TAKING BETTER CONTROL OF YOUR TRAVEL BUDGET - BizTripz
WHITEPAPERTAKING BETTERCONTROL OFYOUR TRAVELBUDGETTravel Management Done Right
ContentsIntroduction. 3What is Travel Budget Management?.4The Main Challengesfor Corporate Travel Budgets.5Managing a Large Number of Travel Requests.5Automated Tracking of Approvals.6Keeping Spending or Expenditures in Check.6Letting the Employees serve themselves.6.Reducing Errors and Being Flexible.7Effective Reduction ofCorporate Travel Expenses.8An Authentic Travel Management Technology.8Review and Determine the Value of the Travel.9Controlling and Monitoring the Travel Budget.10Follow a Pre-Trip Approval Process.10Make Savings on Airfares or Flight Tickets.11Some Post-COVID thoughts.12Benefits of Having a TravelManagement Service like BizTripz.15Controlling Quick Adding up of Travel Expenses.16Expenditure on Cancelled for Nonexistent Trips.16Absence of Cost Comparisons forIndividual Travel Expenses.17Last-Minute booking for Hotels and Flights.17Disorganized Spending on Incidental Costs.18Absence of a Consistent Policy Enforcement.18Conclusion. 19 WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget2
IntroductionMany businesses often point to travel expenses as one of theirbiggest budget items. It is important to adopt the necessaryTaking control of acompany’s travel budgetinvolves setting adequateguidelines regardingacceptable travelexpenses the firm iswilling to shoulder.steps to keep travel expenses under control. Usually planningand executing a corporate travel budget will need completeinvolvement and approval from the key stakeholders of yourcompany. Be it a business-sponsored vacation or a trip relatedto an important project, the process of budget planningassociated with it can be very complex. To ensure a satisfyingas well as seamless travel experience to all employees ortravelers, a well-planned travel budget is vital.Taking ambient control of a company’s travel budget involvessetting adequate guidelines regarding the acceptable travelexpenses the firm is willing to shoulder. It is also vital to makesure that these investments and expenses made will generateto the business in the long run. To reach your corporate travelobjectives and goals, consolidation of your corporate travelprogram with an efficient travel management company isnecessary.Professional travel management companies and businesstravel solutions like BizTripz are capable of assisting with thenegotiation of discounts for hotels, car rentals, and air travel.This will surely result in a professional as well as a moreeffective travel solution for your corporation. Moreover, thiswill maximize return on your travel expenditure and also helprealize cost savings.To define functional parameters for transportation usage andtravel authorization it is crucial to implement a travel policy. WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget3
Installing proper controls ensures the dollars spend onbusiness travel are not being wasted. A systematic policyalways addresses expense reimbursement procedures and thespending limits. Appointing a travel coordinator in yourorganization can ease the process of handling the travelarrangements with the travel management company. Thisindividual or coordinator should be aware of the rviceimprovements as well as the opportunities for cost savings.What is Travel Budget Management?The travel cost management is simply a structure that acompany has in place to facilitate oversee the business-relatedtravels. It involves the processes of planning a trip for payingas well as booking for everything necessary. This also includesnecessary documents and approvals needed to ensurecompliance.Some organizations outsource the task of travel managementto some specialized travel agencies while others often bring indedicated travel managers. However, automating much of thetravel management is a better option for everyone in theorganizations. WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget4
The Main Challenges forCorporate Travel BudgetsInconsistent anddisparate nature of triprequisition and approvalinteractions distract thestaff from what theyshould be doing.Most businesses often struggle the most in the area ofcompany travel. The business travels usually cost great effortand serious time just to handle what should be simple tasks.Managing a Large Number of Travel RequestsMost companies have dedicated staff or officers who areeventually responsible for the monitoring as well as approvalof travels. For instance, in large business firms there will be adedicated travel manager. Whereas in growing or smallercompanies, this role often falls to someone who works in thefinance teams or the administration. Often travel managementis considered as just one of the jobs of these dedicated staff.When a large number of travel requests occur in a company,the tasks of analyzing and approving them become a realburden. The staff do not always follow the proper procedureswhen many requests are coming from all over the business.The trip approvals are tedious processes most of the timewhich involves sending emails, slack messages, and employeescoming to see the respected professional in person. Theinconsistent and disparate nature of these interactionsdistracts the staff from what they should be doing. WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget5
