Empowering remote teams: Best practices for managing remote work expenses
Remote working, either full-time or part-time, has become a feature of UK work culture. Since lockdown, businesses have been embracing the benefits that come with remote teams. Lower office costs combined with increased productivity and happiness means that businesses are thriving.
Remote working does come with some expenses. Here are some tips on how to manage these expenses fairly and efficiently.
Setting clear guidelines
Remote working incurs costs to your employees that they may not otherwise have, such as increased utility bills, increased insurance premiums and suitable office furniture. As an organisation, you need to have clear guidelines on what exactly you will reimburse your staff for.
For instance, you could set a clear limit for new office equipment and mandate that receipts be shown and kept as proof of purchase. Your policy may also state that new furniture can only be claimed every 5 years, for example.
By setting clear guidelines, your staff can easily explore their benefits and you won’t waste time processing miscellaneous claims or making expenses decisions on the spot.
Leveraging digital tools for expense management
There are tools on the market to help you with tracking and managing expenses for both remote and in-house employees. Software such as Zoho Expense allows employees to upload their claims themselves which then are on the system for you to approve or deny.
Not only is software like this easy to use for both management and staff, but it also creates expense reports and tracking at the click of a button. This is a bonus when it comes to reviewing your business operations and identifying areas where you may be able to make some changes.
Boosting employee satisfaction and trust
Keeping staff content in their roles is essential for retaining talent. Ensuring that staff have autonomy over the claims process helps them to feel valued and trusted.
One way to give more autonomy and take away your need to approve claims is to use pre-paid business cards. You can load a set amount on them and give them to remote employees for them to use for business needs. This could be a new desk or laptop if they use a personal one that breaks down.
Pre-paid cards allow you to monitor payments without needing receipts. You can also control budgets and create custom rules for where payments can be made with just a click of a button. You can also connect them to expense tracking software so adding them to your tax returns is simple and easy.
