Captura Software Announces Pilot Program at Ford Motor Company, Web-Enabling Traditional Paper-Based Expense Management Practices

Business Wire, Sept 29, 1999

BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 1999--

Ford Employees Will Need Only Internet Browser to

File Corporate Expense Reports

Captura(R) Software today announced the first phase of an international pilot project at Ford Motor Company, signaling the widespread adoption of the first truly Web-based global expense management software.

Following full implementation, Ford will be providing Captura's Web-based expense management software to employees throughout the world. Ford employees who travel for business will replace paper-based expense reports with a new system for submitting and tracking a variety of business expenses online. The automotive company expects to benefit from Captura Expense's multi-language and multi-currency support, and flexible multi-country reporting. Employees will be able to file expense reports via the Web, while operating management will be able to generate a wide variety of reports to analyze data and quickly reimburse expenses.

"Expense management has become an increasingly complex, time-consuming and costly function, particularly for companies that conduct business in the global marketplace," said Brian McDonough, a research analyst with International Data Corporation. "Captura's planned implementation at Ford is an indication that more and more global companies are successfully using the Web to replace outdated business practices and experiencing positive results across international borders."

The flagship product in Captura's e-Finance Solutions(tm) suite, Captura Expense(tm) enables companies to automate expense management workflow and significantly reduce employee reimbursement times. The software tracks vendors and expense categories for reporting purposes, converts currencies, and calculates taxes such as the Value Added Tax, which is common in Europe. In the pilot program at Ford, employees begin the process by using a charge card from Citibank to charge expenses. At regular intervals, the software captures credit card data from Citibank records, and imports it into the corporate intranet. Each expense is then categorized by Captura's unique rules engine. When employees log onto their account via the intranet, their transactions are pre-populated in an expense report within the defined categories. They can then add details and distribute expenses among other cost centers. Still using the Web, managers then view and approve completed expense reports.

Because Captura Expense is Web-based, corporations can either license the software and deploy it via a corporate intranet or extranet, or subscribe to the software through Captura's new application service provider program, also announced today.

"Expense reports typically cost around $40 to process," said Katarina Bonde, executive vice president of Captura Software. "When you are a multinational corporation with as many as 100,000 employees traveling on business, these expenses mount up quickly. But more importantly, when you can't analyze where your employees are staying or if they're somehow violating company policy, you can't negotiate better rates with travel-related vendors or initiate different policies. By offering a new method for tracking these expenses via the Internet from any location at any time, we are helping customers operate more efficiently and cost-effectively."

About Captura Software

Captura Software, headquartered in Bothell, Wash., delivers comprehensive global expense management products and superior services through its suite of e-Finance Solutions. Its e-finance solutions allow companies to automate expense management using Web-enabled technology and capture essential financial data that can help them make sound, timely business decisions. Captura is leading the e-finance category through its worldwide deployment, its growing list of customers and its partnerships with global leaders in financial, software, travel, and communications industries.

Captura has offices in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Wayne, NJ; Washington DC. Captura's European headquarters are in London, UK, with an additional European office in Paris, France. Captura has built a strong infrastructure of customers, partners, and strategic alliances with more than 400,000 seats sold. Customers include adidas-America, CGU, Ford Motor Co., General Motors, Hercules, Inc., Lockheed-Martin, Merrill Lynch & Co., Pfizer Inc., and Reckitt & Colman. For more information about Captura and its products, in the U.S. call 425/424-1000; in Europe call 44 181 263 2914 (U.K.) or 33 153 53 67 15 (France); or visit the company's Web site at http://www.captura.com.