UK finance leaders struggle with fragmented spend tools

Recent research from Airwallex indicates that nearly all UK finance leaders face challenges in managing global spending due to fragmented tools and manual methods.

The Airwallex Spend Management Report surveyed 500 senior finance executives from UK-headquartered companies, highlighting the difficulties in handling business spend and expense management. According to the report, 95% of British finance leaders struggle due to a lack of robust spend control systems.

As UK businesses aim for global trade, the reliance on legacy systems presents significant hurdles. A substantial 90% of companies find their current systems inefficient and unreliable, leading to bottlenecks and increased risk of error.

The report reveals a reliance on outdated practices, with 68% of respondents using varying tools and processes across regions for expense management. Alarmingly, 57% of organisations still manage corporate expenses using manual methods such as paper forms, while 45% rely on spreadsheets.

Issues with spend management not only slow down global growth but also adversely impact relations with suppliers and employees. 41% of companies have experienced delays in invoice and bill payments, and 25% report these delays have strained relationships with suppliers, affecting negotiations for better terms. Furthermore, 69% of companies report inefficient employee reimbursement processes.

Immy Spence, Head of Sales, SME & Growth, EMEA at Airwallex, commented on the findings: "At a time when UK businesses are seeking global growth opportunities more than ever, they simply cannot afford to be hamstrung by entirely avoidable inefficiencies. Archaic tools and processes may seem familiar and reassuring, but spreadsheets and siloed tools can quickly limit them, especially for those already operating across borders."

Spence further emphasised the need for unified platforms, saying, "Finance leaders looking to set their business up for success must look at unifying spend management into one platform - removing the friction, errors and a lack of financial visibility that comes from multiple systems."

Other key findings from the Airwallex Spend Management Report include:

• 68% of respondents lack confidence in the accuracy of their financial data 
• 47% lack confidence in their financial reporting accuracy across regions, creating problems for conducting business across borders
• 97% of businesses report a lack of real-time visibility into their spending patterns due to disconnected tools that obscure a clear view of their finances 
• 96% of businesses lack modern automation in their spend management processes, with 33% saying that it has a significant or highly significant impact on their businesses due to wasted time on repetitive tasks like manual data entry and reconciliation