Concur reveals December as the ‘Busiest Month’ for filing expenses in India

Concur, a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions, released new data confirming that 14th December was the busiest expense day in 2015. According to the company’s customer data, December has clearly emerged as the busiest month over the past 7 years for filing expenses. Concur’s analysis reveals that we are already 10 days ahead in recording the number of expenses filed, as compared to last year’s busiest day. This year, there has been a 15% hike of expenses filed till date already. This is the highest number expenses filed in the last two years highlighting the streamlining of business travel and expense management in India and can safely forecast expense filing is only going to increase in the coming days.

Another insight from Concur’s busiest day analysis is the spike in expense filing seen weeks prior to Diwali. 3rd October and 4th October emerged as the 3rd and 9th busiest days (in terms of expense filing volumes), respectively. The data predicts busy days ahead for Indian CFOs with business travel and expense filing expected to grow before upcoming holidays and close of the calendar year. “It is interesting to observe how we have already seen significant growth in expense filings this year compared to last year. As employees are eager to wrap up their claims processes before the holiday break, we are expecting to see hectic days for the CFOs”, said Anukumar Ramesh, Marketing Director, Concur Technologies, India. “Another key driver for the spike in expense filing is the recent demonetization move of the government. While it is a welcome change for the country, reimbursements will be a source of disposable cash for individuals who look to utilize it for holiday expenditure.” He added.

Financial decision-makers can mitigate the burden of the busiest expense day with the following actions:

• Setting and communicating deadlines

Travel managers and finance teams can establish clear monthly or quarterly deadlines for expenses to ensure employees are regularly filing instead of putting off expenses until the end of the year.

• Rewarding for regular filing

Put an incentive in place for employees that meet monthly and quarterly filing deadlines for expenses, encouraging people to file early or on time.

• Make it a team effort

Set up teams within the office that hold each other accountable to file expenses on time or early with the winning team getting recognition and incentives such as an extra holiday comp day or a team lunch. Remind employees that filing early means a fast turnaround on reimbursement.

An integrated travel and expense platform can streamline managing spend, make it easier for employees to file, and save businesses time and money.