Business Travel Software That Takes the Headache Out of Planning

Streamline Expense Reporting With Business Travel Software

One of the biggest headaches of business travel is dealing with expense reports after the fact. But with the right software, you can make the entire expense reporting process a breeze.

The key is to capture receipts and details as you go. Take photos of receipts with your phone and upload them to your expense app right away. Add notes to jog your memory about the business purpose of meals, taxi rides or other charges.

Look for software that lets you create expense reports on the go. Some apps allow you to forward emailed receipts straight into a report, or quickly snap photos of receipts to itemize charges. The easier you make it to capture expenses in real time, the less hassle it will be to create accurate reports.

Automate Booking to Save Time and Money

Automating as much of your business travel booking as possible is a huge time-saver. Rather than spending hours searching multiple sites for the best deals, you can set up certain parameters once and the software will automatically book travel for you based on those preferences.

Save on Flights

Set your preferred airlines, seating class, departure and arrival airports or city pairs, and maximum fare you’re willing to pay. The software will monitor flight prices and book a ticket for you as soon as it finds one that meets your criteria.

Streamline Hotel Bookings

If you frequently travel to the same cities or stay at preferred hotel brands, you can automate booking your accommodation as well. Enter details like hotel star rating, amenities, loyalty program, and price range. The software will book a room for you at one of your preferred hotels as soon as there’s availability at your target rate.

Manage Ground Transportation

Don’t forget to include preferences for getting to and from the airport like public transit, ride-sharing, or shuttle services. The software can automatically schedule ground transportation to match your flight itinerary.

Stay Within Budget

Set a maximum trip budget and spending limits for each category like airfare, hotels, meals, and transportation. The software will search for and book options that fall within your budgetary constraints.

Automating the mundane parts of planning business trips ultimately gives you more time to focus on the important details.

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Increase Compliance and Enforce Travel Policies

Travel software can help increase compliance and enforce your company’s travel policies to avoid issues down the road.

1. Set Policy Parameters

Travel management software allows you to configure policies around budgets, expense limits, approved vendors, class of service, and more. Set caps on things like daily meal spend, hotel rates, and rental car options. The software will then flag any bookings that fall outside these limits for review before the trip is approved and paid for. This helps avoid wasted time correcting improper charges after the fact.

2. Automate Approval Workflows

Most travel software incorporates automated approval workflows to streamline the booking process. Employees submit a trip request which is then routed to the appropriate approvers based on parameters you set up. Approvers receive email notifications and can approve or deny requests with the click of a button.

3. Gain Visibility into Spend

Robust reporting and analytics give you insight into your organization’s travel spend – who’s traveling, where they’re going, how much is being spent, and whether it’s in line with budgets.

4. Enforce Pre-Trip Requirements

Travel software ensures employees have the proper documentation, training, or certifications required for their destination before departing on a trip. For example, you may require proof of a travel waiver for high-risk areas, completion of a defensive driving course for rental car access, or a valid passport with adequate remaining validity for international destinations.

Using dedicated business travel software to manage your program helps boost compliance, reduces costs, and gives you peace of mind that policies are being followed and spend is under control.

How to Gain Visibility Into Spending With Analytics and Reporting

Business travel can be complicated to organize and keep track of. Between booking flights and hotels, managing expenses, and keeping everything within budget, it’s easy for important details to slip through the cracks. Business travel management software helps simplify the process by giving you visibility and control over all parts of your company’s travel program.

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Choose the Right Features for Your Company’s Needs

Choosing business travel software that suits your company’s unique needs is key to streamlining the planning process. 

1. User-Friendly Interface

Look for an intuitive, easy-to-navigate interface. Your staff will appreciate software that doesn’t require hours of training to master. An interface with a modern, minimal design and logical menus will make it simple for anyone to use, regardless of their tech-savviness.

2. Customization Options

Select a solution that lets you customize the experience for your business. For example, the ability to set default passenger details, preferred vendors, budgets and approval processes. Software with open API’s also allows you to connect other internal systems. Customization means the software can mold to your existing operations rather than forcing you to change how you work.

3. Automated Workflows

Why waste time on repetitive, manual tasks when software can handle them for you? Look for a solution that automates as much of the booking and expense reporting process as possible.

4. Reporting and Analytics

Robust reporting and analytics tools provide data-driven insights to help improve your company’s travel program over time. Look for software that offers reports on metrics such as most popular destinations, biggest expense categories, unused tickets and more.

5. Customer Support

No matter how user-friendly the software is, your employees will likely need help getting started and may run into issues from time to time. Choose a solution that provides high-quality customer support to assist your team. Options such as phone support, live chat, email, knowledge bases and online tutorials make it easy to get answers quickly so any challenges with the software don’t hamper productivity.

Conclusion

With the array of business travel software on the market, take time to determine what capabilities would benefit your company the most. Focus on solutions that not only simplify the planning and booking experience but also provide data and insights to gain greater control and visibility over your travel program. The right software can save you time, money and a whole lot of headache.

Originally posted 2024-01-13 00:54:33.