example, Concur Detect by Oversight) automatically review expense and receipt data to enforce policy, spot anomalies, and surface potential fraud. Given that organisations lose around 5% of revenue to fraud each year (median loss per case ~£110,000), investing in AI-supported monitoring is a cost-effective protection. 

Step 4 - Improve visibility into employee expenses 

When expense data is scattered - spreadsheets, paper receipts, and multiple tools - it’s hard to control spend or forecast cash flow. An integrated platform provides near real-time visibility into employee-initiated expenses and makes it easier to determine where and how funds are used. SMBs using integrated travel and expense tools report 53% faster travel booking and expense submission, 53% fewer expense reporting errors, and 72% fewer lost receipts.  

Step 5 - Build a partner ecosystem to work smarter 

The right partner integrations extend value - tax reclaim, travel partners, accounting integrations, and more. SAP Concur’s App Centre connects SMBs with more than 200 partners to automate workflows, reduce costs, and improve compliance without heavy IT lifts. Partner integrations help you do more with your expense data and negotiate better supplier terms. 

Business impact

• Up to 21% cost reduction in travel booking and expense reporting with integrated solutions. 
• SAP Concur users report 14% less time submitting expense reports than those using other solutions, and can process 1.5x more reports per month. 
• Organisations using SAP Concur solutions report a 7% improvement in compliance and are up to 5x more efficient in report processing than users with other solutions. 

Ready to stop chasing receipts and start controlling costs?

Explore resources and case studies or contact a Concur specialist: 

• See a demo: https://www.concur.co.uk/about/demo 
• Contact our team: https://www.concur.co.uk/contact 
• Case studies: https://www.concur.co.uk/casestudy  

FAQ: 

Q: How does automation and AI reduce expense costs and compliance risk? 

A: AI-driven tools automatically review expense and receipt data to enforce policy, spot anomalies, and surface potential fraud, reducing manual errors and distinguishing accidental policy mistakes from intentional misuse.  

Q: How do mobile apps and receipt digitisation help SMBs? 

A: Mobile apps (for example, ExpenseIt) let employees snap photos of paper receipts or upload digital receipts, automatically build expense reports, eliminate paper, reduce data-entry time, and improve accuracy - speeding reimbursements and freeing finance teams from manual follow-up. 

Q: What role do partner integrations play in reducing expense-related overhead for SMBs? 

A: The SAP Concur partner ecosystem connects SMBs to hundreds of partners (over 200 in the App Centre) - including integration partners, tax reclaim partners, and travel partners - enabling automated workflows, better use of expense data, reduced costs, improved compliance, and easier implementation for organisations with limited IT resources. 

Q: Is SAP Concur suitable for SMBs? 

A: Yes. SAP Concur offers expense, travel, and invoice management solutions that help SMBs automate manual processes, improve spend visibility and strengthen compliance. Businesses can start with the capabilities they need today and scale as they grow, with integrations for accounting, payroll, ERP, and travel systems. Features such as mobile receipt capture, automated approvals, AI-driven auditing, and partner integrations help reduce administrative overhead, improve employee experience and give SMBs better control over cash flow and company spending.