The EQS Group is a leading global provider of GRC and RegTech software. Around 600 employees support companies worldwide with compliance, regulation, and transparency. This is a standard that applies not only externally but equally to their own internal processes.
As a company specializing in regulatory compliance, the EQS Group is subject to particularly high standards itself: expenses must be fully traceable, audit-proof, and consistently recorded across national borders. This is precisely what makes standardized expense management not just an operational issue, but a compliance requirement.
The EQS Group was already successfully using Circula in Germany. Based on their positive experience and the efficient way the platform handles travel and expense processes, they decided to roll the solution out internationally in stages. This allowed them to standardize and centrally manage processes across all subsidiaries.
Too many systems, too little oversight
Before introducing Circula, expense management at the EQS Group was handled locally and decentrally, with each country operating independently and without central control. In Germany, employees submitted their expenses via Excel files and manually attached PDFs. For the accounting department, this meant typing in every single receipt, creating booking entries manually, and tracking errors by hand.
The process was error-prone, time-consuming, and became more complex with every new subsidiary. Different tax requirements, daily allowances, and currencies had to be managed in parallel, all while lacking a consistent view of total spending. A common standard that could grow with the company was urgently needed.
The decision for a shared platform
The EQS Group was not looking for a standalone solution, but a platform that combines local flexibility with central transparency and integrates seamlessly into their existing system landscape.
The requirements were clear: the tool had to be compatible with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, support a GoBD-compliant export for the German entities, be able to map multiple subsidiaries with different local regulations, and be simple enough for employees to actually use. Circula met these requirements and impressed the team with an intuitive user interface that works for both those submitting expenses and the accounting department.
From Germany to the world, step by step
The rollout began in Germany at the start of 2022 and was deliberately implemented sequentially, subsidiary by subsidiary. The reason: onboarding local accounting teams and setting up employee data required individual attention in each country. A simultaneous rollout would have been too risky.
Today, Circula is used in all eleven countries where the EQS Group operates: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, the UK, the USA, France, Italy, Denmark, India, and China. Each subsidiary manages its own requirements, while data flows centrally and is processed consistently. Of the accounts created, about two-thirds are actively licensed, with over 80 percent of those using the platform monthly.
Not every implementation went smoothly. The biggest challenge was the US subsidiary—not because of the tool, but due to initial skepticism toward a European product. Added to this were technical questions regarding access and approvals. This was resolved through several targeted onboarding sessions with all local employees. Today, the US subsidiary is fully integrated.
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What has really changed in accounting
Compatibility with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central forms the operational backbone. After all expenses are approved, the data is imported weekly from Circula into Business Central, cross-checked, and used directly for booking and payment. Booking entries that previously had to be created manually are now generated automatically, including the correct category and pre-accounting.
Since its introduction, nearly 6,750 expenses have been submitted and processed via Circula—with an export rate of 99.9 percent.
In the finance team, the time spent processing expenses is now around 30 minutes per week. The work is fundamentally different today. The focus is now only on reviewing individual cases, rather than manually creating booking entries and typing in PDFs one by one. The work is more structured, less error-prone, and significantly more pleasant. Onboarding new team members is also paying off: new colleagues are able to work independently in a very short time. The tool, they say, is self-explanatory.
The numbers confirm it: 73.3 percent of all expenses are fully processed within the same month. Nearly half are completed within 48 hours of submission. The average time from submission to export is about one week, with an approval time of 4.25 days. The rejection rate is 2.4 percent, and the EQS Group is taking proactive measures to address this: a mandatory field has been implemented for entertainment expenses to ensure that participants are recorded correctly. User satisfaction is reflected in a positive NPS.
A platform that grows with the EQS Group
What began as a targeted solution for individual processes is now a central infrastructure accessed daily by eleven companies. It is a structure that does not standardize for the sake of uniformity, but connects because it makes operational sense.
The trust in the platform is also evident in the fact that the EQS Group is taking the next step: integrating corporate credit cards directly into Circula. Currently, credit card statements are still processed manually, and receipts often arrive late. With card integration, receipts will be automatically linked to transactions, ensuring that expenses are created in the system immediately and flow directly into existing processes.
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