Corporate travel management is a multi-step business process. Both travel management and expense management are equally important steps in this complex process. An enterprise can help employees accomplish business travel goals only by streamlining the travel management process.
At the same time, it can increase the ROI of business travel only by streamlining the travel expense management process. Companies and startups these days streamline travel and expense (T&E) management through automation.
They organize, monitor, and understand T&E expenses by implementing expense tracking tools. An expense tracking tool helps companies track T&E expenses in real time. Further, it makes it easier for the finance team to control travel spending and find cost-saving opportunities.
The features and tools provided by expense management software help your organization increase the ROI of business travel in several ways. Here are some ways you can use expense tracking tools to simplify and streamline T&E expense management.
9 Ways Expense Tracking Tools Simplify and Streamline T&E Expense Management.
Table of Contents
Categorize T&E Expenses
The categorization of business travel expenses helps your finance team to make realistic budgets and control cash flow. While configuring the expense tracking software, you can divide various travel expenses incurred by employees into relevant categories.
For instance, you can create specific travel expense categories like air travel, lodging, meals, ground transportation, and per diem. The software will automatically capture and categorize expenses automatically. Hence, it will become easier for your finance team to make informed financial decisions.
Ensure T&E Policy Compliance
Employees spend a significant part of business travel on essential business travel products like flights, accommodations, and car rentals. You can easily reduce the average business trip costs by making employees book travel products according to predefined T&E policies.
An expense tracking tool enables you to track and monitor travel expenses in real time. Hence, you can differentiate between in-policy and out-of-policy expenses early and accurately. Also, new-age expense tracking tools send automated notifications when they detect any policy violation.
Speed up T&E Expense Reimbursements
As suggested by several studies, delayed expense reimbursement is one of the major reasons why work travelers experience stress. The dashboard provided by the expense tracking software helps you identify paid, unpaid, and pending travel expenses.
Hence, it becomes easier for you to boost employee experience by reimbursing travel expenses quickly. Also, you can communicate with employees to resolve issues delaying expense claim processing and reimbursements.
Simplify Receipt Management
You can simplify receipt management by making employees submit digital expense reports and receipts. But you can streamline the process only by ensuring that no digital receipts are lost or misplaced. The expense tracking software will store receipts in a central location.
Your team can access the digital receipts seamlessly while conducting expense audits or making financial statements. At the same time, you can ensure that each employee submits all invoices, receipts, and bills along with expense reports.
Generate and Schedule Custom Reports
In addition to facilitating real-time expense tracking, the dashboard supports report generation and scheduling. Your finance team can use the dashboard to generate custom reports based on real-time T&E data using parameters like department, project, and destination. Also, you can make data-driven financial decisions by scheduling these reports weekly or monthly.
Get Data-Driven Insights
The new-generation expense tracking tools boost T&E expense management using data analytics. They use advanced data analytics solutions to analyze the travel expense data of employees automatically. The solution further shares actionable insights gained through travel expense data analysis.
The actionable insights help you detect travel expense trends and patterns. Also, you can use data-driven insights to make informed financial decisions. For instance, you can leverage actionable insights to find opportunities for average trip cost reduction and T&E policy improvements.
Prevent Travel Expense Fraud
Your company cannot increase the ROI of business travel without eliminating expense fraud committed by employees. Digital technologies make it easier for employers to execute expense fraud. Often work travelers commit expense reimbursement frauds overstating, mischaracterizing, and falsifying expenses.
Real-time travel expense tracking makes it easier for you to detect and prevent different types of travel expense fraud. Also, the expense tracking software will send you automated notifications when an employee claims out-of-policy expenses or submits duplicated receipts.
Facilitate Corporate Card Reconciliation
You can make it easier for the finance team to track, analyze, and control T&E expenses by providing work travelers with corporate cards. Employees cannot make personal charges on corporate cards, unlike personal cards.
While configuring the expense tracking software, you have the option to integrate with corporate credit cards. The integration will automate the card reconciliation process. The software will match travel expenses incurred by an employee to the card statement. Hence, your company can minimize the risk of overspending and expense fraud.
Find Cost-Saving Opportunities
The right expense management tool will help your company control business travel costs in several ways. In addition to ensuring policy compliance and eliminating expense fraud, the software helps you update the list of reimbursable and non-reimbursable T&E expenses from time to time.
Also, you can negotiate with travel suppliers for better rates by identifying which airlines, hotel chains, and car rental companies employees prefer at the time of business travel bookings. At the same time, the data-driven insights provided by the software help you control costs without impacting the business travel experience and safety.
Conclusion
Expense management tools help your organization simplify and streamline T&E expense management by providing useful features and tools. However, you must consider the option to automate the T&E management process end-to-end while implementing expense management software.
For instance, you can automate the process fully by integrating the expense management software with corporate booking tools. Likewise, you have the option to implement a unified travel and expense (T&E) management software using Industry 4.0 technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics.
The integrated T&E management software will make it easier for your employees to make business travel arrangements, comply with organizational policies, and overcome business travel challenges. At the same time, your finance team can use the software to reduce the time and effort required to track, reimburse, report, and audit T&E expenses.
