Coromandel automates travel & expense management across 48 locations with Zoho Expense

The company

Since 1906, Coromandel International Limited has been a leading force in India’s agribusiness sector, dedicated to empowering farmers. By integrating innovation, manufacturing, and technology, Coromandel delivers high-quality agricultural solutions, including fertilizers, crop protection, and specialty nutrients. The company has also pioneered the rural retail model, operating a network of around 750 outlets across India.

With 11 business units, 137 branches, and 48 locations, Coromandel supports a vast farming community through its 5,000+ employees dedicated to transforming agriculture with modern, tech-driven solutions.

The challenge

With operations spread across 48 locations, managing business expenses at Coromandel had become a logistical nightmare. The finance team relied on an in-house system that depended heavily on manual workflows, leading to delays and compliance risks. It was difficult to track progress due to scattered approvals across endless email chains. Employees often had to submit hard copy receipts, which meant expenses could not be validated until the paperwork reached the finance team. The process was time-consuming, error-prone, and a source of frustration for everyone involved.

"Our team processed 60 reports per person each day, with approvals stuck in emails and reconciliation taking too long. The whole process took over a week, sometimes even longer if hard copies were delayed, before payments could be made. With 137 branches to manage, tracking everything was a real challenge."

Jothi Prakash, Deputy General Manager IT, Coromandel International Limited

Beyond these inefficiencies, there were bigger concerns. Coromandel lacked real-time visibility into spending. Employees had little clarity on budgets, policy adherence was inconsistent, and financial oversight was difficult. The reconciliation process added another layer of complexity: Since the system wasn’t integrated with SAP, finance teams had to map the expenses to the right cost centers manually. This not only slowed down reimbursements but also created room for errors.

Hiring more finance team members to keep up with these challenges wasn’t a long-term solution. Coromandel needed a system that could scale with its operations while maintaining policy controls and compliance without adding complexity or delays.

The solution

Seeing the inefficiencies firsthand, they sought a smart and scalable solution; Coromandel switched from its manual, email-based process to a fully automated system with Zoho Expense. The shift wasn’t just about replacing a tool; it was about transforming the way they managed expenses across the company.

Key takeaways:

• Automated approval workflows for faster reimbursements, enabling quicker and more efficient expense processing.
• Integrated seamlessly with SAP for real-time reconciliation, allowing accurate and up-to-date financial tracking.
• Enforced policies automatically without the need for manual intervention, reducing errors and ensuring compliance.
• Leveraged AI-powered OCR receipt scanning, reducing data entry time and ensuring accuracy.
• Integrated smoothly with their existing HRMS for comprehensive tracking.

To read more about the use cases, access the full case study here

"The transition to Zoho Expense was smoother than we expected. Given the scale of our operations, we anticipated challenges, but the implementation process was well-structured, and our employees adapted quickly. In just 3-4 months, we moved from a completely manual process to a fully automated system that everyone was comfortable using."

Jothi Prakash, Deputy General Manager IT, Coromandel International Limited

Benefits and ROI

The impact was immediate: What once took over a week of manual effort—chasing approvals, validating receipts, and reconciling expenses—was now streamlined to just two to three days. The finance teams no longer had to sift through emails or deal with lost receipts; everything was digitized, automated, and seamlessly integrated with SAP, ensuring fast, error-free reimbursements.

"Expense management was a struggle before—delays, compliance issues, and endless paperwork. Zoho Expense turned it all around. Now, everything is automated, compliant, and effortless. We process over 100 reports daily per person with full visibility and automation—it has made a huge difference."

Jothi Prakash, Deputy General Manager IT, Coromandel International Limited

What used to be a manual, time-consuming process is now a fully automated, efficient system. Zoho Expense didn’t just speed things up—it fundamentally changed the way Coromandel manages expenses, making the entire workflow smarter, faster, and future-ready.