Top 7 Expense Management Challenges For Business Travel

Ineffective travel and expense procedures leave your employees annoyed and cause a lack of visibility on where your money is exactly going. Error-prone spreadsheets and slow reimbursements are major frustrations when doing travel and expense management.

Today, globalization, enterprise mobility, and international evolution are the root causes for a rise in travel expenses for a business. So one of the major challenges for businesses is managing travel and expenses successfully. The major goal is to cut down on manual processes, save money, and reduce employee time spent on travel and expense management.

If you can overcome the challenges below, your business will be in good standing:

• Lack of Visibility
  Are your employees spending extra money on food or in-room purchases while traveling? Spending cannot be optimized unless it is seen and addressed. Employees should use corporate credit cards for travel. This card ensures that all expenses are tracked and monitored, and can factor in rules like that funds can be spent only if the manager approves the amount.
  
• Late Submission of Expense Reports
  Submission of expense reports in a timely manner improves the quality and efficiency of the overall travel and expense process. Ultimately incorrect report submissions can lead to lost receipts, errors, and cause mistakes that need special handling for approval. Creating time sensitive deadlines in the expense management software, with email reminders, will help compliance.

• Employee Reimbursements are taking months
  Employees often are bothered by any delay in reimbursements, they can even be so upsetting that it causes them to leave their job. Delays made in approving or having to chase down employees for missed receipts are some of the primary causes for postponed reimbursements. Notifications and reminders via the automated email system can streamline the approval process.
  
• Error in Data Entry
  Spreadsheets are still prevalent in many organizations and require extensive manual data entry, often leading to costly mistakes. An automated system, like the integrated travel booking and expense management platform from SutiSoft, can help to identify discrepancies and avoid mistakes between booking amounts and spending, all while being able to access the data quickly.
  
• Excessive Travel Costs
  Managing travel expenses can be challenging, especially for larger companies. Growth in the volume of expenditures requires the finance team to put in more effort and time, leading to higher processing costs. This causes difficulty for organizations when trying to control unnecessary spending. Travel costs can be easily controlled by limiting the necessary trips.
  
• Uncertain Policies
  Any difficulty in understanding the travel expense policies can cost more money for the business in the long run. An employee, who is having trouble understanding whether something falls under the approved category of spending, will unexpectedly charge unauthorized purchases. With clear and well-communicated policies, the employees will be empowered with education and likely not make purchases outside of the company guidelines.
  
• Unofficial Bookings
  Employees desire reputable travel policies so at the time of booking their flights and hotel, they can ensure comfort. In such cases, a comparison can be drawn by reviewing the initial booking costs versus the actual expenses. Further, noting in the policies document that unofficial costs will not be reimbursed can be very beneficial. 

  To Sum it Up:With outdated or inconvenient systems in place, effective travel management can be a very tricky procedure. Travel expenses can be organized by distinguishing problem areas and implementing the best solution for your business, along with simple management strategies.