Certify report reveals tech as a barrier to effective T&E management

The report analyses data drawn from 600 CFOs, controllers, accountants and end-users from a broad range of industries. Nearly half of the respondents say their organisation relies on manual processes—either spreadsheets, pen and paper, or homegrown systems—to manage the business operating cost of T&E. Even more (46%) say they do not track the cost to process expense reports, and poor visibility into T&E data is cited as the leading organizational pressure to improve T&E management in 2019.

Organizations of all sizes are represented in this year’s report: 23% enterprise (more than 1,000 employees), 40% mid-market (101-999) and 37% small business (fewer than 100). Titles include managers, controllers and accountants (44%), those in director-level positions or above such as the CFO (37%) and other roles (19%). All respondents are outside of the Certify, Inc. customer base.

43% of organizations are still managing expense reporting manually. 44% of organisations that are not intending to invest in a dedicated T&E management solution in the coming year identify the primary reason as: “our current processes work well enough.” Yet among organisations that have invested in, or are planning to invest in, technology to facilitate improved T&E management, 82% identified “simplifying the expense reporting process for employees and managers” as one of the main reasons for moving to an automated system. Poor visibility into T&E data is the leading organizational pressure to improve T&E management.