For any company, the process for attending to employee business travel can create many challenges. This does include the employees as well as management, although the concerns of either camp may be slightly different. However, when it comes to travel expense management, the actionables for either side do overlap, and create areas where automation and integration can be beneficial.

Considering The Alternatives

As paper work and workflow can often become cumbersome in travel expense management, the use of alternative methods such as expense software and automation are highly attractive to many businesses. Further, concerns over questionable spending also lead managers to try and find better means of monitoring these expenses. This also makes automation software for expense reports a viable option to satisfy these needs.

It should also be noted that automation for travel expense management can benefit the employee who is on the road as well. Along with a reduction of paperwork and lag times with reimbursement, this software can be fully integrated to attend to many variables that arise with travel.

Benefits For All

As mentioned, while the focus for travel expense management may be different for certain staff in the company, the function of automated software can still be applicable to this wide variety of concerns.

• Receipt capture – mobile receipt capture lets employees easily record their expenses, while managers and administrators can see these charges already assigned through a report from the mobile device.
• Mileage reports – automated travel expense management can utilize mobile devices and GPS to accurately show routes and distances, which lets the employee focus on the travel, and ensures that managers receive correct information.
• Travel updates – mobile devices also play a strong part in the integrated network from this aspect, as it can alert travelers and managers of delays, as well as changes in travel plans.
• Quick booking – automated travel expense management can further aid managers and employees by allowing for hotel bookings and rentals through the expense report software.
• Trip notifications – employees can receive alerts regarding their upcoming travel, and managers can trust that these reminders will eliminate delays. Further these alerts can indicate to both managers and employees what need for accommodations or rentals is necessary, and this allow for better pro-active budgeting in travel expense management.