Chrome River - Detailed Review
Travel Tools
Chrome River - Product Overview
Chrome River Technologies Overview
Chrome River Technologies is a leading provider of expense reporting and invoice management solutions, particularly notable in the financial technology sector rather than the travel tools category specifically. Here’s a brief overview of their product and key aspects:
Primary Function
Chrome River Technologies offers Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) financial applications that automate expense reporting and supplier invoice processing. These solutions are designed to streamline financial processes, improve efficiency, and reduce costs associated with manual expense management and invoice handling.
Target Audience
The primary target audience includes finance professionals, business travelers, and procurement teams within mid-size to large global enterprise organizations. These users are often from industries such as law practices, higher education, and legal services.
Key Features
Expense Reporting
Chrome River allows users to create, submit, and approve expense reports easily, both on desktop and mobile devices. This includes powerful analytics and reporting capabilities that benefit both employees and financial management teams.
Invoice Management
The platform automates supplier invoice processing, ensuring accurate and timely payments.
Global Compatibility
The solutions are configurable to meet the needs of organizations worldwide, supporting various languages and compliance with international regulations.
Mobile Accessibility
Users can manage expenses and invoices on-the-go through mobile applications, ensuring a seamless user experience across all devices.
Integration and Security
Chrome River’s solutions integrate with existing financial systems and platforms, ensuring secure and streamlined financial processes.
By leveraging these features, Chrome River Technologies helps organizations improve their financial management processes, reduce fraud, and enhance overall efficiency.
Chrome River - User Interface and Experience
User Interface of Chrome River in Travel and Expense Management
The user interface of Chrome River in the travel and expense management category is notable for its simplicity, ease of use, and consistency across various devices.
Consistent User Experience
Chrome River ensures that users have the same high-quality experience whether they are using a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. This consistency allows employees to start an expense report on one device and seamlessly continue it on another, enhancing flexibility and convenience.
Intuitive Interface
The interface is elegant and intuitive, making it easy for employees to file expense reports without significant training. The application’s business rules engine helps users comply with company policies efficiently, applying travel and purchasing card policies as the expense reports are created. This helps prevent delays in processing and ensures compliance with organizational policies.
User-Friendly Features
Users appreciate the ease of use of Chrome River, highlighting its user-friendly features as a key differentiator. The software includes Smart OCR technology that allows users to easily add receipts from their phones, and it integrates well with other tools such as online booking systems, corporate cards, and finance/ERP systems.
AI and Automation
Chrome River also incorporates AI and automation, such as the U.S. Bank Expense Wizard, which uses chatbots and advanced image processing to streamline the expense management process. This virtual assistant helps employees book travel, pay with a virtual mobile wallet, and capture receipts instantly, reducing the need for manual intervention.
Global Support
The software supports multiple currencies (over 160) and languages (34), along with global taxation and VAT rates, making it suitable for international use. This global support ensures that the application can adapt to the diverse needs of a global workforce.
Customer Support
Chrome River is known for its superior customer care, with a 97% support satisfaction rate. The company provides managed implementation, ample training resources, and continuous updates to ensure that users get the most out of the software.
Overall, Chrome River’s user interface is designed to be straightforward, efficient, and user-friendly, making it a favorable choice for both employees and finance professionals.
Chrome River - Key Features and Functionality
Chrome River Overview
Chrome River, now part of Emburse, is a comprehensive expense management solution that integrates advanced technologies, including AI, to streamline travel expense reporting and management. Here are the key features and functionalities of Chrome River in the travel tools and AI-driven product category:
Mobile App and Virtual Payments
Chrome River offers a mobile app, such as the U.S. Bank Expense Wizard, which combines virtual payments and expense reporting. This app allows employees to arrange travel within company policies, pay with a virtual card stored in a mobile wallet, and capture and file receipts directly from their mobile devices. This feature is particularly beneficial for infrequent travelers, such as job candidates and contractors, who traditionally had to pay their own expenses and wait for reimbursement.
AI-Based Chatbot
The Expense Wizard includes an AI-based chatbot that facilitates payments and integrates fully into Chrome River’s expense reporting solution. This chatbot automates many manual processes, making it easier for both travelers and the business to manage expenses.
Automated Expense Submission
Chrome River allows travelers to take pictures of their receipts and send them directly into their e-Wallet. This feature, combined with AI and advanced image processing, automates the expense submission process. The system can read and process receipts, reducing the need for manual data entry and speeding up the reimbursement process.
Credit Card Integration
The platform integrates with credit cards, enabling travelers to see transactions they need to submit on their reports. This integration helps in tracking expenses in real-time and ensures that all transactions are accounted for and submitted correctly.
