How has Expensya evolved since its creation?
Karim Jouini - Expensya was created three years ago, and the solution has been available since then. May 2015. Since then, we've seen strong growth, doubling the number of users every four months. Today, we have 3000 corporate customersof all sizes. Of course, small and medium-sized businesses are still in the majority, since major accounts are always a little apprehensive about choosing a player that has just launched. But we are seeing more and more key accounts turning to us.
So the solution can meet the needs of both large accounts and very small businesses?
K. J. - Yes, because it's an agile solution. Of course, it's not the same for one person as it is for 20,000 employees, particularly when it comes to validation workflows.
What proportion of companies do not have a T&E system?
K. J. - Among VSEs, the proportion exceeds 80%. For SMEs, the figure rises to around 70%, while a good third of large accounts already have a T&E solution.
What is your priority target: Excel users or companies already equipped with a competing T&E solution?
K. J. - Key accounts are much less equipped than you might think. Many of them still operate under Excel. We are primarily targeting this type of customer, rather than companies that already have a T&E tool, for whom the effort will logically be greater. This does not prevent us from emphasising our high added value compared with other market players. Our lack of seniority is a handicap when it comes to taking part in certain tenders, but if the company is open to the idea of working with a start-upwe always win the contract.
How can you make the difference in this competitive market?
K. J. - We are targeting companies that do not have a solution that includes legal archiving, in other words almost 100% of the market. This is a crucial point: we are replacing paper in France. We also insist on automatic entry. It's a technology that a number of players boast of offering, but having studied what's out there, we have by far the lowest error rate, even compared with manual entry. Our technology commits half as many data entry errors than an outsourcing company. So we capture much more than just tax data: we provide level 3 dataThis gives a global view of travel. Companies that useopen booking have no access to this level three data. So it's no longer just a tax issue: we're now in the business of managing and optimising expenditure. Instead of looking for data supplier by supplier, like the carte logée, Expensya processes them from the invoice, which already contains all this data. We help everyone involved in the validation process to work more efficiently, by identifying the first classes, weekend expenses and deviations from normal costs, using data from our 3,000 customers.
Character recognition is not a gadget
How does your character recognition system work?
K. J. - The user takes a photo of his restaurant bill, and in a second the algorithm will enter the expense as well as a data entry company would. We call our system "OCR PLUSThis is our way of setting ourselves apart from all those who claim to offer OCR and who have diluted the tool's image on the market because it doesn't work, or doesn't work well enough. Expensya also warns users if they have forgotten to specify that there is a guest. This makes it possible to reduce management control returns by a factor of 10. Character recognition is therefore not a gadget, as some players tend to explain. Processing these expenses as they arise reduces waste and errors. Today, ¾ of Expensya users no longer use a computer for their work. expense reports. 75% of our users are therefore pure mobile. This means the highest rate on the market.
You also mentioned the legal framework...
K. J. - Yes: we have taken the necessary technical steps to become the first solution in France to offer storage with legal valueThis is permitted by law since March. Clearly, we are replacing paper: there is no longer any need to archive the physical invoice. Previously, companies had to keep the originals for six years in the event of a dispute. Urssaf control to justify its reimbursements. The cost of archiving alone is higher than the cost of Expensya, particularly in terms of transmission flows.
What are the geographical limits of the tool?
K. J. - The tool covers international markets because it is self-learning. After seven or eight months, the algorithm was already able to process seven or eight languages, because the user can correct any errors in the tool, which learns continuously. But really, it all depends on how far our customers travel. We divide the international market into three categories: in 'tier 1', which includes around ten countries, the tool is better than the human. In the second tier, the level is equivalent, and requires a few potential corrections. This currently concerns around forty countries. In Tier 3, the level is not yet sufficient. It is only a matter of time before the system is sufficiently learned.
What about payment?
K. J. - We're going to team up with a payment card issuer to be able to control the expense at source. But the company can refuse reimbursement in any case. Contrary to popular belief, companies are less interested in upstream control than in a global view of expenditure in real time. The data often arrives three or four months too late to take the necessary action. By installing the Expensya solution, we can see an almost immediate reduction in expenditure, from 6 to 7% on average among small and medium-sized businesses. This can be explained by the fact that the tool enables everyone to see expenditure in real time, and therefore to act on it, to manage budgets effectively. A form of self-discipline is established. Also, we generally work with companies that have no expenditure control policy in place. Integrating the tool requires change management. We have the expertise to support the company through this process, based on examples of policies put in place in equivalent companies. All this leads to an immediate reduction in expenditure, which was not part of our business model, we must admit!
