How to Make the Business Case for an Expense Management System
Fifty-four percent of respondents to the recent GBTA / American Express Traveler Sentiment Survey said that they submit their expenses electronically. While the adoption of expense report automation solutions is at a record level, it still highlights that nearly half of all business travelers are forced to stuff their pockets, wallets and briefcases with receipts, which they then have to staple to sheets of paper and mail to accounting departments, along with a printed spreadsheet that needs to be typed up with every detail of every item.
Expense Management, For Travel Managers, Chrome RiverHow the Olympics Gets me Thinking About Expenses
Expense Management, For Travel Managers, Expense Reports
6 Key Expense Management Best Practices
If you went to last week’s GBTA Conference, you probably came back with a fresh perspective, having seen the latest and greatest trends and innovations in the business travel industry. With these still fresh in your mind, now is a good time to revisit how travel and expense policies are managed at your own organization.
Expense Management, For Travel Managers, Expense ReportsCost-effective Perks to Minimize (and Maximize!) Business Travelers’ Airport Time
We recently talked about how to keep your business travelers happy while maintaining cost control and avoiding expenses spiraling out of control. One of the biggest challenges many companies face is that those who travel the most are more likely to have specific preferences (hotel chains, airlines, etc.) that may not tally with your organization’s negotiated rates. While this can lead to friction, there are several ways that can both make your road warriors happier and more productive, and also keep the CFO smiling.
For Travel Managers, Business TravelOne-Stop-Shop vs. Best-of-Breed: What's Best for Travel and Expense?
One of the most common discussions in business software procurement has been that of one-stop-shop versus best-of-breed. Choose a single vendor for all aspects of a particular function, they say, and your organization will see wide-ranging benefits, from lower costs, to smoother integration, more straightforward support resolution, and so on.
For CFOs, For Travel ManagersHow Can You Maximize Expense Policy Compliance and Maintain Traveler Happiness?
Corporate travel and expense policy compliance is a constant theme in the business travel industry. Although using the corporate expense policy manual as a stick to beat your travelers may be a short-term solution to enforce compliance, it doesn’t address the underlying issues of why employees don’t adhere to the policy, and could also alienate travelers by imposing regulations that reduce productivity and create frustration.
For Travel Managers, Expense Policy9 Signs it’s Time to Switch Expense Management Systems
It’s not too long ago that the panacea to everyone’s expense problems was “get expense management automation software.” Anything was a quantum leap from having to staple or tape your receipts to a spreadsheet, then hand it into your accounting team, and then wait a pay cycle (or two) for them to be reviewed, and then go up the approval chain, and then finally to the payroll team who would often cut you a paper check... that you often had to take to the bank or ATM to deposit.
Expense Management, For Travel ManagersSeven tips for creating an expense policy that your employees will love (well, almost)
We’d all love to fly first class and eat steak dinners on somebody else’s dime, but if everyone did that, many companies would run out of cash pretty quickly. Therefore, creating a sensible expense policy is a must for any organization to both control costs and, as we recently said in our white paper, reduce business expense fraud. Without a clear policy, staff are left in the dark about what is and isn’t allowed, and will just assume how much they can spend. And we all know what “assume” does.
For Travel Managers, Expense Reports, Expense PolicyIntegrate Corporate Cards with your Travel and Expense Solution
I know, I know. The thought of employees running rampant with activated plastic in their hands can sound a little scary at first. Especially when we hear some of the real-life stories of poor decisions with corporate credit cards like lottery tickets, cosmetic surgery, and pet food!
But the flip side includes benefits for both your company and your weary business travelers. So whether your company calls them company cards, travel cards or T&E cards, consider these benefits:
For Travel ManagersExpense and Invoice Management Ethics 101
There are plenty of news items about corporate fraud involving supplier kickbacks and dishonest expense report schemes. Most of the examples are concerning because of the depravity, but some are rather funny.