Approval Workflow and Compliance
Chrome River includes an approval workflow with built-in compliance notifications. This ensures that expense reports meet company policies before they are approved. Approvers can review receipts and audit reports on the go, making the approval process more efficient and compliant.
Travel Authorization and Reimbursement
Users can submit travel authorizations (pre-approvals) and travel reimbursement requests through the Chrome River system. This ensures that all travel expenses are pre-approved and aligned with company policies before the trip takes place.
Integration with Other Systems
Chrome River integrates seamlessly with other systems such as travel portals, hotel vendors, and financial systems like Banner Finance. This integration allows for automated reimbursement processing and ensures that all data is synchronized across different platforms.
Policy and Routing
The system allows companies to program policies and routing rules, ensuring that expense reports are routed correctly and meet the necessary approval criteria. This feature helps in maintaining compliance and reducing the risk of non-compliant expenses.
Delegation and Access
Employees can easily delegate access to others and assign approval tasks to coworkers, which is particularly useful when they are on vacation. This flexibility ensures that the approval process is not delayed due to the absence of key personnel.
AI and Machine Learning
Chrome River leverages AI and machine learning to automate various aspects of the expense processing cycle. For example, integrations with platforms like AppZen use AI to sync data, manage spend risk, and automate the expense audit process without manual intervention.
Conclusion
In summary, Chrome River’s travel tools and AI-driven features streamline the entire expense management process, from travel authorization to reimbursement, by automating key tasks, integrating with various systems, and ensuring compliance with company policies. These features significantly reduce the time and effort required for managing travel expenses, making the process more efficient and risk-free.
Chrome River - Performance and Accuracy
Evaluating Chrome River in Travel and Expense Management
Evaluating the performance and accuracy of Chrome River (now part of Emburse Enterprise) in travel and expense management reveals a mixed bag of strengths and areas for improvement.
Performance
Chrome River is generally praised for its user-friendly interface and the ease with which it automates travel and expense reporting. Here are some key performance highlights:
- Automation and Efficiency: The software excels in automating spend control, approval routing, and credit card integration, which significantly reduces manual data entry and streamlines the expense reporting process.
- Mobile Accessibility: Users appreciate the mobile-ready application that allows them to submit, approve, and manage expenses on any device, making it convenient for those on the go.
- Compliance Tools: The software includes strong compliance tools that help enforce company policies and regulatory requirements, such as U.S. Federal regulations for travel and expensing.
- Integration: Chrome River integrates well with other financial systems, travel vendors, and corporate card providers, enhancing its functionality and reducing the need for multiple systems.
Accuracy
In terms of accuracy, Chrome River has several features that ensure precision in expense reporting:
- OCR Capability: The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature is highly effective in capturing expense details accurately from receipts, reducing errors associated with manual entry.
- Automated Policy Compliance: The embedded business rules engine ensures that expense reports comply with company policies and regulatory requirements in real-time, minimizing errors and non-compliant submissions.
- Real-Time Monitoring: The system provides real-time monitoring and approval routing, which helps in identifying and correcting any discrepancies promptly.
Limitations and Areas for Improvement
Despite its strengths, there are several areas where Chrome River could improve:
- Initial Setup: Many users find the initial setup process to be time-consuming and complex, requiring significant configuration to meet specific organizational needs.
- Customization: Some users have noted that while the software is highly configurable, it can be challenging to customize outside of the provided settings, and additional capabilities for reviewers/approvers to modify expense reports are desired.
- User Interface Issues: A few users have reported that the interface can be clunky or not intuitive, particularly in certain features like the analytics engine and the workflow for some processes.
- Response Time and Support: There have been complaints about slow response times from customer support and occasional system slowdowns or maintenance shutdowns.
- Reporting/Analytics: Some users suggest that the reporting and analytics features could be improved for greater flexibility and customization, allowing for more detailed and varied reports.
Conclusion
In summary, Chrome River (Emburse Enterprise) is a powerful tool for automating and managing travel and expense reports, with strong features in automation, compliance, and integration. However, it faces challenges in initial setup, customization, user interface intuitiveness, and support response times. Addressing these areas could further enhance its performance and user satisfaction.
