As political leaders scramble to introduce radical new measures for better governance over the MP expenses system, companies too need to review their operational expense processes as businesses are throwing away millions of pounds each year through the mismanagement of expenses.
According to F2X (www.f2x.co.uk), a leading consultancy specialising in expense review and business management, companies expense spend is on average 40% higher than it should be. Operational expenses processes need to be transparent, auditable with delegated authority and automated wherever appropriate. They should be process driven with tight governance and controls to ensure staff follow procedure and to help identify whether each spend area adds value to the business or is merely a drain on the bottom line. For example, an efficient cost code allocation system quickly aligns all expenditure against departments and individuals; expense reporting ensures tight monitoring, tracking and accountability of every spend area; and regular supplier contract reviews, especially in high spend areas such as travel, accommodation and mobile phone / technology, helps keep costs down to a minimum. Any new governance processes needs to then be communicated and made available to staff with checks in place and clear ownership and sign off policies.
Putting in place such systems is neither costly nor complicated. F2X delivers its services on a risk-free basis. Its risk reward model means any payment received by F2X is generated solely out of savings made by their client. Over the last 5 years the team at F2X helped save companies over £50 million through expenses reviews.
F2X is an independent company with over 25 years of combined expense review and management experience.
