ADP Shows Java Version Of Expense Processing Tool

<B> ADP Shows Java Version Of Expense Processing Tool</B>

By Mary Ann McNulty

<I>Roseland, N.J.</I> - ADP plans to show its latest expense solution--the long-awaited browser version written in Java--that integrates Corporate VAT Management's AutoVAT at the National Business Travel Association conference this week. General deployment is expected in the fall.

Working on the release, version 5, since April 1997, ADP "took a little different approach than some of the other players," said Robert Brandes, vice president and general manager of ADP's e-Xpense Services. "Some have scaled down their Web versions and not given all the features of the Windows product. We went the other way and actually added more features to this."

Chief among them is the ability for corporations to truly customize the number of expense categories and the way categories are sorted to match their internal business practices. "If a client tracks expenses by project codes, it can sort by those codes; if a client tracks by customer names, it can track by names," Brandes said. During implementation, ADP also can delete or add expense categories to match a corporation's unique business practices.

Although more than half of ADP's existing and potential customers are demanding this Web version, Brandes said, almost everyone plans to deploy both Web and Windows products. Employees can use both versions if they wish, he noted, but they will not be able to access the expense reports created on the Web version from the Windows version. Those using the Web version can access all submitted reports, including those submitted from the Windows version.

The other new feature in this release is the AutoVAT link. Instead of just supplying users with the value-added tax software, ADP has integrated the software into the product, Brandes said. This integration allows decision makers to quickly access a report showing all potential value-added tax claims, so they can more easily determine which are worth generating VAT refund claim forms. The software then creates the forms in the language required.

ADP plans to begin rewriting the current Windows version--adding as many of the features in the Web version as is technically possible--with release of version 6, expected within nine months, Brandes said.

In another development on the service bureau side of its expense business, ADP has decided to bring the expense processing for those using version 5 back in-house, instead of outsourcing to RPL Expense Management Services of Dresher, Pa. RPL will continue to handle the receipt scanning. ADP offers its software on both a licensing and a service bureau basis.

In March, ADP partnered with E-Travel for online booking, offering the booking product on a service bureau basis. "With the Web version, we have to manage the service bureau very differently than before," Brandes said. "We're very good at this, having worked on E-Travel's product.