As a business owner, what key factors do you prioritize when selecting a new tool for your business? The answer is, undeniably, security. No matter what new system you choose to incorporate into your business, having the peace of mind that your business information is kept safe is of utmost priority.
Expense tracking and management are two business processes that have undergone significant revolutions in the past few decades. The biggest change, out of all, is automation. The days when business owners used to log all expenses using a pen and paper are long gone. These days, everything is scrutinized and recorded using advanced software and artificial intelligence.
With so many alternatives in the market, if you are scratching your head to understand which is the best expense tracker app for your business, worry no more! This blog has come to your rescue. In the first section of this write-up, we’ll delve into the essential factors that can help you evaluate if the software used by your company is secure enough for keeping your business information confidential.
Factors Signalling That The Expense Management System Is Secure:
- Minimal data collection: A strong expense management system or app will usually not require collecting unnecessary information. Such information can include personal data and anything that doesn’t contribute to the execution of calculations and forecasting of expense trends.
- Data access restrictions: Depending on the role of different employees in your company, a secure expense management system will allow you to choose which employee has access to what data. Similarly, different employees will be allowed to input limited information into the expense management system relevant to their specific roles. That ensures no false or duplicate information is fed into the system, ensuring that all data is accurately recorded.
- Reputation: While drifting with the crowd may not sound like the best idea, when viewed in the context of the business bubble, it’s essential to have your ears open to the talks about different tools and business growth systems. Expense management systems are no exceptions. A secure business expense management system will likely be popular in your business sphere. Take some time to research the popularity and development practices of your chosen expense management system.
- Frequency of security updates: A strong expense management system shouldn’t only store your business information but also save confidential information against security threats surfacing in the market. To achieve this, it becomes necessary for the development team to carry out frequent security updates. Before fixating on an expense management system for your business, check the frequency of updates carried out by their team.
- Secure communication: Always check if the expense management system uses secure protocols to transmit information between the server and the user. Using secure protocols means that there are fewer chances of data breaching. Your expense management system should also guarantee secure file transfers and encryption for attachments and other sensitive information. That would give you peace of mind that your information is not stolen or counterfeited during transmission.
- Continuous monitoring: Ensure that the expense management system you choose for business enforces continuous monitoring of different processes. That makes it clear that their team would proactively address any unusual activities reported by your team.
What can you do to enhance the security of your company’s data?
- Review the system’s security periodically: It would help if you set up a security review board in your organization that periodically conducts a security audit of your chosen expense management system. That would ensure that your team is aware of the policy updates enforced by the company that provides you with expense management systems.
Furthermore, periodically getting a trusted expert to conduct vulnerability scans to identify and report potential weaknesses in your chosen expense management system would be a good idea. It’s also important to note that a system you initially consider secure may not remain safe if the provider or the developer enforces significant policy updates that your organization may not be happy with. Thus, periodic security reporting becomes paramount.
- Encourage reporting: In your organization, encourage your team to report suspicious activity proactively. This promptness would help you safeguard your business against detectable financial threats. The sooner your team reports any suspicious activity, the sooner your expense management software provider will be able to assist in fixing the issue.
Final Thoughts:
By carefully evaluating the factors that ensure the security of an expense management system and periodically conducting security audits for the chosen system, an organization can help strengthen the security posture of the expense management system in use.