Every day, there are 1.3 million business trips in the US. These trips are necessary to facilitate good relationships with partners, clients, and vendors. But that doesn’t necessarily mean every journey is cost-effective.
In fact, some employees take these excursions as a free pass to charge everything to the company. So how can you ensure travel expenses are properly charged?
Read on for some tips on managing travel expenses!
Have Clear-Cut Travel Policies
If your company doesn’t already have travel policies, it’s time to start writing! When these policies aren’t down on paper, then some employees might take the liberty of booking first-class tickets just because they can.
Maybe you’ve already got travel policies, but they’re from the ’80s. In this case, it’s time to revise the handbook to include more modern modes of transportation, such as Uber. That way, nothing’s left to the reader’s interpretation.
Create an Organized System
It’s tempting to throw all your receipts and documents in one folder, but it can get quite messy. It’ll be a mess for you or HR to sort through!
Keep documents in separate folders, such as:
- Receipts
- Invoices
- Itineraries
Label these folders clearly so employees know exactly where to put their papers when they return.
Have a Dedicated Corporate Credit Card
One of the biggest mistakes employers make is giving their employees free reign on charges. They expect that everything will be reported, but in reality, they’re not.
You can eliminate this worry by giving your workers a dedicated corporate credit card. Some come with a spending policy, which means the user won’t be able to make any unauthorized transactions.
If you’re interested, the corporate cards at Bento are a great place to start.
Use a Mobile Expense Tracking App
For things outside of corporate credit cards that need to be reimbursed, use a mobile expense tracking app. This makes it easy for workers to scan their receipts and keep track of everything. On your end (or HR’s), they can see what’s recorded as an expense and then either approve or deny it.
What’s great about these apps is you can input your company’s policies and some expenses can be automatically approved. This can free up HR’s time and resources to handle more complicated matters.
Explore Your Booking Options
Just because you got great deals on one website before doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be the best choice for future trips. When sending your employees on business trips, check multiple websites to compare airfare and hotel prices.
Don’t forget to check the actual airline or hotel’s websites as well! Often, you’ll find that booking directly will be the cheapest option.
Don’t Let Your Travel Expenses Get Out of Control
It can be tough to track travel expenses, and unfortunately, some employees are looking to take advantage of that. Put a stop to outrageous business travel expenses and follow the above tips. By doing so, you’ll be able to get everything under control and keep spending to a minimum.
To learn more about business expense management, take a look at our other blog posts now.
