Product Overview: Zoho Expense
Zoho Expense is a comprehensive online expense reporting and management application designed to streamline and automate the process of recording, reporting, and reimbursing business expenses. Here’s a detailed look at what the product does and its key features.
Core Functionality
Zoho Expense allows users to record and report all their business expenses in a centralized platform. Users can upload receipts, which are then auto-scanned and converted into expenses automatically, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing errors.
User Roles and Permissions
The application comes with three default user roles:
- Submitter: Typically employees, who can upload receipts, create expenses, and submit expense reports for approval.
- Approver: Usually team leaders or managers, who can perform all submitter actions and also approve submitted reports.
- Admin: Usually managers, finance teams, or travel desks, who have full access to all modules, can configure preferences, assign roles, and perform any action.
Key Features
Expense Management
Zoho Expense enables real-time tracking of expenses, helping businesses identify areas for cost reduction and make informed financial decisions. Users can create, consolidate, and submit expense reports from anywhere, with the option to auto-generate report names and numbers.
Receipt Organization
The application features an auto-scan function for receipts, which captures essential information such as date, amount, and other details. Receipts can be uploaded via the mobile app, forwarded automatically, or imported in bulk from other cloud applications.
Mileage Monitoring
Zoho Expense includes a mileage tracking feature that automatically logs and calculates mileage expenses, ensuring accurate tracking and reimbursements for business trips.
Task Automation Tools
The platform automates repetitive tasks such as expense report approval and reimbursement, minimizing manual workloads and increasing efficiency. It also automates the process of creating and submitting expense reports.
Secure Infrastructure
Zoho Expense is built with enterprise-grade security measures, including encryption, access controls, and regular backups to safeguard sensitive financial data.
Corporate Card Reconciliation
The application allows users to connect corporate cards, automatically match card transactions with corresponding expenses, and reconcile business expenses efficiently.
Purchase Requests and Trips
Users can manage purchase requests with custom multi-level approvals and handle travel expenses, including ticket options, itineraries, and expense reporting for trips.
Budgeting and Compliance
Zoho Expense enables the creation of budgets for expense categories, warns or blocks employees from exceeding budgets, and automates per diem calculations based on country compliance and location rules.
Automation and Customization
The platform offers extensive automation features, including automatic expense report creation and submission, and allows for customization of expense creation layouts, approval flows, and other components to fit the specific needs of the organization.
Collaboration and Analytics
Zoho Expense facilitates contextual collaboration between employees and approvers, reducing the need for back-and-forth emails. It also provides analytics and dashboards for admins to get a bird’s-eye view of organizational spending and run detailed reports.
Additional Features
- Petty Cash Management: Allows for the tracking and management of petty cash expenses across different branches.
- Fraud Detection: An AI-driven engine helps audit expenses for duplicates or fraudulent activity.
- Custom Approvals: Supports both linear and custom, multi-stage approval flows.
- Integration Capabilities: Integrates with various external applications, enhancing its versatility.
In summary, Zoho Expense is a robust and user-friendly solution that simplifies expense reporting, automates mundane tasks, and provides robust security and customization options, making it an essential tool for efficient expense management in any organization.