Skip to content
Home » Blog » Webexpenses’ research shows how outdated tech is holding business back

Webexpenses’ research shows how outdated tech is holding business back

The real-world consequences of outdated technology and inefficient administration have been revealed by Webexpenses’ latest research.

Involving a global survey of more than 5,000 office workers, the study looked at the challenges faced by office-based employees during a typical working day.

It revealed that more than a quarter (26%) of employees’ time is currently being spent on outdated processes and unnecessary administrative tasks.

The biggest time wasters were found to be:

  • Managing irrelevant emails
  • Attending unnecessary meetings
  • Handling employee expenses
  • Arranging business travel/accommodation

Two-thirds (66%) of US-based workers said they would be more productive if they had better tools and 60%wanted their employer to invest more on time-saving technologies.

Misfiring expense process

Expense management is one of the areas where an outdated manual process and a paper-based approach are still typical - using written forms, paper receipts and Excel spreadsheets.

The average time it’s taking to create an expense report using these methods is 24 minutes. It’s a task that can be completed in a matter of minutes with cloud-based management and an automated process.

US workers are taking the most time to manage their expenses, an average of 40 minutes. The shortest average times (17 minutes) were in New Zealand workplaces.

More than a third (38%) of employees said their company still uses manual processes and 40%described the workplace technology available to them as being ‘woefully outdated’.

Frustrating and inefficient

Adam Reynolds, CEO of Webexpenses said:

“What’s remarkable about these survey results is the level of frustration and annoyance that’s clearly being experienced by employees.

“People are used to the simplicity and efficiency of digital solutions in their personal lives and that clashes with workplaces where they’re having to shuffle and process mounds of paper.

“Our businesses are rapidly becoming one of the few remaining places where these kinds of outdated and ineffective forms of management are still tolerated.”

Webexpenses’ suite of cloud-based solutions are designed to streamline and improve business administration by removing the need for traditional paper-based and manual processes.

Along with the flagship expense management software, Webexpenses now features a range of powerful cloud-based tools to handle business travel, invoicing and payments.

If you're interested in seeing the system for yourself, book a free demo or get in touch.

Customer service week

Webexpenses to exceed for UK Customer Service Week

Oct 7, 2019

The Webexpenses ethos has always been to ‘always exceed expectations’ and that’s exactly what we plan to do for this…

Read More

Webexpenses Achieves ‘Built for NetSuite’ Status

Sep 12, 2019

New suite app meets the NetSuite SiteCloud Platform Development Standards and Documented Best Practices Oxford, UK – 11th September 2019…

Read More

1/2 of Employees Are Frustrated by Outdated Tech

Jul 9, 2019

Participants believe management is not investing enough money into software and hardware (Oxford, UK, 9th July 2019)– A new global…

Read More

Webexpenses raises over £8,000 in aid of Cancer Research UK

Jun 28, 2019

from our United Kingdom office Witney, Oxfordshire, UK – On the 21st June, team Webexpenses embarked on a voyage in…

Read More

Study Into Business Processes Hits National News

Jun 14, 2019

Webexpenses study of 2000 UK office workers uncovers that nearly a third of an employee’s time is wasted on pointless…

Read More

1/3 of Workday is Spent Doing ‘Pointless’ Tasks

Jun 11, 2019

A Survey of 2000 UK businesses reveals how outdated business technology is impacting employee productivity and satisfaction (Oxford, UK, 11th…

Read More

UK Charity Takes a Greener Approach to Expenses | Webexpenses

Mar 25, 2019

Since being founded in 1992, Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) has been leading the fight to defeat dementia through research. The…

Read More

Essential Recruitment offers Webexpenses the job

Mar 15, 2019

Since launching in 2006, Essential Recruitment has continued to achieve year-on-year growth. From branches in Mansfield and Ripley, the success…

Read More

Webinar to showcase the future for expense management

Mar 7, 2019

An upcoming webinar will show why the future for expense management is already here. The online session will provide a…

Read More

Top Expense Management Provider Expands Globally, Increases Service Offerings

Mar 4, 2019

Top Expense Management Provider Expands Globally, Increases Service Offerings Experiencing growth, Webexpenses expands software services product line to cover business…

Read More