BUSINESS STRATEGY
Best practices for managing business travel expenses
Two-thirds of employees admit they haven ’ t read their company ’ s travel and expense policy . It ’ s often for several reasons like not knowing where the correct information is stored , knowing there is a policy but not checking if it ’ s been updated or assuming certain things are covered , when in fact , they are not .
Even if travellers find a great flight or hotel deal , they might still get in trouble for being out of policy if their companies require them to book through an official booking tool or with a designated airline or hotel .
To combat such issues , you must clearly communicate expense policies in several ways . Firstly , and most importantly , by ensuring it ’ s widely accessible in company-wide HR documentation and saved in an obvious place on the company server or intranet .
Organising team or department expense meetings or sending company-wide emails as reminders during peak travel months are good ways to ensure everyone stays updated .
You ’ ll also need to decide on the best expense method for your business and make sure you are transparent and clear with what this entails . The two most popular methods are usually either reimbursing employees once they ’ ve paid or your company can pay directly using a company card instead .
A clear expense process ensures that employees are logging expenses promptly , providing you with more accurate visibility . Expense forms , spreadsheets and dedicated expense management software are all helpful options for employee expense claims .
Travel expense management software often provides all-in-one multiple dashboards , making it easy to track spending for various departments , locations , projects or specific employees .
How to calculate business travel expenses
Analysing previous spending and setting up projections will help you get a good idea of what your average spend will look like , when it comes to calculating potential travel expenses . Benchmarking allows you to look at your costs
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