Expense control is a key function in the process of controlling corporate costs. Expense Management Solutions are software applications that can process, pay, and audit employee initiated expenses. These costs generally include travel and entertainment expenses, but sometimes might include procurement activities as well. Increasing numbers of purchases are corporate credit card expenses which additionally need to be categorized for GL distribution and reconciled with the employees using the credit cards. Similarly, the cost of the card expense review process itself needs to be contained. This article discusses how you can import and categorize credit card expenses with in Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains Dynamics) a mid-size to enterprise level ERP Solution from Microsoft.
Expense management consists of two processes:
- submission of expense claims by the employee (for example logging a hotel receipt or submitting cell phone records)
- processing of expense claims within the accounting or ERP system.
Expense claims submission usually involves an employee completing a paper or spreadsheet-based expense claim, which they then forward along with the relevant tax invoices (receipts) to their manager for approval. Once the manager has approved the claim, it is forwarded to the Accounting Department for processing. The accounting staff keys each expense item into the Financial System, assigns the respective cost category (GL Account) and files the claim.
Microsoft Dynamics GP has an Expense Management add-on, eExpense, that provides online expense reporting and submission capabilities. It is a feature-rich product which helps businesses automate their Expense Reporting and submission, but unfortunately Dynamics GP eExpense does not provide a good interface for managing the categorization of corporate credit card expenses.
Many companies provide corporate credit cards. Managing the categorizing and reconciling of credit card statements at month-end can be cumbersome and time consuming and may tend to extend the closing process.
For this reason Alba Spectrum has created a new module for Dynamics GP that streamlines the credit card expense workflow. It allows the accounting department to directly import the credit card transactions from the financial institution. It then helps the accounting staff to directly allocate purchases to cost categories. Most importantly, it includes an intranet portal which enables the Employee to review their credit cards statements and assign/confirm correct cost categories. This dramatically reduces the administrative overhead needed to obtain user input to finalize cost categories and distributions. A recently added feature allows users to split each card transaction into multiple cost categories.
Alba Spectrum’s Credit Card Expense Manager (CCEM) allows unlimited cost categories. Each cost category is assigned to a GL Account. After the card transactions are categorized CCEM enables the accounting staff to post them to General Ledger, creating either Bank Transaction or Voucher Entries for association with existing vouchers.
CCEM handles integration with the issuing financial institution via flexible file import mapping tool that allows the configuration of file formats and import rules. This enables credit card statement data files to be imported from any institution format.
Credit Card Expense Manager takes the pain away from importing and processing corporate credit card transactions. It is a "life saver" for accounting staff and tremendously cuts-down the processing time and effort involved.
If you have questions about Alba’s Credit Card Expense Manager, or need assistance in implementing or customizing Expense Management in Dynamics GP feel free to contact us at Alba Spectrum Corporation (www.albaspectrum.com - 1-866-528-0577 - sales@albaspectrum.com).
About Alba Spectrum: Alba Spectrum Corporation (www.albaspectrum.com - 1-866-528-0577 - sales@albaspectrum.com) is a Chicago, Illinois based Gold-Certified Microsoft Dynamics Partner. We specialize in developing solutions and extensions for Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains Dynamics) in the areas of System Integration, Financial applications, E-Commerce and Warehouse Management (WMS). We also provide strategic consulting on the use and adaptation of Dynamics GP within variety of industries. We serve Microsoft Dynamics Clients and Partners worldwide including United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Asia & Australia. Local services are available in Chicago, Naperville, Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego and Houston.
About the Author: Hussain Zaidi is the CTO at Alba Spectrum Corporation. Hussain is a Microsoft Dynamics Certified Professional with in-depth experience in software development and business applications. Before joining Alba Spectrum, Hussain co-founded Nodus Technologies, a Microsoft Dynamics Partner specializing in Electronic Payment Processing. Hussain also teaches Software Engineering at CSU (CalPoly) Pomona. You can contact Hussain directly at hzaidi@albaspectrum.com or via LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/hzaidi.
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