Monitoring and auditing software company Oversight Systems this week released a product that analyzes data submitted by travel managers, including expense reports, and recommends actions for program improvement. The system, called Insights on Demand, integrates with various expense tools, ERP
systems and corporate card providers to assess abnormalities in expense reporting procedures.
Oversight in May launched a pilot of Insights on Demand with about 25 companies, said CEO Patrick Taylor. Normal pricing for the solution begins at $995 and increases depending on the number of "insights" and data a client wants, he said, but Oversight is offering a free trial of the
functionality through November.
To use the system, a travel manager first selects an "insight." The system's "insights" include highlighting duplicate receipts, misclassifications of merchant category codes, charge patterns based on individual cities and card misuse, among other areas for improvement. Depending
on what the travel manager wants to evaluate, the system will request such documents as expense reports. Users can upload online up to 90 days worth of data to be analyzed. The travel manager then takes a 15-minute "risk survey" so that Oversight can tailor the product to each company.
Taylor said analysis reports are typically completed within 24 hours after the data is submitted. Oversight then will review results with clients, provide a detailed assessment and recommend improvements.
Insights on Demand accepts data from customers that use American Express, Concur, MasterCard, Oracle iExpense, SAP, Infor Extensity and Visa, among other firms. It also has a "mechanism for acquiring data supporting any other T&E management system not listed," a spokesperson said.
Travel managers also can set up automated emails or text messages for repeat offenders and their managers. For example, an employee who overspends on meals could receive an email with a corporate policy reminder.
"When people know an employer is looking [for abuse] it influences behavior," Taylor said.
Insights on Demand also offers clients benchmarks from data derived from across all of Oversight Systems' processed transactions.
Oversight offers a mobile version of its analysis reports on all major platforms.