Questions About Expense Management? We've Got Answers
Running a business in Taiwan means dealing with receipts, invoices, and reports constantly. We know you have questions about how automation actually works in practice. Here's what our clients ask us most often, with honest answers based on real implementations.
Getting Started Questions
These are the practical questions we hear when businesses first consider expense automation. No sales pitch here, just straightforward information.
How long does it take to set up for a Taiwan company?
Most businesses are processing expenses within two weeks. The first week involves connecting your accounting software and bank feeds. Week two is testing with a small team before rolling out company-wide. Companies with multiple entities or complex approval chains might need three weeks.
What happens to our existing expense data?
We migrate your last 12 months of data during setup. This gives you historical context and helps train the system to recognize your typical spending patterns. The migration runs parallel to your current process, so there's no disruption to ongoing operations.
Can employees submit receipts in Chinese?
Absolutely. Our system reads traditional Chinese receipts from Taiwan vendors without issues. It extracts the vendor name, amount, date, and tax information automatically. Employees can also add notes in Chinese, which helps during audits.
Do we need to change our bank or accounting software?
Not usually. We connect directly to most Taiwan banks through secure API integrations. Same with accounting platforms like QuickBooks, Xero, and local Taiwan systems. If you're using something specialized, we can build a custom connection during setup.
What if an employee doesn't have a smartphone?
They can submit through the web portal instead. Some of our clients have field staff who prefer emailing receipts to a dedicated address. The system processes those just like mobile submissions. Whatever works for your team works for us.
How does approval routing actually work?
You set the rules once based on amount, department, or expense type. Then it happens automatically. For example, anything under NT$3,000 might auto-approve, while travel expenses over NT$10,000 need two managers. The system routes each expense accordingly without anyone having to think about it.
Technical and Integration Questions
These questions come up during the technical review phase. We're including them because knowing the details matters when you're evaluating systems.
How secure is the connection to our bank accounts?
We use read-only bank connections with 256-bit encryption. The system can see transactions but cannot initiate payments or transfers. We're SOC 2 Type II certified and undergo annual security audits. Your bank credentials never touch our servers because we connect through secure banking APIs.
What happens if your system goes down?
Employees can still submit through email or save receipts for later. We maintain 99.9% uptime, but when maintenance happens, it's scheduled during Taiwan late-night hours. Your data is backed up hourly across multiple data centers, so nothing gets lost even in unlikely scenarios.
Can we customize fields for Taiwan tax requirements?
Yes, and we actually recommend it. Taiwan businesses often need uniform invoice numbers, business registration details, and specific tax classifications. You can add custom fields for anything your accountant needs. These show up when employees submit expenses and export with your reports.
Does this work with our ERP system?
Most likely. We have standard integrations with SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics. For specialized ERPs common in Taiwan manufacturing, we can build connectors. The integration typically pushes approved expenses into your ERP as journal entries, matching your existing chart of accounts.
What about employees who travel between Taiwan and China?
The mobile app works across borders. Currency conversion happens automatically based on the receipt date. For mainland China receipts, the OCR reads simplified Chinese. All expenses consolidate into your reporting regardless of where they were incurred.
Can department managers see only their team's expenses?
That's exactly how permissions work. Each manager sees their department's activity. Finance sees everything. You control who has access to what during setup. Managers can run reports for their area without bothering finance, which cuts down on back-and-forth requests.
Policy Compliance and Audit Support
These questions usually come from finance directors and controllers who need to ensure everything meets internal policies and external audit requirements. Here's how the system handles compliance in practice.
- The system flags expenses that fall outside your policy automatically. For example, if someone submits a meal receipt over your per-diem limit, their manager sees a warning before approving.
- Duplicate detection runs on every submission. If someone accidentally submits the same receipt twice, the system catches it and alerts them immediately.
- Missing receipt reminders go out automatically. If someone charges something on the corporate card but hasn't submitted documentation within 48 hours, they get notified.
- Audit trails capture every action. You can see who submitted, who approved, when it exported to accounting, and any changes made along the way.
- Year-end reporting becomes straightforward because everything is already categorized and dated correctly. Your auditors can access read-only reports without needing system access.
- Tax documentation stays attached to expenses. When audit time comes, you can pull every receipt with one export instead of hunting through email and file cabinets.
One client told us their annual audit preparation dropped from three weeks to four days because everything was already organized and accessible. That's the kind of practical benefit that matters during tax season.
Meet Our Implementation Specialists
These are the people who actually set up your system and answer questions during the first few months. They've worked with dozens of Taiwan companies and know the common stumbling blocks.
Linnea Vestergren
Implementation Specialist
Linnea has configured expense systems for 47 Taiwan companies since joining in 2022. She previously worked in corporate finance and knows exactly which questions finance teams need answered. Most clients end up keeping her contact info for when they expand to new departments.
Astrid Ljungqvist
Technical Integration Lead
Astrid handles the technical side of connecting our system to your existing software. She's dealt with everything from standard accounting platforms to custom-built ERPs used by Taiwan manufacturers. If there's a technical question about integration, she's the one who figures it out.