An unprecedented push for digital transformation in corporate travel is currently underway as travel cohorts begin to see the impact of travel expense reimbursement software on spend. 57% of business travelers and 78% of decision-makers yearn for an end-to-end platform to manage core travel-related workflows, including reimbursement. Find out more in this article.
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What Is Travel and Expense Management?
Travel and expense (T&E) management broadly covers tracking corporate travel spend by employees traveling on behalf of the organization.
As more corporate entities ditch paper records for digital technologies, travel, and expense management software is streamlining T&E through faster and more accurate workflows.
What Is the Usual Expense Management Process?
Despite the overwhelming existence of more advanced automated travel expense management tools, paper-based reports, spreadsheets, and legacy systems are surprisingly widely adopted. The transition to new systems has been rather slow across key industries.
Currently, about one-third of surveyed professionals use some combination of manual processes, e.g., paper or spreadsheets, for expense reporting. The same survey also found that the adoption of automated systems, while limited, is on the rise. This occurs against a backdrop of an anticipated comeback in corporate travel activities.
The remote work culture has also uncovered a number of shortcomings in the traditional expense management approach.
How to Overcome Travel Expense Reimbursement Software Adoption Challenges
Generally, small businesses see the lowest T&E expense reimbursement software adoption rate, and the reasons can be narrowed down to a lack of awareness, resistance to change, cost, and integration challenges.
Particularly, in the manufacturing sector, a widespread resistance to change is instigated by the notion that existing systems and processes are working perfectly fine, and that there is no immediate reason for adopting cloud-based T&E solutions. Financial departments may also bar travel and expense automation, likely due to the perceived financial burden such implementation would unload on the company.
Limited resources and low ROI fears also run rampant within small organizations. Constrained by the lack of a dedicated budget to cover upfront costs, including software, hardware, and consulting fees, and lack of awareness of available alternatives, small business managers may shun travel and expense automation altogether.
Overcoming cost and implementation barriers can be expedited by exploring modular expense management tools that can be integrated with existing systems, rather than purchasing the entire software license upfront.
>> Related: Why 3 Organizations Ditched Manual T&E Management <<
What Are the Benefits of Travel Expense Reimbursement Software?
Managing every aspect of reimbursement can be time-consuming for both employees and finance departments. Travel expense reimbursement software can help simplify this process and this brings about the following benefits:
A Seamless Reimbursement Process
Reimbursement for employee expenses during corporate travel comes up close to the end of the cycle. Manual data entry and spend tracking make the reimbursement process more difficult than it should be. With automated solutions, however, receipt capture and expense report submission become built-in features.
Travel supervisors can monitor spending as it happens and receive near-instant alerts when out-of-policy transactions are detected. This visibility allows for proactive decision-making and the ability to identify and address discrepancies early on. Employees can submit expense reports directly through the platform complete with all supporting documentation.
A Significant Reduction in Manual Errors Prior to Reimbursement
Gone are the days when back-office operations were dominated by paper receipts and tedious claims submissions. And for good reason – 80% of data errors stem from manual input.
Business travel expense reimbursement software provides better spend visibility, allowing both travelers and companies to track and analyze their expenses in real time. This visibility translates into informed decision-making and minimal errors which are necessities for a faster reimbursement claims process. Cross-referencing disparate data sources uncovers any potential redundancies or duplicate entries, further minimizing the risk of errors.
Increased Efficiency and ROI
In order to achieve buy-in from key stakeholders, one must justify the viability of travel expense reimbursement software with a focus on the short-term and long-term returns it brings after implementation.
Merging the expense and travel processes into one streamlined system significantly reduces the administrative burden on staff and frees up valuable time and resources to focus on more strategic tasks.
Employees no longer need to spend valuable time manually compiling receipts, matching them with transactions, and entering their details into disparate systems. This streamlined workflow marks the foundation for an expedited reimbursement process.
Worry-Free, Productive Travel
Traveling employees don’t need one more thing to worry about during travel. Generally speaking, travel expense management software eliminates unnecessary hassle and forms the basis of productive travel arrangements.
