How to manage remote employee costs

SimpledCard is expanding our integrated system of payment cards and expense management with Adyen as a new card issuer.

An overview of the most common remote working costs and ways to effectively manage these costs for your organisation. 

By Bram Harton on 25 May 2023

With remote and hybrid operations on the rise, it is clear that cost control has become a challenge.
In recent decades, the average share of indirect costs in the Netherlands 22.9% of employees' salary. Also In Germany, indirect costs average 22.2% of employees' salary. 
Here is an overview of the most common remote working costs and ways to effectively manage these costs for your organisation.
❯  Online tools and software subscriptions

❯  Home office equipment and technology

❯  Additional cash expenses

1. Online tools and software subscriptions

Tools such as Slack and Zoom have become popular tools for online teams. More specialised tools are also being developed for remote work. KLM, for example, is a collaboration Engaged with GoodHabitz to improve their hybrid training culture.
GoodHabitz is used to provide online training to pilots and other flying personnel, who do not have fixed working hours or an office to come back to. The online training courses from GoodHabitz are also used to train staff doing heavy work, such as those working in the baggage cellar. If you want to manage teams remotely and ensure productivity, it is vital that you equip your teams with the right online tools and subscriptions.
One possible solution to this challenge are prepaid cards for employees. Prepaid credit cards and expense management systems offer solutions for: 

• Better secured online spending; 
• Simplified subscription management; 
• Less hassle and risk when sharing confidential data.

2. Home office equipment and technology

Providing home workers with home office supplies not only ensures remote productivity, it is also required by law, so you want to make this process as easy as possible.
Legal obligations in the Netherlands

• In the Netherlands, it is important to comply with the occupational health and safety law for working from home. Equipment such as good office chairs and extra computer screens should be provided, with the possibility of reimbursing and lending resources. 
• The remote workplace of your employees should be ergonomically sound. You should provide your workers with objects, technical systems and tasks specifically designed to improve safety. Examples of these expenses for remote work include: 
  • Ergonomic mice; 
  • Good lighting; 
  • Good keyboards.
• Since 1 January 2022, you must also provide a home working allowance of €2.15 per day.

Legal obligations in Germany

• For a home office to German law requires mutual agreement between employee and employer. If agreed, the employee must, according to German data protection law provide computers, smartphones or tablets. This equipment can be rented or leased and does not necessarily need to be purchased. 
• For electricity and internet costs, a flat-rate user fee can also be mutually agreed. All home office expenses can be declared in the German tax return. 
• German ministers have decided on their current tax rebate of €5 per day continue and improve. Employees who work remotely should receive an allowance of €5 per day, which you can use to reduce your tax burden on income.

There are several ways to simplify your work as a finance manager while ensuring the productivity of your external team. These include discovering the types of business expenses external teams incur, setting budgets with maximum allowances, and making sure procurement is made easy for your employees. 

• Ask employees what they need: Find out what else your employees need besides laptops, mice and desks. This can improve both employee morale and productivity. To ensure that employees work at home like a pro, you can think about home office supplies such as: portable storage, desk lamps, charging adapters, microphones, headphones, and even the option for daily coffee. 
• Setting budgets: As a manager, you can use expense management software allocate budgets for home office supplies. With a business prepaid credit card, for example, your employees have the freedom to make their own purchases without having to exchange card details, saving yourself the trouble of finding the right supplies. All you have to do is sit back and validate or decline the expense. 
• Simplify purchases: To make buying easier, many companies choose business accounts on popular marketplace platforms. For example, more than 300,000 entrepreneurs in the Netherlands and Belgium, including Partou Kinderopvang and Bouwcenter, use the bol.com business account. Prepaid credit cards for business allow you to track and validate all kinds of expenses for remote work.  

Having a budget and payment solution for home office expenses means: 

• Clear budgeting; 
• Easier tracking of costs for supplies; 
• Time savings for finance teams.

3. Additional cash expenditure

Consider 73% of employees in the Netherlands and 68% of employees in Germany flexible work as the new norm, but that doesn't mean you have to abandon the corporate culture. 
Offering gifts or vouchers can be a great way to ensure these employees feel appreciated and know they are being thought of. These one-off costs are usually covered by petty cash, which is quite a messy solution.
Example: UberEats
Thus, they offer UberEats solutions for remote work allowances for food delivery to reimburse the cost of individual meals. Companies such as Unilever used UberEats vouchers to reward their employees - an initiative that generated genuine excitement and nothing but positive reactions. A great way to ensure that all employees, including remote workers, feel part of your company.
As a financial manager, when you effectively manage to create a positive company culture, you can benefit from the opportunity to increase employee productivity, promote healthy choices and reduce staff turnover.
If your goal is to create a productive corporate culture, then providing training or courses for your employees is crucial. By allocating budgets to business prepaid cards for training, you can ensure that your employees feel supported.
Example: ING
Another example is ING, which as a new standard an individual training budget of 1,500 euros per employee. ING employees can obtaining certificates and professional knowledge, while also giving them a choice as to which skills they want to improve. Whether internal or external, employees should always feel supported in their professional growth process.
One-off costs such as this example can be covered by business prepaid cards to:

• Cash phasing out;
• Improve corporate culture.

Spending system for maximum control

The benefits of remote working are clear, but we all need help dealing with the challenges of remote working. A expense management system and a mobile app have become vital in today's digitised world, and it is time to take advantage of the opportunity to make tracking your business expenses easier.

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