How to Use Travel and Expense Management in Dynamics 365 Business Central

Managing travel and expenses manually can feel like juggling flaming torches: it’s risky and exhausting, and one wrong move could cause a lot of damage. For businesses, managing these processes the old-fashioned way—chasing receipts, approving endless paperwork, and keeping an eye on compliance—can lead to inefficiencies, errors, and lost time. But there’s a solution: automating your Travel and Expense Management  (T&E) within your ERP.

Automation simplifies the entire T&E process, ensuring that your business keeps running smoothly while saving time, reducing errors, and improving compliance. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers powerful financial management tools and can be complemented with extension apps to solve typical business needs that are not supported by the standard platform, enabling enhanced automated Travel & Expense Management solutions.

Overview of Travel and Expense Management in Dynamics 365

Managing travel and expense reporting can be challenging, particularly for companies with many employees traveling for work. Manually processing expense reports, tracking approvals, and ensuring compliance can overwhelm your finance department. Not to mention the potential for human error when dealing with paper receipts, manual data entry, and inconsistent approval processes.

Automating Travel and Expense reporting eliminates these issues. Instead of getting bogged down with manual approvals and chasing after missing receipts, an automated system allows employees to submit expenses electronically, while managers approve them with just a few clicks. This automation ensures faster processing times and greater accuracy

Enter ExFlow—a solution purpose-built for Dynamics 365 Business Central (as well as Finance and Operations) that eliminates the hassle of third-party integrations. With ExFlow, everything you need to automate T&E processes is already built-in, allowing you to take control of your business’s expense management with ease.

Although Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central doesn’t have a native Travel and Expense Management module, that doesn’t mean Business Central customers can’t enjoy the benefits of T&E management automation. 

Let’s dive into how ExFlow’s Travel and Expense management solution works and how you can leverage its capabilities within Dynamics 365 Business Central. Because ExFlow is built directly into Business Central, there’s no need for third-party integrations. It offers everything you need to manage expenses from within your existing ERP system, and users can handle everything from a mobile device, meaning they don’t even need to access Business Central while on the go.

Key Challenges of Manual T&E Management	Benefits of Automating T&E with ExFlow
Lost or forgotten receipts	Receipts stored digitally
Time-consuming manual approvals	Approvals in real-time and optimized user experience with portal and app access
Risk of human error in data entry	Automated and accurate data capture

Setting Up Expense Management in Dynamics 365 Business Central

Getting started with travel and expense management software in Business Central using ExFlow is straightforward. The process includes configuring categories, setting up workflows, and defining user roles, all within the Business Central environment.

1. Configuring Expense Categories:
Before diving into expense submissions, you need to configure categories to manage various types of expenses, like travel, meals, and lodging. Setting these up allows for accurate tracking and more efficient spending oversight.

2. Defining Approval Workflows:
One of the advantages of using ExFlow is the flexibility it offers in setting up approval workflows. You can create workflows that align with your company’s structure. For example, smaller expenses might be approved by line managers, while larger expenses are escalated to finance directors.

3. Establishing User Roles:
Defining user roles ensures that employees only have access to the data relevant to them. For example, team members can submit their expenses, while managers oversee approvals.

This setup helps streamline your T&E processes and ensures compliance, without any need for outside integrations.

How to Use Travel and Expense Management in Dynamics 365

Using ExFlow for T&E management within Dynamics 365 Business Central is a breeze. Employees can easily submit expenses, managers can approve them in real time, and the finance department can track everything seamlessly. Here’s a breakdown of the key features:

1. Submit Expenses on the Go:
Employees can handle the entire process from their mobile devices. For example, they can easily snap a picture of a receipt, enter mileage, or categorize expenses directly within the app. They can even save email receipts directly from their email clients into the ExFlow app, ensuring no important documents are lost.

2. Mileage Reporting:
Employees can log their mileage directly into the ExFlow app. This information is then sent to the online approval portal, where it is ready for review.

3. Flexible Registration and Approval:
Receipts can be captured on mobile devices and finalized later on a desktop or laptop PC back at the office. Once submitted, the approval process is streamlined through ExFlow’s online approval portal, where managers can approve expenses in real-time from their PC, tablet, or phone. This flexibility ensures that employees and approvers can handle T&E tasks regardless of their location.

