Slalom selected Emburse Chrome River and Emburse managed services to transform expense management and optimize finance operations across the enterprise.
- Industry:
- Consulting
- Employees:
- 8,500+
- Service:
- Emburse Chrome River, Emburse Solution Administrator, Emburse Insight Advisor
Global consulting firm
transforms expense management
Slalom processes more than 10,000 expense reports from thousands of employees each month, which was daunting to manage with an outdated system. Submitting expense reports was time-consuming, and the approval and reimbursement cycles were lengthy. Frustration showed in the firm’s employee experience surveys where expense reporting received consistently low satisfaction scores.
With user experience top-of-mind, Slalom began evaluating other solutions. Key considerations included: mobile capabilities for submitting and approving expenses, robust analytics for better visibility into spend, and seamless integration with their corporate credit card and online travel booking tool.
Emburse Chrome River stood out as the best solution to address their expense management requirements, and services like Emburse Solution Administrator and Emburse Insight Advisor were attractive add-ons to help optimize financial operations. What resonated most, according to Rob Potter, Slalom’s VP Finance, was Emburse’s customer-centric approach, which helped establish a trusting relationship early: “Slalom’s mission is to help solve clients’ challenges through a people-first approach to technology innovation and services, and we felt that Emburse’s values aligned well with our vision.”
Emburse’s human approach to working with customers is what sets them apart. It’s that personal connection that helps build a long-term relationship.
Overview
Slalom is a modern consulting firm focused on strategy, technology, and business transformation. Across 39 markets in five countries, Slalom's teams have autonomy to move fast and do what's right. They're backed by regional innovation hubs, a global culture of collaboration, and partnerships with the world's top technology providers.
Slalom saves time,
refocusing on strategic expansion
After rolling out the solution, Slalom surveyed users and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Employees are happy to have a modern expense reporting system with user-friendly mobile functionality like Chrome River Snap for easy receipt capture. And approvers love being able to approve expense reports directly via email on any device—which also makes the approval and reimbursement process vastly more efficient.
According to Potter, Chrome River helped Slalom employees save significant time that can now be better spent serving their clients. It is estimated that Slalom’s AP team has saved four hours in daily tasks; and because of the added efficiencies, has deferred the need to increase headcount to support increasing volumes. Built-in policies and custom compliance rules eliminated the need to audit and approve every line item and report, which has been the most significant time saver. Receipt collection has also improved dramatically, with at least 85% of receipts now collected upon first report submission.
The addition of managed services, Emburse Solution Administrator and Emburse Insight Advisor, help support the firm's evolution and reporting needs. These services have saved Slalom significant operational resources and enabled teams to focus on more strategic matters, like global expansion and scaling for long-term success.
Emburse solutions save us time so we can focus on what really matters: transforming our clients’ businesses.
Challenges & Results
Challenges
- Outdated system frustrated users and finance
- Lack of mobile hindered efficient reimbursement
- Insufficient reporting and poor visibility into expense data
Results
- 10,000 expense reports automatically processed monthly
- 20 hours of manual AP tasks eliminated per week
- Managed services optimized administration and reporting
Benefits
- Streamlined AP operations
Built-in rules simplified and automated processes, adding efficiencies and deferring the need to increase headcount. - Provided managed services
Administration and reporting services from Emburse helped optimize resources and saved finance time for more meaningful work. - Supported dispersed teams
User-friendly mobile app and electronic receipt capture capabilities made submitting and approving expense reports quick and easy, from any device. - Improved user experience
Modern, easy-to-use solutions improved employee satisfaction.