Fintech-startup CANDIS digitizes accounting processes – Now even more with Circula

How the fintech company CANDIS optimizes its accounting processes by using Circula for expense management.

‍

CANDIS is an AI protected software solution for preparatory accounting, that enables accountants through automated and recurring processes steps in their work. Digitization and automation leads to a simplified manual process and results in new capacities that raise economic profits for the company.

The SaaS company automates finance processes such as receipt of invoices, data acquisition, invoice approval, and data export. CANDIS was very familiar with structuring a more efficient workflow by digitizing the overall accounting processes of a company. Their requirement was not only to optimize the digital accounting processes for their customers but also to try new solutions for their own internal structure, in which they use Circula for their travel expense management. The submission and administration of travel expenses was always a difficult procedure for a lot of companies, as manual processes are outdated, time-consuming, and susceptible to errors. For these reasons the FinTech company based in Bamberg decided to digitize the travel expense management system with the SaaS solution from Circula.

The conventional vs. digital method

When Lars Böhnke started to work at CANDIS as a Lead Product Manager he traveled a lot within Germany to offer seminars and advanced training to tax consultants. The costs of trains, taxis, as well as lump sums for hotel accommodation summed up frequently.

He collected all receipts during his business trip and digitized them afterward by writing them in a spreadsheet. The process got complex when he had to report some meal expenses which were already covered by the company and needed to be manually calculated all over again. Additionally, it was hard to keep a clear overview of which expenses needed to be reimbursed and others that we already paid by the companies credit card. Accountants and managers struggled in their day to day business with that particular workload, which can be avoided easily. In the beginning, the manual process worked smoothly, but with the high frequency of traveling employees, the corporate requirements changed automatically. The digital, as well as compliant process, was a huge relief for employees, who traveled a lot, and accountants, who had to manage the reports.

CANDIS also offers a similar background in digitizing financial accounting as a software solution, therefore it is important to them to keep up to date with current developments on the market. That means trying new tools before developing their own software. Another important aspect was for them to make the reimbursement process as quick as possible, which is given through the comfort of using a mobile app that satisfies employers with a positive experience at all times.

Circula in Comparison to Other Travel Expense Apps

Before CANDIS implemented Circula they compared the tool with other SaaS solutions from the same segment. Circula fulfilled all requirements of the FinTech company, which led to an unambiguous decision. Circula follows German legislation, as well as travel expense law, offers a user-friendly usage, that enables quick learning processes, and reduces the manual process to its minimum.

For example, the automatically calculated lump sums saved employees from the financial accounting effort, and time as the legal lump sums change yearly and differ from state to state. In general, the employers have a great overview of the status of all submitted documents, as they get saved, and collected in a central archive. The worry to relocate, or lose documents in a mountain of paper will be redundant. The receipts can be thrown away ultimately after scanning them via the app.

Together We Will Reinvent Digital Accounting

Looking closer, the market already offers digital solutions for different problems in financial accounting. The travel expense apps are often not compliant to GoBD law or are unable to offer the needed integrations for existing software and companies. CANDIS found all their requirements in a travel expense management app in Circula. According to Lars other companies can profit from this software integration by combining CANDIS and Circula, as it provides a solution for each case and branch that can be used for it. It is not necessary to reinvent something completely - that would not be profitable, and efficient either.

During our interview with Lars Böhnke we asked, why does the wish consist of developing the market further this way? Digital accounting brings a lot of potential, as SaaS solutions to optimize processes, as well as company-wide compliance, can impact the structural change - in this case in accounting. Time is seen in today's world as the most valuable asset in our workplaces. It is in the interest of many companies to find suitable tools that enable time-saving procedures for their employees, which will allow them to focus on other strategic and important tasks.

“Accounting and controlling can become strong assets within companies. An important milestone is to automate the existing processes to the point where data quality is as good as accounting capacities can use data basis to provide other departments with services they can validate from.”, says Lars Böhnke.

For the future, it is important to focus, and support employee satisfaction, as well as internal communication. The employees will feel appreciated, and thankful to be able to use a tool that enables them to do manual work in their daily business, when they are able to understand transparent submitting processes, and a possibility to quickly reimburse their expenses. That's how the integrated comment function in CANDIS provides strong communication, which is essential for effective collaboration between other departments. Circula offers different user roles, and functions. The communication happens directly within the platform, and given email notification - this way nothing gets forgotten, not lost.

Looking at the newest developments, digital applications that support decentralized workflows are of high relevance to all companies. Technical aids that enable missing communication, and create a more effective work environment in times where we work remotely, or from home are in great demand. The current trends from DAX enterprises, such as Siemens, or Allianz show that situations like this can not be reversed when we are about to define standards on collaboration. German companies recognize the necessity to equip their employees with digital tools to guarantee flexibility and comfortable workflows. Tools such as CANDIS and Circula provide a paperless work environment. Together with digital tools accounting can be reinvented - that's the vision of Candis and Circula.

{{travelexpense}}

‍