Automated Tracking of Approvals.The finance persons or the admins of an organization need totrack travel requests. Besides, they also need to make surethat the travel plan has been authorized by the rightauthorities or people. Hence a manager or team leader in somecompanies often requires the CEO’s sign-off.Here is where an automated travel management system canbe truly helpful. The approval process becomes more hasslefree, so that each manager can give their consent and getnotified without anyone having to leave their desk.Keeping Spending or Expenditures in CheckTravel is essential for business growth as well as a principalpart of running a company successfully. The bills and expensesrelated to business trips can be often higher than expected.This swollen travel budgets lead the managers to start turningdown reasonable requests. Businesses often make the bookingthrough travel agents and they often don't access the low-costor budget-friendly inventory.Letting the Employees serve themselvesMany companies manage costs and keep compliant byfollowing the easiest way of booking trips for team members.But the burden can be lightened for finance staff and admin ifthe organizations let the employees arrange their travel. Mostof the time the employees want to manage their itineraries. WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget6
For some business travel is a chance to visit somewhere newor a fun experience. And for more seasoned travelers they arewell aware of what works for them. Therefore, if they feelThe objective of manyorganizations is to beable to let the employeesserve themselveswithout costing thebusiness money.forced into taking certain options which they don’t preferpersonally, then this removes some of the charm.The goal or objective of many organizations is to be able to letthe employees serve themselves without costing the businessmoney. A good travel management system makes this optionmore likely and entirely possible.Reducing Errors and Being FlexibleRules and restrictions are necessary for business travel but theemployees are happiest when they have a little freedom whileon the trip. To keep the team members satisfied and to savemoney, it is recommended that the organizations maintain abroad travel inventory.Incomplete expense claims, lost receipts and incorrect types ofexpenses cause financial burden to the companies. Sometimesit is difficult to find out who approved the financial expenses ofa particular trip. Travel management platforms like BizTripzensure smooth travel request approvals and workflowsthrough an automated travel requisition system.To make the process of travel management and budget controlless painful, a high number of touches like extra emails tomanagers for approval can be avoided. Too many travel ruleswill often be confusing. Filing receipts or filing printeddocuments, unnecessary manual steps as well as unclearprocesses need to be eliminated. WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget7
Effective Reduction ofCorporate Travel ExpensesIf a company has lots of employees flying or traveling todifferent locations during different times, then corporatetravel savings might be a challenge. However, there arenumerous ways for keeping costs down without having tocompromise on services and safety for the traveler.Organizations should keep track of the expenditures andtravel patterns. This is a requisite for the successful reductionof corporate travel expenses. Data collection is one of themajor elements used to manage unused tickets and monitortravel expenses. BizTripz can be an intelligent business travelpartner that can bring unique benefits to your organization.An Authentic Travel Management TechnologyBusinesses or firms that are not taking advantage of any sortof travel management platform usually lack ies.Thetravelmanagement programs empower CFOs by giving them a realtime insight into the mitigate risk and spending of theiremployees. Also, a good travel management technology likeBizTripz streamlines the booking as well approval process foreach employee. BizTripz is a travel management firm thatavails services through mobile apps.Your travel management company should be capable ofproviding all mandatory services including solving travelinterruptions, booking, monitoring travelers’ safety, andexpense reporting via its mobile app. Such mobile applicationsshould be developed and launched in a way that the employees WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget8
