Contents
A workshop jointly animated during FORUMDIMOTV 2021 by Hervé Guillaud, DIMO Software Marketing Director, and Emmanuelle Venet-Saïd, Notilus Sales Engineer.
Dematerialization of travel and business expenses?
Through the dematerialization of the mission order, expense report, and the invoice from the tour operator, we offer a solution to streamline the entire process chain, starting from the mission request and the reservation with the travel agency. It is the ability to link an expense claim to report expenses to the mission order, all within a computerized workflow that verifies and validates the various stages. We are therefore aiming for zero paper, but our processes are specific to each client.
Simplify your travels
Solution dedicated to the management of temporary travel for government and civil service employees. Travel Order, Expense Reports, Suplliers Invoices…
What motivates a public institution to implement a travel and expense management solution?
The general context is the growing awareness of civil service dematerialization, as encouraged by the State. The public sector is becoming more and more mature about the economic aspect and the use of public money. Similar to the private sector, it is concerned with optimizing resources, tasks, and time. Reasons for change however are vastly different between the two.
For example, the CNAV (Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Vieillesse) is a Notilus InOne customer with about 2,000 monthly users. It wanted to streamline its end-user travel procurement process and ensure that all agents could take ownership of it. CNAV was used to dealing directly with its suppliers, using various tools. Nowadays, the agent can go and purchase trips in the same way but via a single tool.
Rationalization for the institution, but also comfort for the agent
Having a single point of entry allows CNAV to centralize information (mission orders, travel purchases, expense reports, reconciliation of the tour operator’s invoice with the MO’s order, etc.) with all its suppliers. Now agents only use a single tool instead of hopping between different platforms, which makes compliance with travel policies easier.
Connecting Notilus from the MO provides a global view of all the suppliers. The agent can organize his trip autonomously, despite the complexity tied to the purchase act. However, most Notilus customers centralize their travel purchases with one agency. Now agents have access, from their smartphone to the list of their current missions, and their progression. The same applies to expense reports, which can be created and monitored on the move. Agents can fill in expense reports as they travel or in one go according to the reimbursement guidelines of the institution.
The CNAM (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers), also wanted something similar for their processes. The regulatory nature of the civil service means that an agent cannot travel without a signed MO. With all administrative management processed by Notilus, which is interfaced with the information system, the amount of time saved is significant. No need to re-enter expense reports anymore: they are directly exported to the accounting system. Input interfaces allow data to be sent to Notilus to be processed, so that customers need not manually manage entries and exits, new users, alterations in the services, etc.
What about interconnection with existing systems?
The declaration of an expense implies its reimbursement. Notilus makes a point of accelerating reimbursement as soon as invoices are validated by their providers.
CEREMA (Centre d’Etudes et d’Expertise sur les Risques, l’Environnement, la Mobilité et l’Aménagement) supports local authorities in their ecological transition and is comprised of about 2,600 employees. They chose Notilus to centralize all their activities as they were amid a complete reorganization of the institution with mergers of 11 services and as many departments. Notilus helped them elaborate a common travel policy, implement common practices, and bring together stakeholders to work toward the same goal.
Aiming for zero paper
Another driver for dematerialization is ecology. The Conseil Départemental de la Manche (CD50), wanted to save paper by putting a stop to all printed Mos. They employed a large number of mobile agents and therefore had heaps of physical expense reports. Notilus helped them make substantial savings as they shifted to paperless processes.
One does not turn paperless overnight, but organizations are progressively adopting these new processing methods. The rationalization of paper also affects expense reports, which can now be filed on the move: the receipt is photographed, relevant data is identified by OCR (optical character recognition), and pre-filled in for the agent. The system generates the expense line which the agent completes according to the requested parameters. He can also integrate an analytical project code, knowing that the basic information (date, amount, type of service…) is already filled in by the OCR.
About the conservation of receipts
Electronic archiving with probative value has also emerged in the public sector following the dematerialization of their documentation. While several conditions must be met to justify their probative value, digital archives still make employees’ lives overall easier. Thanks to Notilus, agents are now free to throw away their paper receipts once their expense report has been validated by the accounting process. No more costs incurred for mailing physical receipts and no more time lost on frantic searching in the storage room: archives digitally stored with Notilus InOne can be consulted at any time for up to 10 years.
What is the project methodology in the public sector?
It is similar to the private sector, with workshops to analyze end-users needs with parameterization, implementation milestones, and testing. In the past, public markets could only be addressed through calls for tender. This is less the case today, and more and more customers are using the UGAP, the central purchasing agency for the public sector, which offers two entry points for Notilus:
The business travel market, in which UGAP offers a simple package. The entry point is the travel agency, there is a booking portal and the possibility to implement the Notilus InOne solution as an option with MO, expense reports, and invoices.
The second entry point is the multi-publisher market. It is up to the customer to do his analysis and sourcing, then ask for a quote on Notilus.
During the workshop, several Internet users asked questions that we found relevant to transcribe in writing.
Questions from internet users
What are the prerequisites for a successful dematerialization project?
You need to do some sourcing first so your needs and expectations mature and you become aware of various service providers’ limitations. Then, build a project team comprised of functional, technical, and business agents from your company. Management’s support is key to success, as are the contributions of experts: a consulting firm may offer guidance regarding changes that could have an impact on all levels of your organization. After all, dematerialization is a deeply re-structuring process; digital solutions in and of themselves are only a support for the organizational change.
Which IS interfaces?
As far as the exchange of information between the customer’s IS and Notilus is concerned, flexibility is the keyword, and Notilus integrates perfectly with Oracle, SAP, GFI Sirepa, Microsoft… Today integration is a non-issue. On the input side, we remain standard while on the output side, we use accounting data following our own management rules. Notilus knows how to adapt to existing systems.
Can OMs and expense reports be interfaced with other SBTs than Notilus InOne?
Notilus’ strategy has always been to remain open to travel service providers who are our partners. The solution interfaces with all the tools offered by travel agencies and booking portals such as KDS, TravelDoo, Cytric. Notilus also offers its own booking portal based on TravelDoo technology.
Is it possible to manage analytical axes in Notilus such as a project code?
Yes. Depending on their position in the company, employees can use additional project codes and analytical axes, such as customer repository, repository originating from the CRM or from a business tool, which allows budgets consolidation, including those related to travel. In addition, Notilus provides a certain amount of standard reporting. The solution returns all information that seems relevant, but reporting can be customized.
In conclusion, security is essential. The fact that we are an ISO 270001-certified French publisher sends a very important message to public services. This certification is a guarantee of seriousness regarding data integrity and security. Finally, Notilus is available in SaaS, which guarantees that the data is hosted in France.
Our solution is dedicated to the moblity management. In addition to the expense reports management you can plan, book and track your business trips. It is also possible to manage your car fleet.
