The challenge

“We knew the process wasn’t right.”

As the Financial Accountant at Rous County Council, Vicky Scott reflects on the process of managing expenses before they introduced Weel.

“Everyone had their credit card,” Says Vicky. “When the bank statements would come in at the end of the month, everyone would be given their statement and would need to create a purchase order, code each item, and then attach the invoices for each expense.”

Because the details around each expense were being captured so far after the event via the purchase orders, it was a time consuming process chasing down receipts and invoices to complete this process.

“Our AP officer was typically spending the equivalent of 2-3 days a month preparing everything for our end of month credit card reporting,” says Vicky. “And that was on top of following up with staff to complete their part.”

The Solution

After setting out to find a spend management solution, Weel was the standout

In searching for a new solution, Vicky found that Weel was a product that offered what they were looking for.

“We were after a debit product of which there were a couple of other options,” says Vicky. “However, the usability and simplicity of Weel were the influencing factors.”

After having had Weel in the organisation for just a few months, they have already started noticing a difference both in their processes, and across their reporting.

“Getting our spending data in real time has been huge for us,” says Vicky. “They [Rous County staff] are no longer waiting until the end of month to start the documentation process. As soon as staff make a purchase on their Weel card they can complete their expense report immediately, because straight away it’s there for them to take action.”

With ‘so much more simplicity across the board’ through this new way of managing their expenses, their reconciliation process has become a lot faster, and a lot easier.

“With Weel, expense management is up to date as we go, which means our end of month reconciliations can be completed rapidly,” says Vicky. “Staff are finding it much easier to keep up to date with coding their corporate card purchases because they can action their expense reports straight away.”

The Result

Weel has helped the team to completely rethink their processes around spending, and create understanding across their staff

With the accounting and reconciliation process streamlined, Rous County Council have been able to bring in new processes to further optimise their finance activity off the back of introducing Weel.

“With BAS’s due on the 21st of each month, we now have time frames in place for all expenses to be coded and completed by the 5th,” says Vicky. “We’ve been able to set really clear guidelines and easily follow through with escalations if a staff member hasn’t completed their expenses on time.”

Importantly, Weel has also been able to help facilitate a bigger cultural shift around timely tracking and managing of expenses across the business.

“Another big benefit for us, was that Weel enabled us to really highlight the consequences of what happens when staff don’t complete their expenses on time,” says Vicky. “Staff now have more of an understanding of the importance and therefore impact of what their part is, and if they don’t do their bit on time, there is a flow on effect.”

As for what’s up next at Rous County Council, the team are excited to start planning further areas of digitisation and a total system overhaul across their organisation.  The successful implementation of Weel has confirmed the ease in which these changes can occur and how response staff can be with these changes.

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