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Reimbursement Management

Introduction

Modern companies offer a variety of reimbursements to their staff and in many cases, also, their family members. These reimbursements have become an important component of benefits packages, and now encompass much more than the traditional expense account.

Benefits  SunFish HR automates the Reimbursement process, providing efficient, error free processing. Specifically the Reimbursement Administration delivers the following benefits. Increased HR Department Efficiency The HR Department is able to configure rules and workflow related to reimbursements.  Once configured, reimbursements can be processed with only special items requiring HR department approval.  All approved reimbursements can be automatically added to employee salaries.  The HR department can be completely free from the current time-consuming job of processing reimbursements and focus their full effort on employee development. Better Management Oversight With No Time Wasted Managers at all levels can easily be a part of the approval process based on different criteria, or even look into the details of reimbursements they do not need to approve. Supervisors are instantly notified of new claims as soon as they are available. They appear in an authorized managers? inbox where all required details can be easily accessed and verified prior to approval in a single location. Easy of Use, Quick and Accurate Processing for Employees Employees can easily submit reimbursement requests through an easy-to-use self service interface.  Time required to fill in complex forms and forward them for approval is minimized.  Employees can login at anytime to review the approval status of their requests, or receive email alerts should status changes occur. The system protects claims and approvals from being lost or forgotten, and employees can be confident that once processed the correct amount will be paid quickly. Improved Analysis of Reimbursement Costs and Allocation Managers and the HR department have a variety of tools to create reports and analyze reimbursements by employee, department, type, account, project, etc.  These tools allow managers to determine if the company is spending too much in certain areas and make appropriate adjustments to the policy. Better Definition and Adherence to Company Policies Reimbursement management allows the company to set a variety of rules, controlling limits, budgets, payment methods, approval requirements, and other variables.  SunFish HR will automatically ensure that all reimbursements follow the appropriate policy every time, which improves claim accuracy and, ultimately, expedites payment cycles. Improved Cost Control More transparency and easier adjustment of reimbursement related policies allow the company more flexibility in controlling the costs. Enhanced visibility into expense spending gives companies a great opportunity to use spending data for smart business decisions, e.g. in negotiations with taxi companies or travel agencies, etc.     Lower Paper, Printing, Approval and Mailing Costs SunFish HR dramatically reduces the costs associated with the processing of reimbursements.  Online and automated processing drives down these costs without sacrificing control over reimbursements.                                                                     Happier Employees (pre-paid reimbursements and quick turnaround) Support for pre-paid reimbursements allows the company to issue cash advances for expected reimbursements.  These cash advances are automatically adjusted after the fact.  Additionally the rapid processing of regular request ensures that employees will always be confident about receiving their reimbursements promptly.

Benefits Employee Self-Service SunFish HR is a 100% web-based solution.  All functions are made available for employee self-service based on the security settings.  For Reimbursement administration, this gives the company flexibility in allowing transparency for employees, oversight by management, and easy distribution of reimbursement processing and approval to the appropriate people. Employees can easily access their individual reimbursement balances to view which types and limits they (and/or their family members) are entitled to. The same summary page tracks which claims have already been paid, which are still outstanding, and how much the remaining reimbursement balance per type is. The flexibility of the open interface and process will completely change the way reimbursements are processed within the company. Approval Work Flow The workflow manager allows the flexible definition of approval steps for reimbursements.  Reimbursements can be classified by type and where they originate.  The system will automatically determine which people or positions are required for approval, allowing several steps for approval and allowing several people to process any single step. Notifications are sent automatically by email, and each user can easily see which approvals are waiting for processing when they login. Users are able to approve many items in a group or process each individually. Easy drill-down allows users to inspect the details of any request. Online Approvals All approvals are processed by the appropriate users online. Once approved, a request is instantaneously forwarded to the next approval level. If approvals are not processed quickly enough, indicator lights in the application will identify any bottlenecks and help managers to resolve the inefficiencies. Email Alerts Both the employee requesting a reimbursement and all users involved in the approval are kept up to date on the process by email alert. Users can easily click on links within these emails to get more details on the reimbursement, or to process required approvals.  Trouble Lights Dashboard lights in SunFish HR allow managers and HR department users to watch for and identify issues related to reimbursement processing. Dashboard lights can be used to indicate a slow down in approval processing, reimbursement costs getting too high, or virtually any other aspect of the reimbursement process that needs to be tracked.  Dashboard lights allow the system to keep track of the process rather then forcing users to waste time reviewing reports to identify any problems. Payroll Interface Once approved, all reimbursements can be automatically interfaced with the payroll process. Reimbursements can be included in the regular payroll process and appear on the employees normal pay slip, or run as a separate process more frequently.  The payroll interface can automatically deduct any reimbursement advances from the employees' normal reimbursements. Reimbursement Rules The system allows for the complete and easy definition of a wide variety of reimbursement rules. Employees can have fixed maximums or maximums related to their salaries.  Maximum limits can also be set according to departmental budget, project, client, etc.  An unlimited number of different reimbursement types can be created with different rules, data tracking and approvals. Different types of expenses may also have different methods or timing or payment.  Analysis and Reporting Reimbursement Administration includes a wide range of reports which can be used to analyze reimbursement costs.  All reimbursement data are stored within SunFish HR for a definable period.  Reports can be run based on a variety of criteria useful for analysis or auditing.  If current reports are not sufficient for all requirements, SunFish HR allows the users to define their own reports or export the data to MS Excel? where they can analyze the data in their preferred method.