How to get the most out of your money, part 2: Compliance

People who say the rules are meant to be broken have obviously never had to deal with regulators. Or audits. Or anything having to do with numbers.

You, on the other hand, are trying to get the most out of your money—all the way down to the bottom of your budget. And in this three-part blog series, we’re examining how small and midsize businesses can do so from three all-important perspectives:

• Efficiency—You have to spend it anyhow, spend it right.
• Compliance—Spending within the rules
• Visibility—You can’t control spending you can’t see.

We’re also connecting you to resources that show you how you’re doing, how your peers may be doing things differently, and what to look for in a spend-optimization solution.

Compliance can be as painful as it is expensive.

If you stay on the right side of the rules, it’s all good. If you don’t because you don’t have an efficient system of checks and balances in place—and you can’t see what, where and how things are being spent—the results can be catastrophic for your company.

But how do you know what sorts of spending rules and limits you should have in place? And if you do have rules in place, how do you know they’re being followed?

Tied into all this is your accounting team, and instead of focusing on the financial leadership of the company, they’re playing the role of “bad cop,” so you can at least have hope that the rules are being followed.

Follow the rules and there’s nothing to worry about.

As we mentioned in part one of this series, having a connected, efficient system can alleviate the pain of the process. You’ll know which policies and procedures to put in place, and you can be confident that they’re being followed. You can let your accountants be accountants, not “enforcers.” And you’ll know where your money is going and control how it’s being spent.

Most importantly, you’ll reduce compliance errors and keep the entire process moving. Check out five quick case studies to see how your peers are making it work and getting more bang for less buck. You can also learn more at Concur.com.

See more: How to get the most out of your money, part 1: Efficiency

See more: How to get the most out of your budget, part 3: Visibility