Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized many operational processes by automating complex tasks, enhancing efficiency, and reducing human error. Through our Expense Reimbursement survey, APQC found that the expense reimbursement process has benefited from the advancement of AI as well.
Managing expense reimbursements efficiently can be a significant challenge for companies of all sizes. Traditionally, this process tends to manual data entry, lost receipts, and delayed reimbursements. It makes sense to see that 78 percent of our respondents are at least considering AI for this process, with 50 percent reporting that they are either piloting, operating, or optimizing AI for expense reimbursement.
The most immediate benefit of AI for expense reimbursement, identified by 43 percent of respondents, is that it leads to more complete and accurate content in reporting.
AI systems can scan, interpret, and categorize information from receipts using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. Employees simply take a picture of a receipt and AI populates the relevant fields in the expense management system, speeding up the process and reducing the likelihood of errors.
One of the most critical features of AI in expense management is its ability to detect fraudulent claims and anomalies. AI can easily identify duplicate entries, as well as unusually high claims that do not align with an employee’s travel itinerary. This protects organizations from excessive costs and fosters a culture of trust and accountability. Around a quarter of our respondents reported the ability to detect fraudulent claims as a benefit of implementing AI within the expense reimbursement process.
Even the best reimbursement tools with AI won’t deliver many benefits if employees don’t understand your reimbursement policies. Ideally, you should review your policy and any relevant changes with employees at least annually—not just once during onboarding when an employee is first hired. In addition to policy, employees also need to be trained in how to use new tools appropriately. Providing this training will not only help to drive smoother adoption and usage but also cut down on process costs because employees will use the tools more efficiently and accurately.
AI is transforming the expense reimbursement process, making the process quicker, more accurate, and more compliant. As technology advances, the scope of AI’s capabilities will continue to expand, promising even greater efficiencies and innovations across the field of financial management.