“can access it on the go or while on a trip. The mobile app fromBizTripz offers all these business travel services. It is time foran upgrade if you have been using the same trip managementBe fearless in thepursuit of what setsyour soul on fire.”company for over many years and the service package hasn’tchanged yet.A disjointed reimbursement, approval and payment processwill drive up the costs or the travel budget. A Travel program— Jennifer Leethat is not capable of consolidating these processes will becausing cloud visibility into the expenses made by employees.Further such an inefficient program will leave unnecessaryroom for errors. Hence it is advised to adopt a centralizedtechnology solution like BizTripz, which is an effectual methodto gather data insights into the travel budget.Review and Determine the Value of the TravelBefore listing down the necessary and possible trips for theupcoming year, it is recommended to examine the value thesetrips would bring to your company. The most obvious andexpected value that these staff trips can bring is animprovement in sales. By sending your workers to differentdestinations, they will be able to market, promote and sell yourproducts to the local markets. Whereas a trip to a seminar or ajob-related workshop might improvise your employees’knowledge as well as skills. This would in turn increase theirproductivity at work.The BizTripz allows you to evaluate the value of each travelplan and will help to prioritize them according to theirimportance. This allows the companies to make a clear WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget9
judgment regarding which travel propositions need furtherassessment and which trips to approve.It is recommended tohave an approval systemin place for every bookingso that the costs can bereduced wisely.Controlling and Monitoring the Travel BudgetEmployees are always one of the major assets for anycompany. Therefore, enough budget should be allocated fortheir work-related travels and business trips. No organizationwants to sacrifice the comfort of their staff, just because thefirm thinks that these trips will not bring any immediate valueor growth to the company.A smart solution like BizTripz prioritizes the safety of theemployee while on a trip and eliminates the risks of youremployees getting lost when traveling to an unfamiliar city. ntinuous and uninterrupted monitoring of the spending orexpenditure made by the employees.Follow a Pre-Trip Approval ProcessFollowing a pre-trip approval process is considered as one ofthe simplest ways to reduce your corporate travel. It isrecommended to have an approval system in place for everybooking so that the costs can be reduced wisely. Thecancellation of trips after they’ve been booked triggers wastedexpenditure. To eliminate this problem, it should be made clearwho needs to approve each travel.It is advised to make full use of the online booking tools bypartnering with an authentic travel technology company. Bydoing so the companies will get better oversight when it comes WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget10
“to setting up travel arrangements. Such tools allow theorganizations to monitor all their bookings easily as well asMan cannot discovernew oceans unlesshe has the courage tolose sight of theshore.”decide which of its staff can book their hotels and flights.Hence the companies will be able to take immediate action iftheir employees venture outside their travel policy.The well-versed team of BizTripz has developed a solution formonitoring travel budget by introducing multilevel tripapprovals. It is a single platform that addresses unique travelprocurements of each travel group. Multilevel trip approvals— Andre Gidecan be customized according to each company’s requirementsby using this software. One of the main highlights of thisunique software is the fastest approval by the officials undervarious levels of an organization.Additionally, this application also supports pre-trip requestapprovals. This facilitates smooth control of the entire travelexpenses. By automating the entire pre-trip approval process,filtering of trip requests and expense management can bedone effortlessly. This platform has also launched anintegrated solution for managing all travel budgets throughauto-scan expense receipts.The main highlight of this system of scanning receipts is that itallows the employees to qualify for quick reimbursement.Furthermore, BizTripz has an added advantage of on-timenotification about reimbursements.Make Savings on Airfares or Flight TicketsAirline tickets can be expensive most of the time. Beforesending employees on business trips, the companies can save WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget11
on the tickets by being flexible on the airline they use and thedates of travel. The travel budget can be controlled by bookingEconomy flights only.Moreover, the organizations can massively reduce yourcorporate travel costs by getting alerts for discounted rates aswell as airfare promotions. The innovative travel managementsoftware available in the markets today search for the mostcompetitive rates and the best prices on airfares.Some Post-COVID thoughtsMost Organizations are focused on cutting costs andmanaging budgets these days. Many travel service providersincluding airlines, hotels and car rentals are going through anextremely difficult time due to the significant impact of Covid19. The companies must have a proper travel managementpolicy to manage the travel expenses and ensure the safety ofemployees who are traveling. Companies usually undergo astrategic evaluation every half a year. This is done to monitorthe alignment and progression of goals following its strategies,objectives, and vision. Yet, in light of current events, thisstrategic evaluation needs to be conducted every week asmany firms fight for their survival during this time ofheightened uncertainty.Majority of organizations have cut an array of operatingexpenses due to Covid-19. These expenditures includerecruitment costs, marketing, business travel, and staffadjustments. Most companies have taken to cash conservationto weather this storm. Instead of sending their employees on WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget12
