26 August 2010: Reduce the "trauma" of change to your employees

Your online expenses system is configured, policy controls are in place and tested, your unique business rules have been modelled in the system, and data security has been proven and tested.  The next step is to go live!

Our experience shows that the go-live day for any online expenses system will always generate questions and it seems the new IPSA system that is used by our MP’s is no different.  (Read full story here on the BBC website)

When implementing a new system it is imperative to recognise the diverse types of user that will now be moved to the online system.  The obvious ones are those that don’t feel comfortable using computers, or those that don’t like the spreadsheet but they are used to it…so why change? 

We then get the more interesting users, those that have claimed a particular item for years and realise that the automated system is now challenging them, or those users that have claimed 16 miles for a journey from their home to a local railway station only to be told that it is in actual fact 13.8 miles.  We see a massive reduction in expenses costs with mileage validation alone and any company considering an online solution should make this a mandatory feature.

A little preparation and acknowledgment that users will have different skills means that go-live day will be a smooth and accepted change to something that is and has been a manual process in most companies for many years.  Our own Professional Services team, combined with our Service Desk are well prepared to guide new users, and the advance preparation and awareness strategies are made available to all of our customers.

Once you are live with expenses2010 our Customer Management team take over and provide proactive analysis of further savings…. we’ll be revealing more about these in future blogs.

Neil Everatt, Managing Director

25th August 2010: Online Expenses Management Event

We're running an Online Expenses Management event on Wednesday 8th of September and would like you to attend.

Register here

During the web event you will be given a full demonstration of our browser based Employee Expenses Management solution, expenses2010; and see the benefits of automating this resource heavy process which include:

• Decreased processing costs
• Improved policy management
• Ensured compliance
• Reduction in fraudulent claims

Date & Time: Wednesday 8th September at 2:15pm
Location: Your own desk
(You simply need a computer connected to the internet and a telephone)
Duration: 25 minutes
Register: click here

Matt Cross, Spend Management Consultant

13 August 2010: US to charge for Visa Waiver applications

The US now plan to charge £9 to apply for permission to enter the USA.

The ESTA form, which replaced the I-94 card back in January 2009, is currently free and enables citizens from the 35 countries eligible for the visa waiver program to apply for the visa waiver which will grant them access to the US for two years, after which they will need to apply again.

Why charge? The US government is looking for ways to promote tourism in the US and will use this charge to fund the project...

As a frequent US flyer, the fee seems almost redundant. They want to charge people to enter the US which will fund a project to encourage people to enter the US. Surely charging an ‘entry fee’ would only discourage people from visiting the country and those people may opt to stay local or visit Canada or Mexico should they wish to visit North America.

Apply now. The charge starts on September 1st 2010 and lasts for two years, so if you don’t currently have one or yours expires soon I would recommend that you apply for it now and save yourself £9.

Without a valid ESTA form or Visa, travellers will not be allowed to board any plane heading to the US.

Will this new fee stop you from travelling to the US? I’m happy to add this cost to my trip, and have my next trip (New Year in NYC!) already planned!

Tracey Turton, Marketing Executive

11 August 2010: Software Industry is Creative not Geeky

The software industry is a fast growing area, with many activities, both business and social related, utilising digital processes. We all know how quickly facebook and twitter have grown in popularity and with the ease of online shopping and ‘surfing’ people are a lot more tech savvy and are looking at ways to streamline all of their activities.

With this in mind school leavers should be taking a second look at what opportunities lie within the software industry and work out if their interests and goals could compliment a related career.

Here at Software Europe we have a mixture of talented software developers of various ages and with diverse interests; and we have started a program to encourage local developers to advance their skills. Our latest employee has recently graduated from the University of Lincoln and hopes to gain valuable experience during his internship.

“In order to compete in the technical arena our software solutions need to be dynamic, interactive and aesthetically pleasing, which means we have to employ people who are both creative and technically minded and these don’t necessarily have to be ‘computer geeks’. Reports Darren Newton, Technical Manager at Software Europe.

Other companies are embracing this growth; Sunderland Software City launched a video on youtube to prove to the youth that the software industry is a career that promotes creativity over ‘geekiness’.

The six minute video is targeted at 11-17 year olds and is their way of proving that individuals just need to be creative to thrive. Bernie Callaghan reports, “A career in software can take you wherever your interests lie and all you need is to be creative, able to work in a team and good at solving problems.”

Click here to watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_mVmYwMzww

Tracey Turton, Marketing Executive

3rd August 2010: Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves

Mileage reimbursement can be one of the most time-consuming and error-prone areas of out-of-pocket expenses for both claimants and payroll staff, yet can deliver the most savings to organisations. With accurate mileage calculation and reimbursement, savings can be realised instantly and provide real evidence to make changes to your policy which will bring continuous savings, by as much as 10-20% of the expenses spend, to your trust.

0.5 mile saves 6,000 miles

Prior to using the post code to post code validation service in expenses2010 for the NHS, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust applied a mileage matrix they had devised to reimburse the mileage between sites. Historically the distance between two sites was 8 miles, after launching the mileage validation in expenses2010 for the NHS it was identified the actual distance is 7.5 miles.  expenses2010 for the NHS is now saving 1 mile over this return journey, and over the 6,000+ journeys this is a saving of £1,500 for just one destination.

Adele Briggs, Marketing and Customer Manager