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Pave the way to company-wide consolidation with
Expense Manager

Everyone, it seems, is talking about centralization. But is it déjà vu? It was about twenty years ago that many multidivisional companies decentralized and moved support services into their separate business units. Now, a mere two decades later, the trend has reversed itself.

New technologies are making centralization not only popular, but profitable. Shared services -- the centralized management of activities for multiple users -- is fast becoming the preferred method of handling support operations in major enterprise companies. Perhaps a better word is consolidation. Shared services isn't so much about centralizing in one physical location as it is about consolidating, standardizing and automating. Many companies view shared services as a way to consolidate business processes to boost the bottom line now and stay competitive in the future.

Shared objectives
But what do shared services have to do with travel and entertainment (T&E)? Everything. Because it's a routine, high-volume activity where capturing economies of scale can make a huge difference, expense management -- along with other transactional services, such as payroll and purchasing -- is one of the first functions companies consider as they work toward implementing shared services.

Shared services and automated T&E are not merely compatible, they're part of the same competitive business strategy:

• A key objective of shared services is transparency. Ceridian Expense Manager powered by Gelco provides visibility into consolidated travel spending.
• A significant component of the shared services environment is focusing on the end-users. Expense Manager is designed to make expense reporting user-friendly.
• A major goal of shared services is cost savings. Expense Manager can reduce the cost of processing an expense report by 50 percent or more, help clients improve card rebate incentives up to 10 percent, and improve travel spending savings up to 10 percent.

Shared benefits
Shared services is not a passing fad. Major studies on the subject predict that greater automation and consolidation will go hand in hand as companies move toward paperless processes. The ability to standardize processes while working from remote locations is fundamental for leading global companies. With the capacity for flexibility and customization, shared services and Expense Manager will continue to offer an increasing variety of related benefits as follows:

• Visibility - Cost transparency is one of the principles of shared services. It's one of the key benefits of Expense Manager. When managers know how, where, when and why their dollars are spent across the organization, they can make better business decisions and use the data to negotiate volume discounts with vendors.
• Streamlined business processes - Shared services are designed to increase efficiency and productivity. Expense Manager ensures that expense reporting, payment and audit processes are consistent across all departments and business units, even when these separate entities maintain distinct policies or regulations.
• Customization - Another significant principle of shared services is that internal customers define their own needs and level of service. With Expense Manager, departments can customize policy configurations and data reporting for their own accounts, while shared services staff can access all accounts and take advantage of organizational reporting.
• Best practices - Shared services is built on a best practices approach to business processes. Expense Manager offers opportunities for win-win partnerships between internal and outsourced operations.

Lessons learned for shared success
By eliminating redundancies and creating a high-performing service culture, shared services can help companies gain a competitive edge.

Implementing shared services is a major undertaking for any company and there are several crucial factors to take into consideration as follows:

• Create an effective communication strategy that explains what is taking place and why.
• Secure the support of senior level management before you begin the process.
• Be sure to have the right people in place. Commit the necessary financial and human resources to the project to ensure its success.
• Provide support, service and training every step of the way. Create a service-oriented culture and demonstrate your commitment at the outset.

With clear objectives and careful implementation, shared services -- from human resources, to tax and legal, to automated T&E expense management -- can result in shared success across the company.

To learn more about Ceridian Expense Manager powered by Gelco, contact your Ceridian representative.