The Value of Automating Pharma Expense Reporting

Pharmaceutical and life sciences organizations work to overcome several challenges unique to their industry: they need to establish transparency and they need to show that they meet ever-changing rules and regulations. That’s where timesheet & expense reporting software comes in, providing essential assistance with Sunshine Act compliance and more to streamline processes and simplify their systems.

Here are four reasons why pharma and life sciences organizations need automated timesheet and expense reporting software:

Pharma Expense Reporting

1. Expense report software reduces the time it takes to submit and process expense reports. A 2015 study from the Aberdeen Group reported that companies with best-in-class expense report software "require 43% less time to fill out an expense report." That’s a lot of saved time for both administrators and employees.
   
   Another benefit is that employees can take pictures of their receipts and upload it directly to their expense reports. The system can also read the receipt to look for data like the vendor name, total, date, and location to automatically add it to the expense report. From there, employees just need to verify that the data is correct and submit it. It’s like an instant expense report.
   
   
2. P-Card program management is made much simpler when automated software can automatically bring in P-Card and credit card feeds. Employees just select the charge, add the associated receipt, double check that the system’s auto-load of the data is correct, and add it to their expense report.
   
   P-Card program management also allows the benefit of allowing pharma and life sciences organizations to input a particular set of approved or unapproved vendors so that the organization avoids fraud and remains transparent about its spending. The automated system can also look for “splitting,” a technique sometimes used to get around spending limits or to break other rules set by your organization.

3. Auditability is an important part of any life sciences organization. When it comes to auditing expense reports, however, auditors and approvers can spend hours approving and rejecting expense reports. Instead, automated software can do the work for them, automatically rejecting expense reports that do not follow company rules. Reports can also be run to meet your unique needs. If you’d like to see which policies were most often failed or which employees most often failed those policies, the auditing and reporting tool can provide you with that valuable data so that you can revise your policies or consider who needs more training.
   
   
4. Project tracking is an essential, but challenging job for any pharmaceutical or life sciences organization. Automated software allows you to budget more simply and customize your workflow structure to meet your needs. The system should accommodate you rather than forcing you to conform to the system’s specifications.
   
   

5. Sunshine Act compliance is one major challenge for this industry in particular. While the legislation is meant to increase transparency, it also increases the workload of tracking expenses within a whole new set of data. Reporting all payments and gifts to customers of a certain kind means that set of data needs to be tracked and reported. Automated software can help meet those stringent requirements.
   
   In addition, reporting those expenses is easier than ever with third-party integrations with data providers like MedPro Systems, IQVIA (formerly QuintilesIMS), and aPureBase. Now, finding healthcare providers is a matter of a quick search and adding the right person directly into the expense report.

If you’re looking for life sciences & pharmaceutical expense report software, DATABASICS is the solution. With cloud-based timesheets & expense reports, this is DATABASICS Time + Expense For Life Sciences that streamlines processes and manages your most complex compliance needs. 

For more information on the DATABASICS Time & Expense solutions, contact us, or call (800) 599-0434.

DATABASICS provides cloud-based, next generation Expense Reporting, P-Card Management, Timesheet & Leave Management, and Invoice Processing automation. Specializing in meeting the most rigorous requirements, DATABASICS offers the highest level of service to its customers around the world.

DATABASICS is relied upon by leading organizations representing all the major sectors of the global economy: financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, research, retail, engineering, non-profits/NGOs, technology, federal contractors, and other sectors.

DATABASICS is headquartered in Reston, VA.

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