We introduced this series on ‘Improving Expense Management for Financial Forecasting and Control,’ to help organizations rethink how finance and procurement can collaborate around employee-driven expenses, especially travel, reimbursements and card spend. In Phase 1, we examined how each function approaches expense management and why establishing shared priorities is the first step toward meaningful alignment.

In Phase 2, we surface the common breakdowns and mismatches that limit forecasting accuracy, frustrate employees and obscure financial accountability. These gaps are not always visible, but they compound over time, distorting budgets, delaying insights and eroding trust in the data.

Phase 2: Identifying misalignments and addressing the gaps

This article is not meant to provide all the answers; it is meant to start a conversation between finance and procurement teams to help them reflect on where disconnects exist and how closing those gaps can create a more disciplined and data-driven approach to expense management.

Where misalignments in expense management occur

Even in mature organizations, expense-related misalignments persist due to siloed systems, inconsistent workflows and a lack of shared accountability. Below are five business-critical disconnects that are especially relevant to T&E (travel and expense) and card spend.

Disconnected approval workflows

When expense report approvals, card usage validations and reimbursement processes are not coordinated across functions, delays and errors multiply. Finance may lack visibility into pending approvals, and procurement may lack insight into policy exceptions and budget impacts.

Consequences:

Finance scrambles at the end of the month to track down missing approvals.

Procurement has limited ability to monitor out-of-policy spend.

Employees face frustration from inconsistent rules and timelines.

Suggested action:

Implement unified, policy-based approval workflows across expense types and departments. Routing logic should be tied to spend thresholds, categories and policy flags — not organizational silos. Real-time visibility into approval status benefits both teams and improves forecasting discipline. Advanced solutions should also enable auto approvals to reduce bottlenecks, while providing mobile status tracking for requesters and approvers.

Conflicting KPIs and unclear ownership of outcomes

Finance might prioritize budget adherence and forecast accuracy. Procurement may be focused on policy adoption, employee satisfaction and vendor compliance. When performance is measured differently, it is hard to align behavior or improve outcomes.

Consequences:

Finance may penalize teams for going over budget, even if the spending is within policy.

Procurement may see high adoption rates but have no visibility into how that affects forecasting.

Neither team owns the end-to-end view of expense impact.

Suggested action:

Define shared KPIs, such as average time to reimburse, forecast variance on T&E and policy compliance rates. Co-own these metrics through cross-functional reporting so each function can connect tactical process results to strategic financial outcomes. These KPIs should be embedded into shared analytics dashboards that pull from integrated sources like card programs, expense reports and travel bookings.

Incomplete visibility into pre-approved and in-flight spend

Most systems provide a backward-looking view about what was submitted and reimbursed. Finance, however, needs to see what is about to hit the books. Without visibility into pre-approved trips, planned card spend or recurring expenses, it is impossible to forecast accurately.

Consequences:

Surprise spikes in spend at the end of the month or quarter.

Difficulty matching planned vs actual expenses.

Budget holders are blindsided by late expense submissions, which is especially problematic for project-based expenses.

Suggested action:

Use pre-authorization data, advance travel bookings and corporate card feeds as early indicators of upcoming spending. These inputs should be integrated into budget planning tools so that committed but unprocessed expenses are factored into cash flow forecasting. Ensure card programs and expense platforms support detailed spend categorization and user-level visibility across both employees and contractors and that forecasting systems ingest this data via an API.

Lack of policy enforcement at the point of spend

Policy documents are not enough. Employees need clear, timely guidance when making a purchase, not after they submit the expense. Without embedded rules or contextual nudges, enforcement becomes reactive and inefficient.

Consequences:

Policy violations increase administrative workload.

Reimbursement delays due to exception handling.

Managers and auditors spend time policing rather than advising.

Suggested action:

Embed policy controls directly into expense apps, booking tools and card programs. Provide real-time alerts, smart defaults and guidance based on role, spend type and destination to reduce exceptions before they occur. Finance and procurement should jointly maintain these rules to keep them aligned.

Fragmented data across systems limits insight

Travel bookings may live in one tool, card transactions in another and expense reports in yet another, with limited integration into financial planning systems. Without a unified view, neither finance nor procurement can make timely, informed decisions.

Consequences:

Time-consuming reconciliations across tools.

Missed opportunities to detect trends, optimize policies or adjust budgets in real time.

Data inconsistencies that erode trust in forecasting models.

Suggested action:

Invest in integrated expense management platforms that sync data across travel, card and finance systems. Shared dashboards and real-time reporting give both teams access to a consistent, current view of spend activity, improving forecasting and control.

Reframing the collaboration

Fixing these issues is not just about streamlining approvals or adding software. It is about shifting from reactive workflows to connected financial control.

Finance needs early and reliable visibility. Procurement needs to track how policies perform. Employees need intuitive tools that guide compliant choices.

What sets expense management apart is how decentralized it is. Every employee is a decision maker. That makes collaboration between finance and procurement essential and not optional.

Key takeaway

Expense misalignments do not just impact process efficiency, they disrupt forecasting, erode trust in financial data and create unnecessary friction for employees. By identifying and addressing the root causes, from disconnected workflows to fragmented data, organizations can enable proactive, insight-driven financial control.

The goal is not just better expense reporting. It is building a financial culture where accuracy, compliance and accountability are shared across teams.

Next up (available next week):

Phase 3: Structuring the collaboration – Building practical frameworks for cross-functional coordination in expense policy, workflows and data.

More in the Finance-Procurement alignment series:

Strengthening cash flow management and liquidity

Visit our in-depth guide to aligning Finance and Procurement for wider coverage