Travel is an essential part of any business expansion. From setting up offices to meeting clients and assessing business requirements, all require corporates to travel, which is a lengthy and compliance bound process. A corporate travel management solution helps with the strategic management of travel requirements and simplifies the business travel process.
Let us evaluate the corporate travel management software and discover how it is proving to be a game changer, through this blogpost.
Need for a corporate travel management
Basically, travel management refers to the management of business travel requirements, which typically involves everything from establishing a travel policy, to dealing with vendors, making bookings, monitoring and managing travel costs, logging expenses and initiating timely reimbursements.
In the past, a travel management company was assigned the job of managing travel for a business associate or employee. Besides managing travel requirements and handling the logistics, a travel management company would aim to save their client time and money too. However, in the fast-changing industry, companies of all sizes need to ensure the best balance of travel value and cost savings.
Challenges of corporate travel management
The Forrester survey states that travel and expense are the second most challenging operational costs to control in the business. It is indeed an uphill task to manage the entire process for each employee. It comes with its unique set of challenges. Here are a few:
• Delayed claims and reimbursements
• Late response hamper employee-employer relationship
• Man-hours wasted expense report reconciliations
• Prone to human errors and delays
• Ensuring compliance with organisational travel policies
• Identifying and managing duplicate/fraudulent claims
A corporate travel management software can help an organization automate manual processes, realize cost savings, optimize value, safety, efficiency and ensure organizational policy compliance.
What is a Corporate Travel Management software?
According to Gartner, “Corporate Travel Management Software empowers organizations to streamline the process of arranging travels and managing all travel-related expenses while complying with corporate travel policies. The software allows employees to book, manage and track trips without the intervention of any specialist agents. These trips can be approved and reimbursed by the administrators through an automated approval workflow. Organizations use software to create travel data reports as well as to gain insights to control and optimize their travel spend.”
In organizations without an integrated travel management software, employees need to take paper-based approvals from managers, book business travel through a website or travel agency, then submit an expense form to be reimbursed. The modern corporate travel management software already includes the company travel policy and approval workflows. This software also includes company payment details so the employee can pay for the travel without reimbursement, and the company is able to easily reconcile expenses and disburse reimbursements.
Automated Corporate Travel Management Software
Automating the entire business travel process can make it transparent, time & cost efficient, streamlined, and simplified, while increasing compliance and accountability. Automation of corporate travel management implies to paper free documentations, no spreadsheet reconciliations, reduced admin work, and faster processing. Also, an integrated travel and expense management software can improve your organization’s compliance rates and eliminate fraudulent expenditures.
Here’s how automating your manual corporate travel management system, can be beneficial for your business:
• Minimum error rates.
• Increase accuracy.
• Average handling time reduced by 85%.
• Quick and better ROI.
• Approximately 2% cost saved with improved regulatory compliance.
• Reduced employee attrition due to quick approvals and reimbursements
Features of an automated corporate travel management software
The corporate travel and expense software enables employees to plan, take travel approvals, record travel expenses, and claim reimbursements, while managers can approve the travel plans and reconcile travel claims. However, this is just the basic function of a corporate travel management software. Organizations use the travel and expense tracking software to simplify purchasing decisions and centralize records of travelling employees. Organizations and managers receive extensive reports and can reimburse employees for major travel expenses borne. Today, the software is available on the cloud, enabling real-time planning and travel workflow to take place, ensuring an efficient and swift travel process.
Consider the following features of a good corporate travel and expense management solution:
Interactive booking interface
Employees are able to find the best options and rates on an easy-to-use, integrated interface.
Set pre-approvals
Simplify and streamline workflow with travel request verification prior to purchase.
Integrated compliance
Pre-configure your organizational policies, ensuring that all travel booked through the software will automatically be within policy.
AI-assisted travel booking
Integrated artificial intelligence (AI) automatically develops an understanding of travel preferences of travelling employees.
Travel history
See all trips and a full history of travel spend for every employee with monthly invoice reports.
Robust Reporting
Real-time reporting of travel and expenses of travelling employees.
24/7 Support
When you need more than a virtual travel assistant, real human support is available anytime.
Employee satisfaction
The software reflects negotiated rates and ensure businesses get the most from their journey, with enhanced travel experience.
Real-time communication
The travel management platform keeps all travel details in one place, streamlining the process and giving valuable time back to the traveler.
TESS360 — the online corporate travel manager
TESS360 guides employees through every trip, effortlessly populates charges into expense reports, automates invoice approvals, ensures policy compliance, and enables timely travel reimbursement. Our corporate travel and expense management software assists both employees and finance teams with effortless management of travel and related spending.
TESS360 helps in streamlining your entire travel and travel-expense reimbursement processes while ensuring employees submit policy compliant expense reports. Our end-to-end expense tracker takes the stress out of expense reporting so your people can focus on your business and deliver better employee experiences.
Consider the features of TESS360:
• Easily book your trip with our travel integrations
• Well-defined templates for raising travel requests and approvals
• Better travel spend management with automated approval & control
• Quick reimbursements of travel expenses with automated control
• Scan expense receipts with OCR to file claims
• Real time management of the entire travel process
• Configure travel policies for different roles in the organization
Orchestrate better business travel management with our automation solution to optimize both effort and cost. Connect with our experts to understand how TESS360 can help streamline your corporate travel management and expense operations.
