A Practical Path for Expense Automation

Employee expenses are rarely the most strategic area of finance, yet they often consume far more time than expected. Across Australia and New Zealand, many organisations still rely on spreadsheets, email approvals, and manual entry into accounting systems. Expense automation for MYOB helps ANZ finance teams reduce manual processing, improve compliance and gain real-time visibility of spend. By shifting from reactive reviews to proactive control, organisations can streamline workflows, simplify reporting, and drastically reduce errors.

Employee expense management remains a significant area of wasted time for finance teams across Australia and New Zealand. Even companies using MYOB ERP systems to manage their core back-office operations often still rely on spreadsheets, email approvals, and manual entry to manage expenses.

Why expense processes still create friction in finance

Expense management is a relatively straightforward workflow, which reduces its perceived strategic importance for ongoing efficiency improvement. However, it becomes much harder to manage at scale without additional support or resources.

Finance teams commonly deal with:

• Missing or incomplete receipts
• Inconsistent expense coding
• Delayed approvals
• Duplicate data entry into accounting systems
• GST and FBT adjustments identified late

Manually processing employee expenses can consume up to 20 hours per month per employee. Finance teams also face a persistent bottleneck with approvals; 50% of finance teams spend up to three hours weekly just chasing invoice approvals. This is time that could be better used elsewhere to improve the efficiency of the business.

The true cost of manual expense management

According to the Australian Taxation Office, processing a single paper-based invoice costs between $27 and $30, compared to less than $10 when processed electronically. Errors in manual processes also compound quickly. Out of the roughly 1.2 billion invoices exchanged in Australia annually, 20% go to the wrong person, and 30% contain incorrect information. Like all things, the cost of rectification far outweighs the cost of getting it right the first time.  These errors must also be manually reconciled and adjusted, further increasing the cost of processing the invoice.

The growing risk of fraud also adds to the cost of manual expense management. Manual processes leave gaps in verification. 66% of companies report seeing more incidents of invoice fraud over the past year. While your finance team are experienced and practised at spotting the elements of invoice fraud, it only takes one to slip through the cracks before your business is at risk. Business email compromise (BEC) scams cost Australian organisations nearly $84 million in the 2023-24 financial year alone.

Moving away from reactive expense management

Legacy expense management processes are reactive and built on the foundation of fragmented systems. Expense data often moves through multiple disconnected steps before reaching finance. Employees submit claims, managers approve via email, and finance teams consolidate everything into spreadsheets before entering it into your MYOB ERP system. Each step adds friction and increases the risk of errors.

Furthermore, finance teams are often identifying issues after submission rather than preventing them upfront. Fixing these issues often requires back-and-forth communication and rework. The unique ANZ requirements for GST and Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) also add another layer of complexity. Without structured processes, these considerations are often handled during month-end or year-end, when time is already limited. This increases pressure and the likelihood of errors.

Modern expense management focuses on accuracy at the point of entry, rather than correction later:

• Empower employees to capture receipts and expense data as they spend using their mobile device,
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to interpret photos of invoices and receipts captured by your team to eliminate manual entry,
• Build structured approval workflows that follow predefined rules so the right person can quickly approve expenses,
• Using virtual cards to control spending and eliminate claims from team members,
• Apply GST and FBT treatment during submission, reducing the need for adjustments and improving reporting accuracy.

ProSpend Expense Management eBook

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Integrated expense management with your MYOB ERP system

Modern, automated expense management is increasingly more effective when the data is integrated into your core ERP system. According to MYOB’s own research, inefficient or ineffective business software contributes an average of 28% in extra costs for mid-market businesses. Furthermore, 94% of decision-makers recognise that challenges from their current business software negatively impact growth. Without integration, finance teams often duplicate work: reviewing expenses in one system and re-entering them into their MYOB ERP system.

MYOB Acumatica and MYOB Exo both support integration with leading expense management and accounts payable automation platforms. Solutions like ProSpend are designed to support a modern approach to expense management. They replace disconnected tools, extend the scope of your system, and help organisations move toward highly controlled, efficient financial operations.

When these elements work together, finance teams gain better visibility, reduce administrative burdens, and improve compliance outcomes. Today, 60% of CFOs in Australia and New Zealand report being directly involved in technology strategy. They are driving the shift toward unified platforms that consolidate expenses, invoices, and cards into one workflow.

Talk to us to explore how integrated, automated expense management can eliminate hidden costs and improve efficiency for your finance team. Email acsa@kilimanjaro-consulting.comor call 1300 857 464 (AU) or 0800 436 774 (NZ).