When was the last time you took a close look at your expense policies? Unfortunately, global compliance requirements are so complex that policies often follow suit, becoming more complicated as time goes on.

Complicated policies are, in turn, more difficult to enact and follow, even when every pain is taken to do so. At some point, the equilibrium of compliance must swing in the other direction in order to be truly effective — simpler policies that will do the same job.

It can be hard to break the momentum of habit and get involved in a “less is more” mindset. However, doing so can lead to positive change throughout the enterprise. Error rates go down as simplicity is prioritised.

To Bring Effective Change To Your Enterprise, Start With A Definite Goal

Travel expense reports probably make up a small part of your overall compliance picture. However, they can result in major compliance penalties if they are not adequately prepared, vetted, maintained, and archived.

What should your first step be if you want to break the cycle of trying to “keep pace” with compliance complexity? Take a well-defined area of your processes — travel expense reports — and do everything possible to make things easier.

When looking at ways to make these reports simpler to deal with, consider:

— Ease of access for the travelers who have to provide the raw data.
— Automation in finding and alerting stakeholders to problems.
— Long-term archiving to ensure that data is always available.

The natural solution for all of these areas is a global, cloud-based software system. By rolling out such a system, you demonstrate an important commitment to positive change — one that can be the perfect example for the rest of the company.

Don’t Let Entropy Creep Into Your Compliance Efforts — Get The Right Software For The Job

The consonance between your travel expense reports and the controls and policies that you have decided upon is crucially important. However, as time and distance from the centre of your business both increase, it is bound to become more difficult to ensure policies are followed.

Technology is the key to building a bridge that will, at least in the most significant ways, “erase” that natural distance. Making sure you have the right software for travel expense reports will tether global travelers to the office in all the right ways while making their jobs easier.