4. Automatic Matching and Posting:
Once an expense or mileage report has been approved, it is automatically ready for posting in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. There is no need for additional manual intervention. The system even matches credit card transactions with receipts once they arrive in the app, ensuring everything is accurately logged without extra effort.

5. Digital Archiving:
All receipts and expense reports are stored in a digital archive, making it easy for both employees and managers to retrieve older documents when needed. This feature eliminates the chaos of paper receipts and ensures everything is secure and organized.

Step	Feature
Submitting Expenses	Employees submit expenses via mobile or desktop, attach receipts
Mileage Reporting	Mileage logged directly into the app and available for approval
Approving Expenses	Managers can approve expenses via the online portal from any device
Digital Archiving	Receipts and expenses are stored securely for easy retrieval later

Benefits of Using Expense Management in D365 Business Central

Utilizing ExFlow with Dynamics 365 Business Central brings significant advantages to your business, especially when it comes to managing T&E expenses:

• Increased Efficiency: With automated workflows, employees can submit expenses faster, and managers can approve them instantly. This cuts down the time spent on manual processes, giving your team more time for strategic tasks.
• Enhanced Productivity: Employees spend less time on tedious expense reporting and reconciliation, which translates into more time for revenue-generating activities and strategic work.
• Increased Financial Control: Strengthened enforcement of spending policies and better visibility into expense data empower your company to manage budgets more effectively, reducing financial risks and increasing the potential for savings
• Improved Compliance: Automated approval workflows and predefined spending limits help ensure that expenses align with your company policies.
• Real-Time Insights: ExFlow’s built-in reporting tools give your finance teams up-to-date views of travel expenses, making it easier to monitor costs and ensure accurate budgeting.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Real-time data and insightful analytics equip you with the information needed to negotiate better deals with suppliers and optimize future budgeting.
• Employee Satisfaction: A user-friendly, accessible system for managing expenses can greatly improve the user experience for your employees, leading to higher job satisfaction and retention.
• Future-Proofing: As your business grows, a scalable travel and expense management solution adapts to increased volumes of expense reports and evolving business needs without the need for significant additional investment or resources.
• Cost Savings: Streamlined processes and policy compliance checks lead to a decrease in expenses by avoiding unnecessary spending, and catching policy violations before they happen, saving the company money.
  

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), businesses that automate T&E processes can save between 20-30% on travel costs due to streamlined workflows, reduced human errors, and better expense tracking.

With ExFlow’s automation, companies benefit from features like automatic matching of receipts to credit card transactions, real-time reporting, and seamless posting into Business Central. This ensures that expense management is not just easier but also much more accurate.

Best Practices for Effective Expense Management in Dynamics 365

To maximize the benefits of ExFlow within Dynamics 365 Business Central, consider these best practices:

• Regularly Review Expense Policies: Ensure your T&E policies are up-to-date and in line with current company objectives.
• Train Employees and Managers: Providing regular training ensures employees and managers can effectively use the system and follow compliance guidelines.
• Use Automated Notifications: Set up ExFlow to send real-time notifications to managers for approvals or follow-ups.
• Monitor Spending Patterns: Regularly reviewing expense reports helps identify cost-saving opportunities and areas for improved efficiency.
• Utilize Mobile Capabilities: Encourage employees to make use of ExFlow’s mobile app to capture receipts, log mileage, and submit expenses on the go. This ensures the process is both fast and efficient, no matter where employees are located.

Conclusion

Manual travel and expense management processes can drag your business down with inefficiencies and errors. By automating these processes with ExFlow, you can streamline expense reporting, reduce processing time, and ensure compliance—all from within Dynamics 365 Business Central, without the need for third-party integrations.

The ability to handle T&E processes from any device, coupled with real-time approvals and a digital archive, makes ExFlow the ultimate solution for companies looking to automate their Travel and Expense Management. With ExFlow, your company will gain control over its expenses, enhance productivity, and save costs in the long run.

If you’re ready to take your T&E management to the next level, consider integrating ExFlow to simplify your processes and gain greater control over your company’s expenses.

For more information about how ExFlow can benefit your business read more here.