How e-receipts are transforming expense management

Think about the last time you made a business purchase. Did you carefully file the receipt for your expense report, or did it end up crumpled in your pocket—or worse, lost entirely? If you’ve ever struggled to track down a missing receipt, you’re not alone. A study from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) shows that nearly half of all paper receipts get lost or discarded before they can be recorded.

That’s where electronic receipts (e-receipts) come in. By digitising expense management, e-receipts streamline reporting, improve accuracy, and reduce administrative headaches. Let’s break it down.

What are e-receipts and how do they work?

An electronic receipt (e-receipt) is a digital record of an expense. While it can be a physical receipt captured digitally, an e-receipt is typically sent by a supplier via email, text, or an app. Instead of a paper receipt, everything is managed digitally.

The process itself is simple. Here’s how it works:

• Receipt generation: A digital receipt is created at the point of sale.
• Automatic delivery: If a payment method is linked to an account, the receipt can be sent automatically.
• Expense integration: Employees can forward e-receipts to their expense management software, or in some cases, receipts are automatically captured and matched to transactions.

This seamless process minimises human error, saves time, and enhances security by encrypting data during transmission.

The benefits of e-receipts in expense management

1. Reducing manual errors in expense reports

Typos and incorrect data entries can slow down expense approvals and create compliance risks. E-receipts ensure accurate, automated data capture, reducing the need for manual corrections.

2. Saving time for employees and managers

Filing expenses shouldn’t feel like an extra job. E-receipts simplify the process by pre-filling reports, allowing employees to submit expenses quickly. For example, businesses using Concur Expense report a 32% reduction in approval times and save an average of £40,000 annually on administrative costs.

3. Enhancing transparency and compliance in financial processes

Whether you’re issuing company credit cards or reimbursing employees for expenses, creating clear policies, eligibility requirements, and compliance measures are crucial. Employees need to know the rules and what they need to do. This provides greater transparency into the expense management process and also helps you manage compliance.

4. Reducing fraud

Every year, businesses lose up to 5% of revenue due to fraud, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). This can add up fast when you consider that travel and expense (T&E) spending can account for 10-12% of your annual budget.

The largest category of fraud is asset misappropriation, including padding expense reports, falsifying expenses, and other forms of occupational fraud.

5. Simplifying storage and retrieval

Gone are the days of sifting through piles of paper. E-receipts make it easy to store, search, and retrieve records—especially useful during tax season. In the UK, HMRC accepts digital receipts, meaning businesses no longer need to keep paper copies.

While not all countries allow e-receipts for taxes, a growing number do. If you have any questions about this, you should check with your tax advisor or accountant to be sure.

6. Supporting sustainability 

Paper receipts may seem small, but they add up. Research shows that producing a single paper receipt generates about 2.5g of carbon emissions. By switching to e-receipts, companies can reduce paper waste and shrink their carbon footprint. 

7. Enhancing disaster recovery and business continuity

Natural disasters, office relocations, or unexpected events can wipe out paper records. E-receipts, stored securely in the cloud, ensure that financial data remains intact and accessible from anywhere.

How SAP Concur maximises the benefits of e-receipts

SAP Concur solutions take e-receipts beyond basic storage and retrieval.

• ExpenseIt: Uses AI and machine learning to extract data from receipts, categorise expenses, and even itemise complex charges like hotel bills in seconds.
• E-receipt integration: Participating suppliers can send receipts directly to SAP Concur, automatically matching them to transactions.
• Compliance monitoring: SAP Concur reviews transactions, flags non-compliant spending, and helps businesses maintain control over expenses.

Companies can also streamline the procurement process by activating e-receipts in SAP Concur. You can either send e-receipts to SAP Concur or suppliers can email receipts directly. If you use purchase cards, eligible purchases will automatically appear in your SAP Concur system as available receipts and be attached to the appropriate purchase card expense transaction.

In each case, SAP Concur solutions will review transactions and flag non-compliant spend for further review.

Contact the expense management experts at SAP Concur to learn more about e-receipts.