Expense Mgmt. Vendors Partner For Back-End Automation

Automated expense management provider Extensity Inc. of Emeryville, Calif., late yesterday said it entered into a mutual customer referral agreement with Fort Washington, Pa.-based Interplx Technologies, an outsourcer of document and payment processing, reimbursement, auditing and customer support. The agreement allows Extensity customers to use Interplx's automated processing and payment, including e-mail notification to the employee. Interplx also audits, images, and archives reports and receipts.

"We recognize the need for multiple payment processing and manual auditing options within our customer base," according to Extensity CEO Bob Spinner. Pharmaceutical companies Merck and AstraZeneca are among the customers that have integrated the two product lines.

Meanwhile, Cambridge-based 170 Systems earlier this week named AT&T, RCN Corp. and Granite Services Inc. as companies that have taken advantage of its document management service in conjunction with the Internet Expenses function of the Oracle E-Business Suite. "Automating this process and eliminating the challenge of relying on paper-based receipt backup can reduce processing costs by up to 75 percent, slash reimbursement cycle time dramatically and improve compliance with corporate travel and expense policies," said Karl Buttner, president and CEO of 170 Systems Inc., in a press statement.

According to Christa Degnan, senior analyst with The Aberdeen Group in Boston, receipt imaging is "a big area of differentiation" for T&E expense management providers that "will become a 'must have.' " Traditional processes, she said, do not allow accounts payable or other personnel to easily identify the granular details in paper receipts. Among Extensity's competitors, Degnan said, Concur, Gelco and PeopleSoft offer similar services or have initiatives underway. Executives and spokespeople with those companies did not immediately respond to BTN.