Managing business travel expenses is important for the health of a company. So these 3 best practices for managing business travel expenses will help you take the stress out of spending money when it comes to corporate trips.
How do you manage business travel expenses?
Business travel expenses: definition
Very simply, business travel expenses are all expenses incurred when travelling on business, i.e. for business purposes. Thus, it includes the costs of what is needed when travelling far away.
The 3 best practices for managing business travel expenses
1. Choose the method of payment for employees
In general, both of these options are preferred when travellers are paying for business travel. Depending on your company’s culture, you may ask your employees to:
- Pay in advance and then submit an expense report.
- Use a card linked directly to the company’s bank account.
The first method is often the one used by small and medium-sized companies because it is simpler. However, it is a time-consuming process for the administration. Therefore, by using a dedicated business travel platform such as Ayruu, you can eliminate the need for expense reports and save time and increase the productivity of your staff.
2. Clearly state the process for reimbursement of expenses
By establishing a clear process, you will avoid complaints and therefore mountains of emails. Here are some examples of processes to put in place:
- Forecasting expenses before a business trip.
- Specify the format in which to send receipts/invoices (e.g. PDF).
- Provide a schedule for sending expense reports.
- Establish a timeframe for reimbursement of business travel expenses.
3. Communicating the business travel policy
First, you can include your business travel expense policy in your business travel policy. Read about how to establish an effective travel policy.
In order to communicate and make clear your travel expense policy, you can for example send a quarterly email about your expense policy and your travel policy. Depending on the size of your company, this option may not be necessary. In this case, you can also inform your employees during a team meeting before their trip.