business trips to participate in conferences, many companieshave invested in virtual tools such as Zoom and Google meet.The travel industry hadcome to a grinding haltduring the early days ofthe pandemic, but isexpected to quicklyrecover.Although these online conference tools have been around forsome time and have always been a cheaper option forcorporates, the travel restrictions imposed by the authoritiesalong with the pressure to cut costs have now left them withlittle choice.Business transportation and travel costs have significantlydeclined due to a major lack of accessibility. And the travelspace is not expected to return to normality for a sustainedperiod due to this pandemic. Therefore, internal strategies andtravel policies within every company are likely to undergosignificant evaluation. Cost cuts to areas such as businesstravel budgets may remain in place post-pandemic, when thethreat of a global recession is predicted by experts for mostindustries.The travel industry had come to a grinding halt during theearly days of the pandemic, but is quickly recovering. It was theresult of the imposition of travel bans as well as curfew acrossthe world. It is unclear when travel restrictions wouldcompletely ease. Travel management companies are nowdevising ways to engage with customers, working on newbusiness plans, and training staff to adapt to a post-COVID-19business environment.A few things that you should consider while planningcorporate travel post-COVID-19: WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget13
Almost all industries have had a tough time, there’s nodoubt that control over spending and traveler safetyshould be the top priority It is important to give your employees an exhaustive listof safe hotels and flights so that your employees can savecosts as well as travel safe It is vital to design a strong travel policy that gives ahassle-free booking experience and encourages positivebehavior (check out our whitepaper on writing effectivetravel policies here) Maintain proper reporting and analytics regarding thetravel budgets and tightly track the spends as theyhappen Implement adequate techniques and tools you can use tostretch your travel budget Choose travel program partners who can be transparentManaging money andbudget is important at alltimes. but it becomesessential especiallyduring a crisis like thecoronavirus pandemic.in transactions and help control and monitor the spendand travel budget efficiently.The priority should be to protect the organization and theemployees. Considering a good travel management service likeBizTripz helps the companies to keep travel procurementunder strict scrutiny.Opting an effective travel management company allowsdetermining ways to manage the finances better, which couldbe very useful even after the end of this pandemic. Managingmoney and budget is important at all times. but it becomes WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget14
essential especially during a crisis like the omeeconomicconsequences already. Using exceptional spending proceduresand existing budgetary flexibility will be helpful during thistime. Though this is not an ideal situation, succeedingfinancially through this crisis may sometimes mean cutting outor cutting back certain expenses altogether to stay afloat.Revising and reviewing your company budget should be acritical part of your coronavirus response strategy.Benefits of Having a TravelManagement Service like BizTripzHiring a corporate travel specialist will help your organizationto rein in the company’s overall travel spend. As experts in thefield of travel budget control, BizTripz implement customizedservices and travel management programs. It is an industryleading travel support that effectively reduces the time,money, and stress involved in making a travel plan.The platform of BizTripz helps to identify on-site offers andpromotions on airfares and hotels. This software bringstogether data such as non-trip expenses like business meals aswell as trip expenses such as airfares. This data gives a firm fullvisibility of all its travel arrangements and hence helps to makesignificant reductions in the costs. WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget15
Controlling Quick Adding up of Travel ExpensesIf not carefully planned, the business travel expenses can spiralout of control. It is vital to eliminate unnecessary spending.Otherwise it might lead the travel expenses to add up quicklyto a degree that the company is forced to curb back travelaltogether.Trip authorizations and control of business travel budgets aremade easier than ever through the BizTripz application. Thisapp follows a strategic approach and deliberate effort tominimize the travel expenses for your organization. The dayto-day management of the company’s travel packages can bejudiciously done using the BizTripz.Expenditure on Cancelled for Nonexistent TripsAny sort of spending made on a trip that is canceled or neveractually is inherently wasteful. For instance, the expenses canbe massive in scenarios where one of the company employeesbooks a hotel and flight but get sick the day prior. In suchcases, the tickets tend to go unused in the absence of strategictravel planning efforts. This lack of comparison can cause apotential loss to the travel budget of a company.These risks can be mitigated to a great extent by theenforcement and booking of suitable travel insurance policies.If any change of plans takes place for a planned trip, thenadopting and enforcing a more strategic process will allow foralternative solutions. WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget16
