Sainsbury’s, one of the leading food retailers in the UK, has renewed its contract with GlobalExpense, one of Europe’s largest payers of employee expenses, to outsource its expense management process for a further five years.
Over 13,000 colleagues now have their expenses paid by the outsourced web-based system, including directors and colleagues at the Store Support Centre and within the distribution network as well as store colleagues from over 800 stores.
Keith Simson, Contract Manager at Sainsbury’s, said: “We implemented GlobalExpense across the entire company in late 2004 and in November 2008 we renewed the contract for a further five years. There is no doubt that it is extremely beneficial for those colleagues who regularly submit expense claims, including travel, mileage and hotel accommodation.
“With the new system, all colleagues can submit expense claims, any time, anywhere and be paid three days after authorisation direct in to an account of their choice.
“Previously the company relied on using a manual paper-based system, which was more time-consuming and reimbursement of expenses was often a slow process. Following the initial implementation we introduced company credit cards where transactions interface to GlobalExpense each week to allow quick and easy reconciliation.
“The introduction of this functionality allowed the removal of the need to use cash for goods not for resale and expenses, vastly improving efficiency, cash management and significantly enhancing controls.
“With a large number of colleagues claiming expenses in 2004 we wanted to find a solution which would provide a more efficient and speedier way of managing expenses. We looked around in the market and found that GlobalExpense was the only system which provided a full end- to-end expense management system that met our requirements and this is still the case in 2009.
“The data held in the system allows management to receive highly detailed information break downs of all expenses and the system is certainly making life easier for our managers who have to approve claims on a daily basis.”
Keith Simson concluded:
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“GlobalExpense is a very useful and powerful tool. We now have a system that ensures VAT and PAYE liabilities are correctly dealt and this was highlighted in a recent HMRC audit. We are able to easily configure the system to highlight any claims made outside of the company policy and provide valued management information to stakeholders.
“All receipts are checked and then scanned by GlobalExpense staff and available on line. The help desk service provided by GlobalExpense is excellent – our knowledgeable account manager works with us to find opportunities to maximize potential cost savings.”
