If you’ve ever chased down missing receipts to finalize your month-end process, you know this is not the most gratifying part of your job.
It’s frustrating and time-consuming to police employees month after month, after month. It slows down your month-end close, and you might be missing receipts that leave you with blind spots.
But you don’t have to suffer through this. Modern tools like Coast can help you streamline your receipt management process, reducing friction for finance teams and making compliance effortless for employees.
In this article, we’ll share real-world examples from Coast customers and practical best practices to help you improve your receipt management process, give you peace of mind, and, hopefully, stop making you angry.
The True Cost of Poor Receipt Management
1. Time wasted on manual follow-ups
Let’s be real—chasing down employees for receipts isn’t why you got into finance. But for many finance teams, following up on missing receipts and processing expense reports is still a reality. That’s valuable time that could be better spent analyzing financials or optimizing budgets.
The problem? Manual processes make it easy for receipts to fall through the cracks. Without a streamlined process, the chaos never ends.
2. Compliance risks and financial visibility
Missing receipts don’t just waste time—they can also pose a significant compliance risk. Incomplete or delayed receipt capture can lead to audit flags and inaccurate financial reporting. It can create blind spots, making it hard to ensure there’s no fraud or misuse of company funds.
3. Employee frustration and compliance evasion
Let’s face it: no one likes submitting receipts. If the process is cumbersome, employees are more likely to delay or skip it altogether. In industries like field services or construction where retaining employees is a challenge, this isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a missed opportunity to improve the loyalty of your employees.
When the process is too painful, even your most well-intentioned employees might avoid it.
Best Practices for Streamlining Receipt Management
1. Go digital: the case for mobile receipt capture
You don’t have to manage receipts manually. It might not seem like it today—especially if physical receipts have always been the norm for your team. But modern solutions can make a world of difference.
Instead of asking employees to save crumpled receipts in their glove compartments, Coast lets them submit expenses directly from their phones—by SMS or through a mobile app.
This real-time submission captures receipts when they’re top-of-mind, maximizing compliance and minimizing the chances of receipts going missing.
The result? Less paperwork for you and faster, more accurate expense reporting. Plus, Coast stores receipts perpetually, so you don’t have to worry if you ever face an audit.
2. Set clear policies and automate enforcement
Clarity is everything when it comes to compliance. The first step is to define a clear receipt capture policy:
- Do you need receipts for every transaction, or just those above a certain threshold?
- Are there specific categories that always require receipts?
With Coast, you can set these rules in advance and automate the follow-up. For example, you can choose to prompt employees to upload a receipt only for transactions above $75, or for specific spend categories like supplies or food. Employees will be prompted to add a receipt after their purchase and will receive automatic reminders if they haven’t.
This not only reduces your workload but also creates a consistent and predictable process for employees.
Pro Tip: Socializing your policy with your team can make a huge difference. Take a moment to explain why receipts are necessary and when they’re required. When employees understand the “why,” compliance becomes much smoother.
3. Integrate with your accounting system to automatically push receipts where you work
Getting your receipts into your accounting system can be tedious. Coast integrates seamlessly with popular accounting and fleet management systems like QuickBooks and Fleetio.
- With QuickBooks, receipts are automatically synced, ensuring you have all the necessary evidence to close your books on time.
- Coast also syncs your fuel and maintenance receipts, helping you track maintenance operations and expenses with ease, creating a single source of truth for all your vehicle spending data.
How Venture Window Transformed Receipt Management
Venture Window, a Rhode Island-based installation company, struggled with manual receipt tracking and compliance rates of only 50%. Employees often lost receipts, leading to hours of wasted time each month. Because of the lack of controls, employees misused cards to pay for personal expenses, including family meals and utility bills.
After switching to Coast, they saw immediate results: automated receipt capture boosted compliance to nearly 100%, saving 4 hours of bookkeeping time monthly. Real-time visibility and spending controls also helped eliminate unauthorized purchases, making expense management faster, simpler, and far less stressful.
Streamlining receipt management doesn’t just save time—it saves sanity.
By adopting digital tools, setting clear policies, and integrating workflows, finance teams can transform a chaotic, paper-heavy process into one that’s simple, compliant, and efficient.
Coast makes this transformation painless with mobile receipt capture, automated reminders, and seamless integrations that ensure compliance without the headaches.
Ready to take control of your receipt management?
Try Coast today and discover how painless compliance can be.
