Expense Management Statistics
Last updated: June 2026 · 5 sourced statistics
Expense reports are small invoices with worse data quality. GBTA Foundation research put the cost of processing one at $58 — with nearly a fifth containing errors that cost another $52 each to fix. Add the ACFE's findings on reimbursement fraud and the case for automated expense capture writes itself.
Key takeaways
- Processing one expense report costs $58 on average (GBTA Foundation).
- 19% of expense reports contain errors; each correction costs ~$52 and 18 minutes.
- Expense-reimbursement schemes appear in over a tenth of occupational fraud cases (ACFE).
At a glance
Every figure on this page in one table, each linked to its named source. Scroll down for the full context behind each number.
| Figure | What it measures | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $58 | Processing a single expense report costs $58 on average, per GBTA Foundation research. | GBTA Foundation | 2015 |
| 19% | 19% of expense reports contain errors, and correcting each one costs about $52 and 18 minutes of staff time (GBTA Foundation). | GBTA Foundation | 2015 |
| $145K | Occupational fraud causes a median loss of $145,000 per case, per the ACFE's global study — with expense-reimbursement schemes among the most frequent categories. | ACFE Report to the Nations | 2024 |
| >10% | Expense-reimbursement schemes appear in more than a tenth of occupational fraud cases and typically run for years before detection (ACFE). | ACFE Report to the Nations | 2024 |
| 60–80% | Receipt-scanning and card-feed automation eliminates most manual entry — the same capture economics that cut invoice processing costs 60–80% (Billentis, for comparison). | Billentis (capture-automation comparison) | 2024 |
The statistics
Processing a single expense report costs $58 on average, per GBTA Foundation research.
Source:GBTA Foundation2015
19% of expense reports contain errors, and correcting each one costs about $52 and 18 minutes of staff time (GBTA Foundation).
Source:GBTA Foundation2015
Occupational fraud causes a median loss of $145,000 per case, per the ACFE's global study — with expense-reimbursement schemes among the most frequent categories.
Source:ACFE Report to the Nations2024
Expense-reimbursement schemes appear in more than a tenth of occupational fraud cases and typically run for years before detection (ACFE).
Source:ACFE Report to the Nations2024
Receipt-scanning and card-feed automation eliminates most manual entry — the same capture economics that cut invoice processing costs 60–80% (Billentis, for comparison).
Source:Billentis (capture-automation comparison)2024
When these numbers don't apply
Aggregate statistics hide a lot. Read these caveats before quoting a figure as if it describes your specific situation.
- The GBTA expense-report figures date to 2015 and predate recent wage inflation — treat as a floor.
- The ACFE median loss spans all occupational fraud; expense-reimbursement is one category, typically smaller per incident.
- Error and cost rates depend on whether a company uses corporate cards with automatic feeds or manual submission.
How we compiled this data
Compiled June 2026 from GBTA Foundation studies (the standard industry citation for expense-report costs), the ACFE's biennial Report to the Nations, and Billentis automation research. The GBTA figures date from 2015 and likely understate today's labor costs.
We hand-collected each figure from its original publisher rather than recycling secondary round-ups, cross-checked the headline numbers against the source documents in June 2026, and link every statistic to the report it came from so you can verify it yourself. Where a publisher issues annual updates, we cite the report edition and flag the year inline.
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost to process an expense report?
About $58 per report in GBTA Foundation research, plus $52 per correction for the ~19% containing errors — figures that predate recent wage inflation.
How common is expense fraud?
Expense-reimbursement schemes show up in over a tenth of occupational fraud cases (ACFE), typically small amounts repeated over long periods.
How do companies cut expense-processing costs?
Corporate cards with automatic feed matching, receipt-photo capture at purchase time, policy rules enforced at submission, and sampling-based audit instead of reviewing everything.
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