Chrome River - Pricing and Plans
Pricing Models
Chrome River, now known as Emburse Expense Enterprise, provides three main subscription-based pricing models:Transaction-Based Model
This model is priced according to the volume of expense reports submitted. It includes features such as world-class hosted infrastructure, customer support, upgrades, data and receipt image storage, daily exchange rate imports, and corporate credit card expense integration.Submitter-Based Model
This model is priced based on the average number of expense submitters per month. Each submitter can submit as many reports as needed without additional cost.Enterprise-Level Subscription Model
This model is based on the total employee headcount and includes unlimited expense reporting along with all the features mentioned in the other models.Features
Regardless of the pricing model chosen, users can expect the following features:- Creation, submission, and approval of expense reports and invoices
- Capture and upload of receipts with OCR functionality
- Access to the system via any device, including a mobile app with biometric authentication and single sign-on capabilities
Availability of Pricing Information
The exact pricing for these models is not publicly disclosed. To obtain current pricing, it is necessary to contact Emburse Expense Enterprise directly.Free Options
There is no free plan or free trial available for Chrome River Expense. Chrome River - Integration and Compatibility
Integration with Identity Providers
Chrome River can be integrated with identity providers like Microsoft Entra to enable single sign-on (SSO). This integration allows users to log in to Chrome River using their Microsoft Entra accounts, streamlining access and enhancing security. To set this up, you need to add Chrome River from the Microsoft Entra gallery, configure SSO settings, and establish a link between Microsoft Entra users and their corresponding Chrome River accounts.
Compatibility with Browsers and Operating Systems
Chrome River is highly compatible with a wide range of browsers and operating systems. It can be accessed through any HTML 5-supporting browser, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 11 or higher), and Safari (version 9.1 or higher). This compatibility extends to both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring that users can access the application consistently across different platforms.
Mobile Device Support
Chrome River supports various mobile devices, including Android and iOS. For Android, it supports devices with Kitkat 4.4.2 or higher and Chrome version 51 or higher. On iOS, it supports devices with iOS 10 or higher and Safari 9.1 or higher. The application is also certified and supported on several specific mobile devices, such as iPhones, iPads, and certain Android models.
Offline Features and Cross-Device Consistency
One of the key features of Chrome River is its ability to function offline, thanks to its single-page application (SPA) design. This allows users to manage expenses even without Wi-Fi, using features like “Snap & Send” for receipts and forwarding HTML receipts via email. The application maintains consistency across all devices, ensuring that users have the same experience whether they are using a desktop, tablet, or smartphone.
Integrations with Other Tools
Chrome River integrates with various other tools and technologies to enhance its functionality. For example, it integrates with travel booking systems like Amadeus and Sabre, as well as ride-sharing services like Uber. These integrations help in automating expense reporting and making the process more efficient.
Security and Data Management
The application ensures data security by not storing sensitive data locally on users’ devices. This is particularly important for offline features, as it protects critical information such as credit card and banking details. The cloud-based solution provides peace of mind by maintaining data security and compliance with organizational policies.
Conclusion
In summary, Chrome River offers comprehensive integration capabilities and broad compatibility, making it a versatile and user-friendly solution for expense management and travel reporting across various devices and platforms.
Chrome River - Customer Support and Resources
Chrome River Overview
Chrome River, now integrated into Emburse Enterprise, offers a comprehensive suite of customer support options and additional resources to ensure a smooth and efficient experience for its users, particularly in the areas of travel and expense management.
Implementation and Change Management
Chrome River’s approach to implementation is highly structured and customer-centric. They employ a consistent, proven, and repeatable implementation methodology that involves partnering with customer stakeholders to capture unique business requirements. This ensures a seamless transition to their expense management and invoice automation solutions. The process includes full transparency between systems and requirements, making the adoption process as frictionless as possible.
Training and Change Management Tools
To facilitate effective change management, Chrome River provides several tools:
- In-application Self-guided Training: Step-by-step guides within the application help employees complete common tasks such as adding expenses and creating reports.
- Online Training for New Features: Regular online training sessions are offered to help staff quickly adapt to new features.
- In-application Help Videos: Educational videos are available within the application to explain common tasks, ensuring immediate usage with easy-to-follow tutorials.
Ongoing Support
Chrome River offers responsive ongoing support to its customers:
- Dedicated Global Support and Help Desk: A world-class team of experts is available to address any issues or questions.
- Ongoing Configuration Changes: Support for continuous configuration adjustments to meet evolving business needs.
- Chrome River University Online Training: Comprehensive online training resources to help users derive maximum value from the solutions.
End-User Support
While Chrome River does not necessarily provide direct end-user support contracts, they do offer support through other channels. For instance, solution administrators receive round-the-clock, multi-lingual phone and email support. This ensures that any system-based issues can be quickly addressed without the need for an expensive end-user support contract. Additionally, power users within the organization can often answer straightforward functionality questions, and in-app assistants can guide users through key areas of the solution.
Additional Resources
- Chrome River University: This online training platform provides extensive resources to help users master the system.
