From the beginning, we at Compt have been focused on creating a best-in-class tool for Human Resources and People Operations professionals, one they can rely on not just from a functionality standpoint but from a customer service experience, as well.
It has long been important to me (and the entire Compt team) that we develop a comprehensive product vision to help businesses streamline their operations and create a more personalized experience for their employees. Compt's vision comprises three distinct phases, each with specific objectives and targets that ultimately tie back to our core mission of balance and belonging - a tenet that is not only at the foundation of everything we do internally as an organization, but everything we hope to be for our customers, too.
Phase 1 of Compt's vision focused on creating the number one stipend reimbursement platform on the market. This phase involved developing a platform that is compatible with HRIS and payroll providers, has a good user experience, is IRS, SOCII, and GDPR compliant, and provides international coverage. The primary objective of this phase was to provide businesses with a platform that enables them to manage stipends and other employee benefits easily.
In Phase 2, which we are currently in, we are building complementary products to create a consolidated employee and admin experience. The first part of this initiative was the introduction of our rewards and recognition functionality, allowing managers and employees to recognize their team members and peers for their achievements. In this world of remote and hybrid work, the ability to easily recognize someone with a few dollars to buy themselves coffee/lunch was quickly adopted and well received. The ability to offer birthday and anniversary bonuses has also been attractive to Compt customers.
In Phase 3, Compt plans to provide real-time insights to people teams and employees. Our objective is to provide businesses with data-driven insights that can help them create a more inclusive and personalized experience for their employees.
As shifts in the market continue, both from an economic and social perspective, we see a greater need for tool consolidation, particularly as it relates to benefits and expenses. HR and finance teams are becoming more aligned than ever before, and they need a solution that balances their need for budget-friendly tools with competitive benefits that attract and retain talent. Enter Compt’s Expense Management Software.
The Need for Business Expenses
The need for properly managing business expenses is a growing concern for companies, particularly in the wake of the economic downturn accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Great Resignation, inflation, the banking crisis, and other volatility in the market. No industry is safe as companies face budget cuts and layoffs, and as a result, are looking for ways to reduce costs without compromising the benefits and tools they offer to their employees.
Of note, the importance of maintaining inclusive benefits with a smaller budget remains top of mind, both for the most competitive companies in the “war for talent” and those that simply understand the employee experience needs to be a more human one.
Customers have long expressed their dissatisfaction with the cost and ease of use with other players in the expense management space, and they have asked Compt if it could cover travel and expense claims.
We knew it was time to develop a platform that could handle all employee reimbursements - not just stipends - including business expenses.
And you may be wondering: There are already tons of players in the space; many of which are well-funded and established, so why would Compt build another solution?
It’s simple. Existing players in the space don’t handle taxable fringe benefits well.
Plenty of companies have tried to do this through expense management, but it hasn’t worked and instead causes confusion and tension between finance and HR. And, having two separate software for stipends versus business expenses creates only confusion and headache for employees.
Design and Development Process
Having been founded by a three-time former CFO/two-time COO, we knew exactly the right way to approach this.
First, we identified several issues with existing reimbursement platforms. Most platforms reimburse through direct deposit or are based on a card model, which can be difficult for administrators and employees to manage. For businesses with hundreds or thousands of employees, it becomes unmanageable having that many corporate cards; not to mention, people tend to lose or forget to use these cards and they are often declined by certain vendors. Additionally, cards pose a security risk and those platforms are tasked with holding customers’ cash. That leaves a bad taste in the mouth for finance.
With Compt, no prefunding is required, ensuring each company’s cash is safe. Plus, reimbursements run through payroll to ensure proper taxation for taxable benefits.
So many vendors on the market offer one or the other - fringe benefits or expense management or rewards and recognition.
Why offer one when you can do all three for a fraction of the cost?
To develop our new expense management feature, we worked closely (and continue to do so) with our customers to validate the product vision and identify areas for improvement.
In fact, Compt partnered with a few customers for pilot launches, allowing us to gather feedback and make improvements to the platform based on user input. After all, we’re here to make life easier for HR and finance. We hope that by involving our customers in the process, we can create a platform that is tailored to their needs and preferences.
What We Hope to Achieve
Compt's primary objective is to create a platform that simplifies the reimbursement process for businesses and creates a more personalized experience for employees. By consolidating stipend reimbursement, rewards and recognition, and business expenses onto one platform, Compt hopes to reduce the workload for administrators and create a more efficient and streamlined process for managing employee benefits.
Our foundation as an end-to-end reimbursement platform is the main course and our additional features are the extra goodies that HR, finance, and employees will all enjoy.
As our VP of Growth, Dan Diefendorf puts it: “Would you like fries with that?”
Bottom line, we hope our platform will lead to happier and less burnt-out administrators, happier employees, and higher employee engagement.