Emerson Embedded Computer, Patricia Witman
"What I found the best in the Concur system is the downloads from American Express credit cards. We could us it internationally; it didn’t make any difference where any of our travelers were at. They could actually go into the system if they wanted to on a daily basis, put their expenses in. It would do their exchange rate, they didn’t have to have all that information at their finger tips and then when they came back it was just a matter of hitting submit and getting their manager to approve but our managers have four days and then the expense report is paid and so the turn around time has just been cut dramatically for our end users. We are seeing the turn around time in getting them the expenses paid to American Express cut so drastically that people are very pleased with getting that done."
"We have definitely saved on the return on investment in that we’ve limited down from seven processors to one processor. Now we don’t need the additional staff. We can use that staff and their talents in other places and do more benefits that way. Also I believe that putting in our American Express card and incorporating that into our expense tool that that has also saved us a considerable amount of because now everything is downloaded for our users. They have a better snapshot of what they’re using with their American Express card throughout the month because they can actually do their transactions as they come into the expense report instead of waiting until the end of the month and then saying oh my goodness I’ve spent three thousand dollars on what? Now they have a tool that they can use to track their expenses, see exactly where they’re spending and to curb some of that over-expending."
"With Concur, because we can download the hotels and the things they have used the American Express for, it automatically populates. We had another expense system that didn’t pay American Express directly and it made everybody’s life miserable and then when we went to Concur, and American Express was paid automatically though the Concur system it really helped get everybody up current and make sure that everybody was doing what they were supposed to be doing. If they lost a receipt it wasn’t as easy to remember for our travelers everything that they had done. With the concur system it automatically populates so you have a better idea of what’s happened on your travel."
"You don’t have to be behind our firewalls to do an expense report. If I’m working from home I can do the expense without going behind the firewall and get it processed and get it done and so the travelers get reimbursed quicker. It was taking about four to six weeks for the travelers to get reimbursed for their travel and now it’s generally a week to 10 days."
"Emerson is located in seven different countries and it helps us keep our expenses on an even flow so you know what’s being done internationally as well as in the US. The VAT tax system on the Concur system has really helped eliminate the confusion with what people are supposed to be doing in Germany. It’s just been a benefit all the way around. What I find with the international feature on the Concur system is the exchange rate and it automatically populates for that particular country and if it’s an American Express download then it gives you the exchange rate for your charges or if it’s a cash expense it will give you the actual exchange rate for that day. You don’t have to go look anything up and it gives you what you spent in US dollars."