Most companies are managing expenses across multiple tools,
with those tools frequently not connected and requiring manual work for
reconciliation, according to an American Express survey of 513 financial
decision makers published on Wednesday.
The survey—conducted from April 13 to April 17 with
companies that have between $4 million and $100 million in annual
revenue—showed that 96 percent are using at least two tools to manage company
and employee expenses and 66 percent are using at least three, according to
American Express. Half of businesses surveyed said those financial tools are
not connect to one another.
Respondents indicated that expense management is draining on
time and resources in their company, according to American Express. Just under
two-thirds of respondents said their processes required too heavily on manual
work, and 69 percent said expense reconciliation was the biggest time drain for
their team this year.
More than 90 percent of respondents said their business is
working this year to consolidate expense tools, the survey indicated.
The survey also showed that just over half of respondents
are using AI to help with expense management, and an additional 40 percent said
they are not currently using AI but plan to do so in the future. The most
widespread uses of AI in expense management include detecting fraud or
mistakes, categorizing expenses and capturing expense data—each cited by 42
percent of respondents.
Among businesses using AI, 45 percent said it was easy to
pinpoint where their companies are spending, compared with 23 percent of
companies that were not using AI, according to American Express.
The survey comes on the heels of Amex’s acquisition of a
payment and expense all-in-one card product Center, which it bought in March
2025. Industry observers have commented on how American Express is likely to
leverage that card technology as part of its small
business product.