Understanding How T & E Management Improves ROI

Selecting travel and expense report solution is a journey; you must balance the stakeholders’ requirements with the internal needs of the organization to find an ideal fit. Enterprises that want to replace the existing solution must be well-versed with technology types and deployment options as well as to leverage the benefits to the fullest. Here’s what you have to look in for online expense report software:

Travel-Booking Integration

Travel booking option is the first component of T & E expense management. Travel-related expenses are the primary expenses that pass through the expense report system. Corporate travelers are presented with numerous options for airfare and accommodation and will be given a preferred payment method with suppliers to capture discounts. Organizations experience compliance issues, and around 25% to 40% of travel is booked in a non-compliant manner. Automated travel booking helps corporate travelers stay in compliant with the organization’s policies.

Benefits of Automated Travel-booking

• Itinerary management
• Integration with expense reporting system facilitates easy report creation
• Capabilities to book flights, ground transportation, and accommodation
• Complete control over bookings
• Supports online and offline booking

Expense Management Automation

Manual expense management processes involve a lot of paper-functions; which would often result in inconsistencies, human errors, and inflated costs. Users can easily create and submit reports using expense report software, and these reports are reviewed and approved by managers, directors, or executives. The expenses will be reimbursed through payroll systems, direct deposit, or ACH payment processes.

Benefits of automating the expense reporting process

• Fully-automated expense reporting
• Receipt management
• Audit log
• Configurable policies
• Pre-trip authorization
• Tracking of billable and out-of-policy expenses
• Integration with other enterprise applications
• Corporate card feeds

T & E Expense Management Software

T & E expense management comprises of two aspects: corporate travel and employee expenses. With T & E expense software, organizations can expedite approval and reimbursement processes, improve compliance, and increase control over T & E spending. However, travel and expense software offer both travel booking and expense management under a unified solution.

Benefits of T & E Software

• Analytics provides actionable insights into data
• Accessibility to mobile app
• Direct import of travel details into expense reporting

Best-in-class businesses are more likely to leverage end-to-end solutions than other companies. Organizations have experienced lower processing costs and higher policy compliance compared to businesses that are not leveraging the technology.

Deployment Options

How the solutions are deployed is one key factor to consider before choosing the expense software. There are three deployment options available to organizations: Cloud-based technology, on-premise deployment, and a hybrid mix.

On-premise solutions

On-premise solutions are those that are hosted on the organization’s servers. On-premise solutions are traditional, and maintenance can be managed by the organization’s internal team.

Cloud-based software

Cloud-based solutions are preferred by most of the organizations today. The reasons are many — no software or installations are required for the end-user. The solutions can be accessed from the cloud anywhere, anytime. The maintenance and updates will be taken care by the vendors and you don’t have to worry about any data issues. Cloud-based software eliminates implementation issues and allows people to focus on actionable strategies supported by automation.

Hybrid deployment

Hybrid deployment, a mix of both on-premise and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) can help businesses maintain traditional installation while allowing them to access the benefits of the cloud. Flexibility in deployment should be a consideration for business. As business requirements and expense reporting trends change over time, the preferred delivery model also changes for companies handling expense reporting processes.

The Mobile Factor

Mobile applications are the most significant aspect of travel and expense management. Mobile apps put the T & E management into the hands of corporate travelers through smartphones and tablet devices.

Using mobile apps, corporate travelers can:

• File expense claims
• Approve expenses
• Capture receipts
• Book travel itineraries
• Gain real-time insights
• View flight status
• Read receipts

Mobile applications are evolving; as it facilitates employees to book travel directly from smartphones. This eliminates long waiting times and enables you to focus on other productive activities.