Absence of Cost Comparisons forIndividual Travel ExpensesA strategic plan is vitalsince it outlines whenaccommodations need tobe booked and when tripswill occur.Often individual employees book a hotel accommodation orflight ticket according to their personal preferences. Forinstance, a company employee or HR professional makes quickbookings from a most familiar website. This non-strategicapproach usually becomes wasteful. It is advised to compareseveral travel packages and transportation tickets beforemaking a final decision or choice.Adopting a streamlined process while booking corporatetravel for your organization helps to compare prices in a morestrategical manner. A strategic process also assists thecompanies to take advantage of discounts that arise as a resultof travel reward programs.Last-Minute booking for Hotels and FlightsFor any type of travel the staff makes, if the company makes alate booking for travel or accommodation tickets, then surelythe rates would be higher. When your office team books theirtravel late for hotels and airlines, the whole trip can becomemore expensive. For instance, imagine a scenario of sending adepartment supervisor for an important business meeting or acompany presentation, but making the flight bookings only aweek before the departure. In such situations there is noflexibility of ticket prices.A strategic plan is vital since it outlines when accommodationsneed to be booked and when trips will occur. Such a systematicplan can effectively help mitigate costs. Proper planning WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget17
results in greater control and enhanced flexibility of thecorporate travel cost savings.Disorganized Spending on Incidental CostsOverspending on amenities and meals constitute a majorpercentage of the overall expenses made on a trip. Forinstance, surveys indicate that meals are one of the singlebiggest average expenses on a business trip. Most of the timethis expensive more than hotel or plane tickets. If the travelerdoes not manage incidental expenses wisely, then the totaltravel cost can balloon.Employees will not be always aware of how much they canspend on meals on an average. There are possibilities thatthese employees might place an order for a steak on theircorporate card while they are out. An efficient system likeBizTripz manages all trips from one place, easily maintainstraveler profiles as well as track or keep a close eye on allincidental costs. As a result, the careless spending onincidental costs can be reduced to a great extent.Absence of a Consistent Policy EnforcementA lack of consistent policy is usually the reason why the travelbudget of an organization is out of control. If there is no policyguiding them, the employees will not be aware of what is anacceptable amount they are allowed to spend during a typicalbusiness trip.Only a comprehensive travel policy can get the travel budgetunder control. BizTripz informs the employees about the WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget18
business travel expense etiquette that is needed to befollowed. It is a one-stop-solution for managing transparencyto every transaction made. Using this application, the travelerscan be given an idea on instructions they need to follow whilemaking payments using their company cards. To ensurecompliance, the consistent enforcement of travel policy isneeded.ConclusionExpert business travel management strategies open up a worldof efficiencies as well as savings for your organization. Tosignificantly reduce the corporate budget, it is advised to applyefficient cost reduction strategies on your travel and relatedexpenses.Every organization should make use of technology to getdeeper insights about their travel program, especially withregards to avoidable errors, timely refunds and unwantedbookings before the spending takes place. Innovativetechnologies can help employees to follow corporate travelpolicies and hence reduce the company’s travel retechnology and travel management applications helps everycompany to take better control over their travel budgets. BizTripz Solutions Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reservedwww.biztripz.com WhitepaperTaking Better Control ofYour Travel Budget19
travelers, a well-planned travel budget is vital. Taking ambient control of a company's travel budget involves setting adequate guidelines regarding the acceptable travel expenses the firm is willing to shoulder. It is also vital to make sure that these investments and expenses made will generate to the business in the long run.
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