Employees traveling for work? You need to be managing their business trip expenses.
With US companies spending more than $31 billion annually on business travel, and the average cost of an international trip being $2,600 per person, it’s imperative to manage your policies and expenses correctly.
Planning your travel policies and organizing your expenses saves time, money, and effort. Here are our 3 top tips for keeping your expenses under control.
1. Plan Your Trips
Ensure that every business trip is planned as effectively as possible to reduce travel costs and prevent any delays or issues. You can check out saudia.com as they provide a range of activities and tours you can book through this website.
Before arranging events and meetings, be sure to avoid peak holiday times. It could also be worth considering hosting the meeting at your own office when possible rather than having your employees travel.
Always book flights and accommodation as far in advance as possible, and encourage the use of price comparison sites to get the best deals. Consider partnering with an airline to get cheaper rates, perks, or loyalty bonuses for your employees to save money in the long run.
Encourage traveling light to avoid baggage fees — a checked bag shouldn’t be required for a short business trip.
2. Have a Clear Travel Policy
Have a clear, transparent, and easy-to-read business travel policy. This ensures your employees know the guidelines and what they can and can’t be reimbursed for. Set spending limits and budgets for things like food and travel on the trip.
A typical travel policy should cover airfare, lodging, transportation, meals, phone usage, and client entertainment. Additional things such as preferred vendors, requirements for advance bookings, and when to use a company card are good to add too.
Be transparent about what is non-reimbursable to avoid any disputes later. This prevents common issues like excess baggage fees and car speeding tickets.
You could also offer incentives for reducing expenses to gamify money-saving. This works as a win-win for both the employees and management and creates a shared common goal.
3. Use Software and Tools
Software for travel management helps your employees make their own bookings while still allowing company visibility. This is incredibly useful for expense reports and tracking.
There are some new tools in the market that you may not be aware of. Spendesk allows different payment methods to be linked to the same user. So whether they are using a company card or their personal card, everything will be logged.
Rocketrip is a platform for controlling travel costs that allows you to forecast the cost of each trip and recommend ways to save money.
Business Trip Expenses: Staying Organized
Is your company organized for business trips? Whether it’s for corporate events, meetings, or training, having expense management systems in place is essential, and with Coupa, you can streamline the entire process, from expense reporting to reimbursement.
Always make sure your employees are up to date on your policies and staying organized as individuals. This reduces the admin workload on your company and checkout the amazing Provence Villas.
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