Imprest is a sum of money that is kept in each location of an organization to take care of small expenses that inevitably need to be paid for immediately in cash. The quantum of this Imprest or Petty Cash that is kept at each location can vary from as little as a few hundred to several tens of thousand, based on the scale of expenses incurred there.As organizations grow beyond 4 or 5 locations (offices, factories, stores, warehouses, restaurants for example), the processes and systems they need for managing their Imprest starts getting complex, and is often the cause of leakages, dissatisfaction, and even audit queries.These issues arise due to the following key reasons:
- It involves handling of cash, which is naturally prone to improper use, hence the need for proper controls. Cash Reconciliation is an especially important though cumbersome necessity.
- Level of expenses at each location needs to be monitored and analyzed, so that based on norms, the quantum of cash to be kept at each location can be determined, since either excess or insufficient cash at a location creates issues.
- There is a need for periodically topping up the Imprest at a location, based on the actual expenses that have been incurred since the last top-up. While ideally this would be done with a fixed frequency, the system needs to be agile enough to allow for an ad hoc top-up for some locations that have higher levels of expense.
- Managing the vouchers related to these expenses and their associated supportings is really complex when it is a paper or Excel based process.
- Multiple controls need to be set up so that the locations follow statutory requirements as well as company policies related to Petty Cash expenses.
- Makes it easy for locations to instantly capture each head of expense along with associated supportings instantly on the Expenzing Imprest Manager mobile application. Eliminate all paper handling, couriering, filing, and retrieving which add to cost.
- Helps to set up the rules and Delegation of Authority Matrix for approval of all Petty Cash expenses, so that the process always stays within norms.
- Allows for the set up the Imprest Levels for each location, and dynamically monitors the Imprest Level at each location, so that timely intervention if required can be taken.
- Set controls on maximum amount that can be spent for a single expense, so that Imprest is used for the smaller expenses it is meant for.
- Set controls on the expense categories (accounts) for which payment can be made from the Imprest, so compliance and adherence to Corporate norms are ensured.
- Provides detailed analysis of expenses incurred from Imprest, based on expense categories, locations, and time period.
- Manages the top-up of Imprest smoothly, so that neither is there too much cash floating across locations in Imprest, nor are locations runnning out of Imprest cash needed for business continuity.
- Makes audits painless and quick, without requiring the involvement of senior managers from Finance. In fact audits can also happen remotely by giving access to the Expenzing Imprest Manager to the auditors.
- If something goes wrong, facilitates quick corrective action, since Expenzing Imprest Manager immediately reflects all expenses that have been incurred.
- In fact some user organizations have actually eliminated the need of a location-based finance person, since the requirements in terms of skills and level of person required for managing the petty cash goes down dramatically with Expenzing Imprest Manager.
- Takes care of all the things like Location-wise Petty Cash Register and Posting of Accounting Entries that typically would involve a lot of work either at locations or at HQ.
Imprest is a sum of money that is kept in each location of an organization to take care of small expenses that inevitably need to be paid for immediately in cash. The quantum of this Imprest or Petty Cash that is kept at each location can vary from as little as a few hundred to several tens of thousand, based on the scale of expenses incurred there.
As organizations grow beyond 4 or 5 locations (offices, factories, stores, warehouses, restaurants for example), the processes and systems they need for managing their Imprest starts getting complex, and is often the cause of leakages, dissatisfaction, and even audit queries.
These issues arise due to the following key reasons:
- It involves handling of cash, which is naturally prone to improper use, hence the need for proper controls. Cash Reconciliation is an especially important though cumbersome necessity.
- Level of expenses at each location needs to be monitored and analyzed, so that based on norms, the quantum of cash to be kept at each location can be determined, since either excess or insufficient cash at a location creates issues.
- There is a need for periodically topping up the Imprest at a location, based on the actual expenses that have been incurred since the last top-up. While ideally this would be done with a fixed frequency, the system needs to be agile enough to allow for an ad hoc top-up for some locations that have higher levels of expense.
- Managing the vouchers related to these expenses and their associated supportings is really complex when it is a paper or Excel based process.
- Multiple controls need to be set up so that the locations follow statutory requirements as well as company policies related to Petty Cash expenses.
Expenzing Imprest Manager takes the pain &drudge out of Imprest management by providing automation, visibility, and controls, such that the Finance team is always on top of things.
The key benefits provided by the Expenzing Imprest Manager are:
- Makes it easy for locations to instantly capture each head of expense along with associated supportings instantly on the Expenzing Imprest Manager mobile application. Eliminate all paper handling, couriering, filing, and retrieving which add to cost.
- Helps to set up the rules and Delegation of Authority Matrix for approval of all Petty Cash expenses, so that the process always stays within norms.
- Allows for the set up the Imprest Levels for each location, and dynamically monitors the Imprest Level at each location, so that timely intervention if required can be taken.
- Set controls on maximum amount that can be spent for a single expense, so that Imprest is used for the smaller expenses it is meant for.
- Set controls on the expense categories (accounts) for which payment can be made from the Imprest, so compliance and adherence to Corporate norms are ensured.
- Provides detailed analysis of expenses incurred from Imprest, based on expense categories, locations, and time period.
- Manages the top-up of Imprest smoothly, so that neither is there too much cash floating across locations in Imprest, nor are locations runnning out of Imprest cash needed for business continuity.
- Makes audits painless and quick, without requiring the involvement of senior managers from Finance. In fact audits can also happen remotely by giving access to the Expenzing Imprest Manager to the auditors.
- If something goes wrong, facilitates quick corrective action, since Expenzing Imprest Manager immediately reflects all expenses that have been incurred.
- In fact some user organizations have actually eliminated the need of a location-based finance person, since the requirements in terms of skills and level of person required for managing the petty cash goes down dramatically with Expenzing Imprest Manager.
- Takes care of all the things like Location-wise Petty Cash Register and Posting of Accounting Entries that typically would involve a lot of work either at locations or at HQ.
Our clients have reported huge savings, and excellent ROI on their investment in Expenzing Imprest Manager. These savings & returns increase exponentially as the number of locations increases.
Thus Expenzing Imprest Manager is specially popular with large geographically spread organizations in Financial Services, Insurance, Banks, Broking, Retail, QSR, Diagnostic Chains, Logistics, Pharma, Consumer Goods, and Capital Goods among others.
We’d be happy to show multi-location companies how Expenzing Imprest Manager works.