Employees can easily access all relevant travel and expense information from a single platform, eliminating the need for multiple logins on different systems. This unified approach improves visibility, promotes better decision-making, and enhances compliance with travel and expense policies.
What Are Must-Have Features in Corporate Travel Expense Reimbursement Software?
As businesses grow and their needs evolve, it is important to have software that can accommodate these changes. The software should be capable of handling increasing transaction volumes and be flexible enough to adapt to new workflows.
Automated Expense Reporting for Business Travelers
Convenience remains at the heart of any travel management solution today. Traveling employees no longer have to deal with the hassle of manually filling out and submitting reports for every transaction.
Automated expense reporting applications surface a wealth of benefits; e.g. optical character recognition (OCR) that allows employees to scan and extract important information for their T&E report on-the-go. A number of these platforms also integrate with other popular communication platforms, extending employee’s options for reporting their expenses directly to their supervisor.
Real-Time Travel and Expense Analytics
Travel managers need to be able to maintain visibility into employee spending patterns in real-time. The ideal travel expense management and reimbursement platform supports this in several ways. It leverages advanced systems, including artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, to detect patterns, identify out-of-policy spending, and take action promptly.
Expenses are categorized in real-time, and spending is matched against historical data for similar itineraries to gain better visibility into spending. Data visualization is an essential feature, too. Descriptive travel analytics enable travel supervisors to draw insights into spending patterns and identify cost-saving opportunities.
Corporate Credit Card Integration
Credit card integration helps prevent overspending by providing deeper visibility into spending. Managers can set limits on employee credit cards. If limits are breached, the system automatically notifies the supervising manager or even blocks further transactions until approval is given. This level of financial discipline is difficult to achieve with paper-based policy controls.
Automated Policy Compliance
Automated travel and entertainment expense management tools take the hassle out of policy enforcement.
To begin with, research and select suitable automated T&E expense management software. It would be ideal to go for one that offers real-time expense tracking, integration capabilities, analytics, custom reporting functionalities, and built-in compliance features. Mobile and desktop versions of these tools can be downloaded onto user devices.
Work with the software provider to set up the system according to your business needs. This may involve integrating the software with credit card systems and accounting tools for seamless expense management workflows.
Lastly, train employees on how to use the software and its features. Provide clear instructions on how to capture and submit expenses, generate reports, and use the application.
Automated systems ensure compliance by enforcing policy rules and guidelines from within the platform. Since employees don’t have to do everything manually, it reduces the risk of fraudulent transactions and non-compliance.
Conclusion
TravelBank’s integrated travel and expense management system offers a range of key features and benefits that can greatly optimize travel expenses and reimbursement processes. At the end of the day, it’s about providing solutions that match the organization’s specific policies and make the expense management process more efficient.
FAQs
When is it the right time to find a travel and expense management solution?
The right time to find a travel and expense management solution is signaled by a slow, inefficient travel booking and reporting process. Traditional business travel reporting can be painful and time-consuming for companies. High costs, errors, and inefficiency are the driving factors behind companies’ motivation to modernize their travel and expense management processes.
How does travel expense reimbursement software automate and simplify expense management processes?
Expense management software can automate the entire expense management process, eliminating the need for manual data entry and mountains of paperwork. Employees capture receipts using their smartphones, automatically extract relevant information, and send policy-compliant travel requests to managers for review and approval.
How does expense management software track expenses in real time?
Expense management software can integrate with credit cards and bank accounts, automatically pulling transaction data in real time. This provides travel managers with up-to-date information on employee expenses.
What is the ROI of using travel and expense management software?
T&E expense management software can provide ROI in a number of ways. This includes the cost savings associated with retiring legacy systems and reducing travel spend, as well as the time savings of automating manual tasks. TravelBank commissioned Forrester Consulting to measure the ROI of managing T&E on TravelBank’s T&E management software and the study found customers achieved 240% ROI. The most significant financial factor was an increase in policy compliance. T&E management software can provide built-in guard rails that increase policy compliance (from 40 to 91% in TravelBank’s case). Find the full Forrester study here.