- In-App Assistants: Tools like Chrome River Navigator offer inline help files and guides to assist users with common tasks.
- Customer Support Requests: Users can contact the support team directly through support requests or phone calls, as seen in the case of Appalachian State University’s implementation.
These resources and support options are designed to ensure that users can efficiently manage their travel and expense needs, with minimal disruption to their business operations.
Chrome River - Pros and Cons
Pros of Chrome River EXPENSE
Chrome River EXPENSE offers several significant advantages that make it a strong choice for managing business and travel expenses, particularly for mid-sized to enterprise-level businesses.
Ease of Use and Intuitive Interface
The application is highly user-friendly, making expense reporting easy and quick. It features a mobile app and web application that work seamlessly across various devices, ensuring a consistent user experience.
Customizable Business Rules
Chrome River EXPENSE allows for the creation of custom business rules and approval processes, which can be tailored to specific departments, locations, or countries. This flexibility ensures compliance with company policies and streamlines the approval process.
Advanced Receipt Management
The “Snap & Send” feature enables users to take a photo of receipts, which are then automatically processed using OCR technology. This simplifies the expense reporting process and reduces manual data entry.
Integration with Various Systems
Chrome River EXPENSE integrates with travel management providers like Amex Global Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit, as well as ERP systems such as NetSuite, Sage Intacct, and Microsoft Dynamics GP. It also supports multiple credit card types and travel booking tools like Amadeus and Sabre.
Multi-Currency and Multi-Language Support
This feature makes Chrome River EXPENSE a good choice for businesses with global users, as it supports multiple currencies and languages.
Offline Capabilities
The application offers offline expense management features, ensuring that users can manage expenses even without Wi-Fi. Sensitive data is never stored locally on the device, enhancing security.
Comprehensive Reporting
Chrome River EXPENSE provides excellent reporting options, including analytic reports with drill-down capability. Users can export reports to Microsoft Excel or save them as PDFs.
Reliable and Efficient Service
Users praise the application for its reliability, efficiency, and performance-enhancing features, which help in day-to-day work.
Cons of Chrome River EXPENSE
While Chrome River EXPENSE has many advantages, there are also some notable disadvantages to consider:
Complex Implementation
The initial system configuration and implementation can be lengthy and complex, which may require significant time and resources.
Not Suitable for Smaller Businesses
Due to the extensive features and customization options, Chrome River EXPENSE may not be the best fit for smaller businesses, as they might not be able to fully utilize its capabilities.
Charges for Enhancements
Some users have expressed dissatisfaction with being charged for global enhancements that were initially expected to be standard features.
Mobile App Issues
There have been reports of occasional issues with the mobile app, such as receipts not syncing properly.
Training Requirements
While the application is generally easy to use, some users may still require training to fully leverage its features, especially during the initial setup phase.
Limited Analytics in Some Aspects
A few users have mentioned that the analytics provided by Chrome River EXPENSE could be improved in certain areas.
Overall, Chrome River EXPENSE is a powerful tool for managing expenses, particularly suited for larger organizations with complex expense management needs. However, it may present some challenges for smaller businesses and requires careful consideration of its implementation and ongoing costs.
Chrome River - Comparison with Competitors
When Comparing Chrome River with Other AI-Driven Travel and Expense Management Tools
Several key features and alternatives stand out.Unique Features of Chrome River
Chrome River, now part of Emburse, is renowned for its advanced expense management capabilities. Here are some of its unique features:AI and OCR Technology
Chrome River uses artificial intelligence and optical character recognition (OCR) to automate expense capture and processing. This allows users to quickly scan and upload receipts, reducing manual data entry.Mobile Accessibility
The platform offers a mobile app that enables employees to book travel, pay with virtual mobile wallets, and capture receipts on the go. This is particularly useful for infrequent travelers and outside contractors.Automated Approval Routing
Chrome River features automated approval routing, configurable policy rules, and granular expense coding, which help in ensuring compliance with company policies and streamlining the approval process.Integration with Financial Systems
It seamlessly integrates with various accounting systems, travel booking tools, and credit card providers, making it a comprehensive solution for organizational spend management.Alternatives and Competitors
Emburse (Including Emburse Certify and Spend)
Emburse, the parent company of Chrome River, offers a broader range of solutions that include travel, expense, and accounts payable management. Emburse provides deep configurability, powerful analytics, and global capabilities, making it a strong alternative for companies of all sizes.Navan (formerly TripActions)
Navan is another significant competitor, especially for companies with simpler processes. It focuses on corporate travel management and offers integrated travel booking, native card issuing, and transaction-based expense reporting. However, it may lack the flexibility and customization options that larger or more complex organizations require.Rydoo
