FTI needed a tool that systematically enforced company travel policies on the front end.
- Industry:
- Consulting
- Employees:
- 4600+
- Service:
- EXPENSE
The Challenge
Due to their global footprint and vast number of employees who travel, expense management is an extremely important part of their consulting business. Their existing process was cumbersome and mostly manual. Their legacy system enabled employees to enter all expenses online, but then forced them to print the forms to submit for approval and mail them to their Maryland office.
FTI Consulting was in search of a solution that would eliminate their paper intensive, manual processes and quickly integrate into their existing ERP system. FTI was also looking to simplify the expense approval process. Prior, employees were being reimbursed based on what they submitted; what was approved. FTI needed a tool that systematically enforced company travel policies on the frontend.
With Chrome River, FTI was able to quickly configure their expense policies and define the appropriate expense routing protocols. Chrome River’s dynamic fields are configured to display based on the expense type, the charge code or even billable client, which makes it easy to enter, track and manage each expense transaction.
With Chrome River, FTI was able to quickly configure their expense policies and define the appropriate expense routing protocols.
Overview
Established in 1982, FTI Consulting is one of the leading providers of forensic accounting and litigation support services in the US. Their experts offer investigative services to companies confronted with problems, such as fraud, in order to assist them in their legal defense or pursuit of recoveries. FTI’s main clients are large business enterprises and major law firms.
The Chrome River Solution
When evaluating potential travel expense management vendors, Chrome River’s solution stood out from its competitors in three critical areas: intuitive user interface, ease and timeliness of implementation, and little training required. First, they wanted a system with a very clean user interface and one that was easy to navigate. Chrome River uses web applications that behave more like desktop applications with powerful graphics, interactive experiences, and most important of all, fantastic response times. Chrome River’s implementation began with a deep understanding of FTI’s internal business processes and issues. Chrome River paired that knowledge with its cutting-edge technology to design a total solution.
The second key differentiator was the implementation experience and rollout timeframe. Chrome River required little capital outlay with no hardware to buy or software to install; whereas, other solutions under consideration required significant upfront investment. According to FTI’s due diligence, Chrome River’s competitors quoted installation times ranging from twelve to eighteen months; whereas, Chrome River was able to complete the initial setup and integration in less than three months. The final key differentiator for FTI was the amount of training necessary to get their employees up and running. Since they have thousands of employees traveling, downtime for training would have had a significant impact to FTI’s productivity and profitability. Because the system is so intuitive and easy to understand, FTI was able to rollout Chrome River EXPENSE with minimal formal training. This speaks to Chrome River’s superior implementation process and state of the art platform.
The Results
Chrome River was able to bring state-of-the-art expense management to FTI within a very short time window. Expense reimbursements are now being made within five business days, cutting reimbursement time in half. This new solution also freed up employees’ travel accounts, allowing them to concentrate on their customers and business. Chrome River EXPENSE provided FTI with an extremely dynamic, user-friendly system that fits seamlessly within their infrastructure and, most importantly, meets all of FTI’s business needs.
Because the system is so intuitive and easy to understand, FTI was able to rollout Chrome River’s EXPENSE with minimal training.
Why Chrome River
- Replace its manual expense claim workflow process with an automated workflow process with built-in rules to ensure compliance by division and spend visibility across the organisation.
- Enforce company travel policies on the frontend, cut expense reimbursement time in half and freed up employees’ travel accounts.
- Implement intuitive user interface with minimal training required.
- Quickly integrate into their existing ERP system.