PXtech case study – “I would have liked to have seen this implemented two years ago”

“Choosing Zetadocs Expenses was an easy decision, it’s a win-win-win.”

How PXtech successfully implemented Zetadocs Expenses for Microsoft Dynamics NAV. 

About PXtech
Founded in 1999, PXtech is an award-winning business providing real-time, actionable data to hospitality organisations and franchises across the globe, as well as to top UK-based charities. The PXtech team focuses on how they can help businesses better engage their employees and customers through the use of technical excellence, comprehensive business intelligence systems and industry expertise.
 
Challenges to overcome
- Internal company reorganization revealed issues with the incumbent manual spreadsheet-based expensing system 
- Three days per month were being spent by the finance team collating expenses details, with employees having to enter every payment manually
- “The further behind people get, the less likely they are to do their expense reports. It was a constant problem of chasing people. Some were well over a month behind on their expenses.” – Pete Hughes, CFO, PXtech
- The finance team was faced with difficulties when reconciling 15 company credit card statements, alongside cash expenses and centralized cards
- Policy enforcement was difficult, as manual expense submission processes did not help control spending
- Without a way to capture receipts digitally, the company was unable to reclaim VAT for any expenses that were missing paper receipts, or if the paper receipts had been damaged

The solution we delivered
- Zetadocs Expenses for Microsoft Dynamics NAV implemented in 2 days via a simple process
- Providing users with a mobile expenses app to use on-the-go
- Employees can now take a photo of their receipts and submit on the spot or create expense reports later in the month
- Credit card statements are imported into the system so that they can be matched to receipts quickly on-screen
- Keeping paper receipts is no longer required

Results summary
- Zetadocs Expenses alongside policy changes contributed to a decrease in company credit card expenditure. The finance team gained greater control over its expense management process
- PXtech can now claim VAT on all cash and credit card expenses and allocate expenses to the correct dimensions in NAV.
- “How likely would I be to recommend Zetadocs Expenses? 10 out of 10” Pete Hughes, CFO, PXtech
- Credit card reconciliation is now a rapid process, removing the need to collect and keep stapled paper receipts and the laborious monthly trawl through them
- Expenses are now submitted on time, saving the finance team 3 working days per month

Background: the process before Zetadocs Expenses
Pete Hughes took the lead of the PXtech finance team in October 2017. One of the first things he noticed was how much time his team spent collating paperwork for company credit card expenses. With his background in technology, he knew this was an area that could benefit from a cloud-based expense solution.

Over 20% of PXtech employees had been given credit cards in the organization and it enabled them to spend money easily when they needed to. However, with their busy and fast-paced environment, receipts sometimes got misplaced, forgotten about, or expenses simply weren’t on the list of employee’s priorities. This meant more time and hard work for the finance team to obtain all the details they required.

If receipts got lost, the company still had to pay the credit card bill. However, the finance team couldn’t reclaim VAT or allocate expenses to the correct dimensions in NAV.

Pete Hughes shared that “it was a process full of errors, it created company stress and didn’t achieve any positive value. The previous process was difficult and timely for employees as well as the finance team, so it wasn’t working for anyone.”

Driving change
Pete started tackling the issue from multiple angles, including:
- Enforcing company expenses policy on travel and corporate expense management
- Encouraging employees to move regular supplier payments from credit cards to invoices
- Implementing Zetadocs Expenses to automate expense submissions and approvals and enforce expense policy compliance

Results
Implementing Zetadocs Expenses has been a significant contributor to a decrease in cost of expenditure since PXtech implemented the expense management solution. By providing a clear and simple solution for submitting expenses, even the busiest employees can easily keep track of their spending.

The PXtech team quickly adapted to the new process and the overall feedback has been very positive. Employees welcomed the availability of a mobile app, as well as the simple process of taking pictures of receipts and submitting expenses on-the-go.

The company can now account for all its expenditure correctly, keep receipt records digitally, all whilst its finance team and other employees spend less time worrying about expense reports. 

Looking back at this project and its implementation, Pete shares: “How likely would I be to recommend Zetadocs Expenses? 10 out of 10. I would have liked to see this implemented two years ago.”

Quotes 
Pete Hughes, CFO, PXtech: “Zetadocs Expenses is a significant contributor to the dramatically reduced cost of expenditure at PXtech. Your product has helped our employees keep track of their spending, changing their mindset into questioning whether they do want to make each expense. 

“For us as a technology company, being able to offer employees a mobile app that captures their expense receipts on-the-go has been very well received by our team and we started seeing results from it straightaway. 

“Choosing Zetadocs Expenses was an easy decision, it’s a win-win-win! I would have liked to have seen this implemented two years ago. How likely would I be to recommend Zetadocs Expenses? 10 out of 10.”

Chris Oswald, CEO, Equisys: “Tech firms make the most demanding customers for cloud solutions such as Zetadocs Expenses, so we’re delighted that our solution has gone down so well at PXtech.”