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The Initial Situation: Growth that pushes Excel to its limits
When Torsten Blaschke joined Doctari as CFO in 2018, the company was still family-run, and travel expense reporting was handled via Excel.
What initially seemed practical became a real burden with a growing workforce: legislative changes could hardly be tracked manually, and the administrative burden continued to increase with every new employee.
"A nightmare" – that's how Torsten Blaschke describes the situation before Circula was implemented.
The key pain points:
- Excel-based expense reports: error-prone, not scalable, non-compliant
- A maximum of 5 credit cards in circulation: more receipts would have overwhelmed the system
- A previous solution brought digitalization but fell short in administrative accounting
- Manual DATEV upload with extensive post-corrections of transaction descriptions and vendors
- Per diem calculations were performed manually – with errors and inconsistencies
"Keeping up with legislation and administration was a nightmare. It was simply no longer manageable, the more people we hired." Torsten Blaschke CFO, Doctari Group
The Solution: Two Requirements, One Platform
The requirement was for a platform that effectively served two key stakeholders simultaneously: employees with an intuitive smartphone app, and accounting with deep, error-free system integration. Circula – implemented with the support of partner Finclair – was the only solution that convincingly addressed both needs.
Native Tax Logic: Automatic Per Diem Calculation
Per diem allowances are automatically calculated based on travel start, end, and location, including deductions for provided meals. No manual steps, no errors, consistent reimbursements for all employees.
Deep Integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
The interface transfers booking texts, creditors, and tax codes 1:1 into the accounting system — eliminating manual post-processing. Developed jointly with Circula and partner FinClair.
Company Credit Cards with Automatic Synchronization
40 credit cards, including digital cards, are now integrated into Circula. Transactions are automatically recorded in the system – the previous receipt chaos with a maximum of 5 cards is a thing of the past.
AI-powered Receipt Recognition
When uploading a receipt, fields are automatically pre-filled. Employees only need to add individual details such as cost center or reason for travel; Circula handles the rest.
“We had another solution in the interim before we got to know Circula. The digital solution part was okay, but the administrative part of accounting was very poorly handled. For this reason, we urgently looked for someone who could effectively serve both sides.” Torsten Blaschke CFO, Doctari Group
The Results: From Manual to Automated - at All Levels
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Before</th>
<th>With Circula</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Excel expense reports, manually maintained and error-prone</td>
<td>App-based submission via smartphone in seconds</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Max. 5 credit cards due to receipt chaos</td>
<td>40 company credit cards incl. digital cards, automatically synchronized</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Manual VMA calculation, error-prone and inconsistent</td>
<td>Automatic VMA calculation based on travel start, end, and location</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Posting text and vendors had to be adjusted manually</td>
<td>Data flows 1:1 from Circula into Business Central - no manual step</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Previous Solution: Digital, but inadequate for accounting</td>
<td>End-to-end automated: from submission to DATEV export</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
"For accounting, having an automated end-to-end process is a huge advantage. The error rate has significantly decreased, and the time saved in processing travel expenses is absolutely noticeable." Cathrin Pols, Teamlead Controlling, Doctari Group
"A huge advantage is that we've grown with Circula. Integrating credit cards used to be a nightmare for us. We had a maximum of five credit cards in circulation because we couldn't keep up with the receipts otherwise. Now we have 40 credit cards and are very flexible. Digital credit cards, integration with Circula, automatic transfer to all systems: that's a world of difference compared to before." Torsten Blaschke CFO, Doctari Group
