Changes within UK businesses, relating to remote working, taken into account in the research process included implementation of automation and expenses policies.
SMBs were found to lag behind enterprises when it comes to implementing automation, with just 29% doing so, compared to 47% of enterprises.
Additionally, 47% of SMBs stated that they had no plans to implement automation in the future, compared to 23% of enterprises.
Surveyed businesses identified ensuring correct equipment for remote working, ensuring that relevant software was compatible and secure, authorising invoices without contact, and training staff to use new tools effectively as key challenges.
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“What this shows is there’s work to be done with so many smaller businesses assuming technology like SAP Concur isn’t for them, when in reality cloud computing has made enterprise grade software available to every customer,” said Ryan Demaray, managing director, SMB EMEA at SAP Concur.
“Modern solutions are cloud-based and heavily scalable, so we need to rally behind the SMB community and make it apparent that they absolutely can put in place enterprise-grade solutions in a way that fits their size and budget.”
As for changes in expense claim processes, 57% of businesses have seen a decrease expenses submitted, while 14% have seen this rise.
Expense increases have been particularly common for office equipment (35%), household costs (26%) and software (22%), while drops have been seen in spending on travel (86%) and food (64%), according to the study.
However, only 24% have adapted their policies to support changes, which suggests that education around policy writing and legality surrounding new expenditure types is needed for businesses.
804 UK SMBs and enterprises were surveyed by SAP Concur and YouGov on how operations have adapted to remote working.
