How King & Spalding nearly tripled expense volume with a leaner team

As King & Spalding grew, expense and invoice volumes began rising faster than its accounts payable capacity. Transactions sat in approval queues, outstanding charges complicated financial close, and inconsistent Amex payment behavior created late fees and reconciliation work. With Emburse Enterprise and Emburse Analytics, the firm gained the visibility and workflow control to nearly triple expense report volume while operating with one fewer AP team member.

Growth made every expense bottleneck more costly

At a global law firm, expense management affects more than reimbursement. Client matter charges must be allocated accurately. Firm expenses need to reach the right budgets before midyear and year-end close. Attorneys need their corporate cards paid on time without losing attention that could be spent serving clients.

For King & Spalding, the problem was not stacks of paper. It was work sitting unseen in the system. Some transactions had not been added to expense reports. Others were waiting in approval queues. Invoices could remain stalled with budget owners, leaving the AP team to identify where each item was stuck. Because charges did not reach the firm’s budgets until they were approved, exported, and paid, these delays made it harder to understand outstanding obligations and close the books accurately.

The corporate card process created another layer of complexity. Some partners paid their Amex balances personally while AP also paid submitted charges, resulting in duplicate payments and account credits. Other cardholders assumed charges were being handled and incurred late fees.

The firm needed to address several connected challenges:

• Limited visibility into outstanding firm and client matter charges
• Expense reports and invoices stalled in approval queues
• Corporate card transactions not added to reports promptly
• Duplicate Amex payments and time-consuming reconciliation
• Late fees caused by inconsistent payment expectations
• Growing transaction volume without a corresponding increase in AP capacity

Building a process that could grow with the firm

King & Spalding began using Emburse in 2016. As the firm expanded, it continued adapting the platform to support new workflows, greater volume, and a more distributed approach to financial operations.

Invoice entry, once concentrated within AP, increasingly shifted to the firm’s legal practice assistants. Configurable routing then directed each invoice to the appropriate budget owner. By the time an item reached AP, the team could focus on auditing essential details instead of managing every step of data entry and approval.

Emburse Analytics added another layer of control. King & Spalding worked with Emburse to create dashboards that distinguish outstanding client matter expenses from firm charges. This gives the finance team a clearer view of what needs attention before financial close.

“Between the routing and analytics, that has really helped our process flow in a more efficient way,” said Christy Brown, Accounts Payable Manager at King & Spalding.

Rather than forcing the firm into a fixed process, Emburse evolved alongside its operating model.

Making bottlenecks visible and actionable

With Emburse Enterprise and Emburse Analytics, King & Spalding created a more proactive expense and invoice management process.

• Close-focused analytics: Dashboards separate outstanding client matter charges from firm expenses, helping AP prioritize the transactions that must reach budgets before midyear and year-end close.
• Corporate card visibility: Reporting identifies outstanding Amex and corporate card transactions before statements arrive.
• Automated reminders: Scheduled emails notify cardholders about outstanding charges. AP can then follow up with targeted reminders before payment deadlines.
• Configurable approval routing: Invoices move directly to the relevant budget owners, spreading responsibility across the firm while preserving financial controls.
• Self-service invoice tracking: Employees can use invoice management to see where an invoice is waiting instead of contacting AP for every status update.
• Mobile receipt capture: New hires are encouraged to photograph receipts through the Emburse Enterprise mobile app, helping them comply with the firm’s receipt policy and submit expenses sooner.

These capabilities replaced the search for a “needle in a haystack” with a clearer view of where work was delayed and who could move it forward.

Nearly three times the reports, with one fewer AP team member

Since Brown took responsibility for the AP department in 2022, the firm’s expense report volume has nearly tripled. Yet the team is processing reports faster than ever. King & Spalding handles that increased volume with one fewer AP team member than it had when Brown joined the department in 2016.

The impact extends across the expense lifecycle:

• Expense report volume has nearly tripled since 2022
• The AP team operates with one fewer person than it did in 2016
• Roughly 70% of cardholders no longer incur Amex late fees
• Firm and client matter charges are easier to prioritize before close
• Better routing reduces time spent tracking down approvals
• Self-service visibility decreases routine invoice status inquiries
• Clearer payment responsibilities help reduce duplicate Amex payments

The change in cardholder behavior has been especially meaningful. Automated reporting and communication reassure employees that AP will pay their Amex balances when charges are submitted correctly.

“Emburse gave us the ability to give them the comfort that we are paying their Amex as long as those charges get pulled into an expense report,” Brown said.

That confidence encourages employees to use the system consistently, which helps AP pay cards on time and further reduces reconciliation work.

Education turned a platform into a dependable process

Technology alone did not create the change. King & Spalding paired its Emburse workflows with regular employee education. Each week, Brown introduces new hires to the expense process. She demonstrates how to capture receipts in the mobile app, explains the firm’s receipt requirements, and shows employees how straightforward expense reporting can be when receipts are recorded at the moment of spend.

The training benefits employees and their delegates. A receipt captured on a phone is immediately available if a legal practice assistant later prepares the report, reducing the chance of missing documentation and helping the employee get reimbursed sooner. Education also helped rebuild confidence in the corporate card process. Once cardholders understood when AP would pay Amex and what they needed to submit, they became more willing to rely on the workflow instead of paying balances themselves.

The result is not merely stronger adoption. It is a shared operating process in which employees, budget owners, legal practice assistants, and AP each understand their role.

Less time chasing expenses, more time supporting the firm

Greater efficiency has allowed King & Spalding’s AP professionals to contribute beyond transaction processing. The team now has more capacity to review and update the firm’s travel policy, applying years of audit experience to make guidance clearer and more effective. It can also produce detailed reports showing the charges allocated to specific client matter numbers.

Those reports give attorneys information they previously could not request as easily. In some cases, the data supports client work, filings, and legal briefs. AP still provides hands-on support when employees need help. But instead of spending most of the day searching for stalled invoices, reconciling card payments, or answering basic status questions, the team can focus its expertise where it adds more value. For King & Spalding, expense management has become more than an administrative function. It is a source of visibility, service, and scalable financial control.

About King & Spalding

Founded in 1885, King & Spalding is an international law firm helping leading companies advance complex business interests in more than 160 countries. More than 1,300 lawyers work across an integrated platform of 26 offices worldwide, delivering commercial solutions across litigation, regulatory, and transactional matters with a commitment to quality and service.

About Emburse

Emburse orchestrates corporate spend across travel, expense, reimbursements, AP, and payments with AI-powered control and insight. Serving 20,000+ organizations in 200 countries and territories worldwide, we give finance leaders the agility to mitigate risk, ensure compliance, and drive strategy. Unlike legacy all-in-ones, Emburse delivers modern infrastructure that powers business growth.