Breaking Down the Costs Associated with Manual Expense Reports

Managing expense reports is a necessary part of doing business, especially for organizations with frequent employee travel. However, manually handling expense reports is time-consuming, error-prone, and expensive. From delayed reimbursements to inefficient workflows, the true cost of manual processing can significantly impact your company’s bottom line.

Without an automated expense reporting system, reports must travel through multiple channels, employee, approver, accounting, and accounts payable, before reimbursement is issued. This slows down the process, delays reimbursement, and consumes time and resources that could be better spent on strategic financial tasks.

The real cost of manual expense reporting

According to research by the Aberdeen Group, processing a single expense report manually costs approximately $20.65. That means:

• 5 reports = over $100
• 10 reports = over $200
• 50+ reports/month = thousands in lost efficiency

And this cost doesn’t even include the actual reimbursed expenses—just the administrative overhead of processing.

For businesses processing hundreds of reports per month, the cost can skyrocket quickly. Even slight inefficiencies in workflow can lead to hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars lost over time.

Where is the money going?

The cost to manually process an expense report varies by company, but most follow a similar sequence:

1. Employee creates and submits the expense report.
2. Approver reviews and forwards the report to accounting.
3. Accounting audits and verifies the report against policy.
4. Errors trigger rework, reports are then returned to employees for corrections or missing receipts.
5. Reports are then resent to approvers, who then send it off to accounting again for another audit.
6. If approved by accounting, the report goes to accounts payable for final reimbursement.

Each of these steps requires time, coordination and administrative oversight. Multiply this across dozens or hundreds of reports, and the hidden costs compound rapidly.

How automation reduces expense report costs

Adopting automated expense reporting software can dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of managing expense reports. Automation streamlines the entire workflow:

• Employees submit reports digitally, often via mobile apps with receipt capture.
• Approval chains are triggered automatically, saving managers time.
• Policy checks are built-in, flagging errors or missing information before submission.
• Accounting teams gain visibility into real-time data, reducing audit time.
• Faster reimbursements improve employee satisfaction and compliance.

By removing manual touchpoints, your team can reduce errors, accelerate processing, and lower the cost per expense report substantially, often cutting the cost by over 50%.

Save time, save money

Manual expense reporting costs more than just dollars. It slows your finance team, frustrates employees, and introduces unnecessary risk. By switching to an automated expense management solution, your organization can gain cost efficiency, transparency, and control over one of the most tedious financial processes.

Don’t let outdated workflows drain your resources. Embrace automation and unlock the full potential of your expense reporting system.

Request your ExpensePoint demo today and discover how easy and efficient expense management can truly be.