If it is the second option, your role model might be Gus Gorman in Superman III who defrauds his employer of $85,000 when he collects the rounded-up half-cents floating around inside the computer expense system.

The film’s plot nicely exposes the frailties and inefficiencies of the traditional approach to expenses: ask people to file paper returns, and fail to accurately track where money is really being spent, and the result can be a potential means for errant individuals to boost their incomes.

The odd exaggerated pound on mileage and an over-generous subsistence claim might not seem like a big deal. But for larger organisations, such unnecessary costs can quickly start to add up and become a significant cost black hole.

Organisations must seek to assert greater control over their finances. And IT and HR directors at the smarter firms are increasingly turning to employee expense management systems to do this.

Such technology creates a simple and effective management solution that allows staff to input their travel and subsistence expense claims online. The result is more accurate and effective means of managing staff expenses – and the potential cost savings make for impressive reading.

Efficiency savings typically include an 18 per cent reduction in mileage expense payments. In addition, organisations are able to benefit from a nine per cent reduction in staff expenses spend – a figure that highlights how potential fraudsters are forced to think twice before submitting false accounts.

Clever systems, such as Expenses created by Software Europe and provided by ABS to its customers, ensure that claims are checked and validated against an organisation’s policy. Errors are captured and flagged before they reach the payment phase, allowing authorisers to quickly query a wayward claim.

Which means only two things: an attempt from an individual to be the next Gus Gorman is bound to fail, and your organisation is likely to save a great deal of money in the long term.

Managing employee expenses is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment

The context to such legislative change comes in the form of downturn and dishonesty. Big business bonuses and parliamentary expense scandals have left a sour taste in the mouth of the average UK voter, particularly when unemployment is rising and wage increases are stalling.

In an attempt to persuade the electorate that the government is taking corruption seriously, new bribery laws are being pushed through prior to the forthcoming election. The Bribery Bill – which would update existing UK laws dating back to 1916 – has already passed through the House of Lords.

The overhaul will have a significant affect on UK PLC and you must review your policies and processes to ensure your organisation is not committing bribery offences.

In short, the bill proposes four offences: bribing another person; receiving a bribe; bribing a foreign public official; and failure by a commercial organisation to prevent bribery by a person who provides services to the business.

The final area should be most concerning to businesses; fail to prevent employees or consultants from committing bribery and you could find your organisation liable.

Definitions of such offences are at-best sketchy, but the government will expect you to have taken appropriate action to prevent bribery. From policy to audits, small and big businesses will be expected to have taken preventative action.

Are you ready? When it comes to the new bribery bill, do you have the right fraud detection systems in place so that your business will not be held liable?

Top of your technology spending list should be spend analysis, a type of software that can help you collect, cleanse and classify spending information. Web-based spend analytics will help you develop a cost-effective and timely approach to reporting.

The platform will also allow you to take information from multiple sources, such as accounts, travel and procurement, and create a single view of your organisation’s expenditure.

Such a grip on your expenditure will help you detect anomalies, improve efficiency and – most importantly, which it comes to the new Bribery Bill – monitor compliance.

The New Bribery Bill: Do you have the right fraud detection systems? is a post from Advanced Business Solutions - Supplier of accounting software, business intelligence and document managment