Rydoo is a European-based expense management software that uses a transactional workflow instead of traditional expense reports. It supports corporate travel partner integrations, automated per diem policies, and both native and third-party corporate card integrations. Rydoo is more suited for smaller organizations due to its simpler workflow.Happay
Happay is an Indian-based travel and expense management solution that is highly customizable and integrates well with various accounting, ERP, and HRMS systems. It offers a self-booking tool for corporate travel, automated expense capture, and insightful analytics. Happay is a strong alternative for companies looking for a user-friendly and automated T&E solution.Coupa for Travel & Expense
Coupa for Travel & Expense is another competitor that offers a comprehensive travel and expense management solution. It includes features such as credit card integration, mileage tracking, and advanced integrations with other business systems. Coupa is known for its user-friendly interface and strong analytics capabilities.Key Differences
Customization and Flexibility
Chrome River and Emburse offer highly configurable policy and approval routing rules, which may be more appealing to larger or more complex organizations. In contrast, Navan and Rydoo are more suited for simpler processes and smaller organizations.Integration Capabilities
Chrome River and Emburse have strong integration capabilities with various financial systems and travel booking tools, while Happay and Coupa also offer seamless integrations but may vary in the depth of customization.User Interface and Workflow
Chrome River is praised for its user-friendly interface and mobile accessibility, while Rydoo’s transactional workflow can be beneficial for some but may add workload for submitters and approvers. In summary, Chrome River stands out with its advanced AI and OCR capabilities, automated approval routing, and strong integration features. However, alternatives like Emburse, Navan, Rydoo, Happay, and Coupa offer different strengths and may be more suitable depending on the specific needs and complexity of the organization. Chrome River - Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about Chrome River in Travel and Expense Management
Q: What is Chrome River and how does it help with travel and expense management?
Chrome River is a travel and expense management solution that automates the entire process of expense submission and reimbursement. It helps institutions and organizations by streamlining travel and expense reporting, reducing processing costs and time, and ensuring compliance with fiscal policies. The system integrates with existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and travel booking systems to provide a seamless experience.
Q: Is Chrome River user-friendly, especially for those who are not tech-savvy?
Yes, Chrome River is known for its easy-to-use interface. It requires little to no training, and the graphical user interface (GUI) is intuitive and consistent across all devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktops. This makes it accessible for users of all skill levels.
Q: Can Chrome River be used on multiple devices without losing data?
Chrome River allows users to switch between devices without losing any data or having to re-enter information. The system is cloud-based and provides the same user experience on any device, ensuring that users can work seamlessly across different platforms.
Q: How does Chrome River handle receipt processing?
Chrome River uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology to read receipts and automatically create expense items. Users can simply snap a photo of the receipt using the “Snap & Send” feature, and the system will extract the expense data and populate the expense report. This feature is available both online and offline.
Q: Does Chrome River support multiple currencies and languages?
Yes, Chrome River is a global solution that supports more than 180 currencies and is used in 56 countries. It also accommodates different requirements such as tax recovery, original receipts, per diems, fringe benefit taxes, car use reimbursements, and cash advances, making it suitable for international travel and expense management.
Q: How does Chrome River ensure compliance with travel and expense policies?
Chrome River helps enforce compliance by automating pre-trip authorizations, budget adherence, per diem limits, and appropriate levels of approvals. The system also provides real-time status updates and reminders to ensure that users comply with the organization’s travel and expense policies.
Q: Can Chrome River integrate with other systems such as ERP and travel booking systems?
Yes, Chrome River integrates seamlessly with existing ERP and travel booking systems. This integration ensures a smooth flow between travel and expense requests, approvals, documentation, payment, and posting, making the entire process more efficient.
Q: What kind of analytics and reporting does Chrome River offer?
Chrome River provides advanced business intelligence reporting with dashboards that include real-time spend analytics. This allows organizations to gain immediate access to all expense data, helping them make better business decisions and manage their spend more effectively.
Q: How secure is the data stored in Chrome River?
Chrome River ensures data security by not storing sensitive data locally on users’ devices. The system is cloud-based, and all data is handled securely, reducing the risk of data breaches and ensuring compliance with data security standards.
Q: What happens if there is no internet connection available?
Chrome River offers offline features that allow users to continue managing their expenses even without an internet connection. Users can scan receipts, attach them to their reports, and sync the data once they are back online.
Q: Is Chrome River now part of another company?
Yes, Chrome River is now part of Emburse Enterprise. This integration brings all the technology and features of Chrome River onto Emburse’s industry-leading travel and expense management platform.