Allianz Partners leveraged Emburse to streamline their expense reporting process

Challenge

With a company-wide initiative to increase operational efficiency, the Allianz Partners North America finance team identified expense management as an area for improvement. In addition to time savings, the team saw an opportunity to improve mobility and reduce risk.

Allianz Partners used a paper-based expense reporting system consisting of Excel spreadsheets and attached receipts. Each expense report had to be manually validated and keyed in by an AP clerk, which required a full day each week. At the same time, finance spent hours reviewing expense reports to ensure all expenses met corporate policy.

Seeking a better solution, the company evaluated several expense management providers and systematically scored them on 10 key criteria. Emburse scored highest across the board, and Allianz Partners was confident the solution would support its goals around efficiency and compliance.

“Emburse enabled us to decrease expense report processing time by 90%, taking what used to be an eight-hour task down to just 20 minutes.” – Steve Watson, Accounting Operations Analyst

Emburse solution

After implementing the solution, Allianz Partners’ finance team realized an immediate impact. Business rules configured within the solution increased controls by automatically enforcing policy. As a result, compliance issues were easily identified and, in most cases, eliminated. Most notably, Emburse enabled the team to reduce time spent processing expense reports by 90%—streamlining what used to be an eight-hour weekly task, to just 20 minutes.

User experience improved dramatically, as well. Submitting expense reports became a quick, easy, and seamless process. One traveler noted: “It used to take me up to two hours to complete an expense report. Now I can get it done in a few minutes on my phone.” Additionally, managers can review and approve expense reports from any device, which resulted in significantly faster reimbursements and happier employees.

Result

Download the case study to learn more about Allianz Partners’ incredible efficiency gains.

• Decreased expense report processing time by 90%
• Reduced errors and risk of duplicate payments
• Enforced policy and improved visibility into compliance issues
• Enabled travelers and approvers with a mobile solution