From 60 to 10 minutes: How Sportscheck digitizes travel expenses for store visits

Mobile receipt capture and assistant features reduce the workload for travelers and administration.

Sportscheck is one of the largest sports retailers in the DACH region, combining brick-and-mortar retail with online business. Employees regularly travel between headquarters and branches, for example, to check product presentations or for operational appointments.

Before Circula, expense reporting was heavily manual. Receipts had to be collected, individually transcribed, scanned, copied, and then forwarded to headquarters via email, fax, or internal mail. In some cases, branch secretariats were also involved.

Today, employees capture their receipts directly on the go with the Circula app. This not only reduces the effort for travelers but also simplifies the work of assistants and administration.

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The Challenge: Collecting, Forwarding, and Manually Processing Receipts

Before Circula, traveling employees had to collect their receipts throughout the week and then process them manually. This included transcribing individual expenses, scanning, copying, and forwarding them to headquarters.

Depending on the branch, a secretariat was also involved, receiving and forwarding the documents. This created multiple handover points and significant organizational effort.

For employees like Martin Frankowski, depending on travel volume, this meant up to 45 or 60 minutes of work per week, just for expense reporting.

Assistants also had to consolidate receipts and travel information from various sources. Missing documents led to queries and additional follow-up.

The Solution: Capture Receipts Directly On The Go

With Circula, employees can photograph their receipts immediately after an expense and store them in the app. For example, a fuel or parking receipt is captured on the way back to the car and is then digitally available.

This means receipts no longer need to be collected over several days or re-entered later at a desk. Even if the original is lost, the receipt is already digitally saved.

For assistants, Circula also offers an assistant feature. This allows them to prepare and submit expense reports for supervisors or colleagues. Thanks to the clear user and folder structure, individual trips remain fully traceable.

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The Result: Significantly Less Effort Per Week

The biggest effect is seen in time savings. What used to take up to an hour per week now, according to their own statement, takes at most about ten minutes.

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The process also becomes simpler for administration:

• Receipts are immediately available digitally
• Trips can be filed completely and in a structured manner
• Fewer queries regarding missing documents
• No additional forwarding via branch offices
• Faster access for later verification

Conclusion

With Circula, Sportscheck has replaced a complex, multi-stage travel expense process with a mobile and centrally organized solution.

Traveling employees record receipts directly on the go. Assistants can manage expense reports for colleagues and maintain an overview across users and trips. As a result, the effort for travel expense reporting decreases from up to an hour to around ten minutes per week.