{"id":17313,"date":"2021-02-16T02:09:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T02:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itilite.com\/?p=2366"},"modified":"2024-01-11T17:33:15","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T17:33:15","slug":"travel-expense-automation-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itilite.com\/in\/blog\/travel-expense-automation-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"Where are you in the Journey of Travel & Expense Automation?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Business travel and expense is the second-largest operating cost for many companies, surpassed only by payroll. Businesses spend an average of 8 to 12 % of their annual budget on travel and related expenses, making it all the more critical to manage it smartly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are various ways to manage business travel and expenses, from manual to fully automated T&E (Travel & Expense) solutions. Even though companies are receptive to adopting technology when it comes to managing their business travel and expenses, they usually do it in stages – from automating a part of the process to using an end-to-end Travel & Expense management solution – as they mature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though each stage of T&E automation has its added benefits, the adoption of technology in stages often causes companies to lose out on potential savings with the time lost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, choosing the best-in-class, fully automated T&E solution<\/a> is always profitable. It streamlines the business travel processes with a reduced burden on staff supporting the Travel & Expense and keeps a close eye on spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read along to find the different stages of T&E automation and the benefits of having a fully automated T&E solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stages of Travel & Expense Automation Journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Stage 1: Digital Uninformed: Manual management <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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Companies manage their business travel with external vendors and manage expenses manually on paper or spreadsheet.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Here’s how a manual T&E management process looks like, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre Trip Planning: <\/strong>It starts with an employee writing an email to her manager seeking travel approval. Once the manager approves, the employee routes the mail to HR, finance, and travel managers for travel & accommodation booking and expenses preapprovals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post Trip Expense Reporting: <\/strong>Once the employee is back from the trip she has to claim her travel expenses by filling out a paper-based reimbursement form. Submitting it along with physical copies of all the receipts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The form and bills are then routed to the supervisor for approval or sent directly to the accounting team without any review. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finance Team Audit: <\/strong>The accounting team then analyzes the expense reimbursement report<\/a> and tallies it against the submitted bills. They may return the report to the employees for additional information or clarification if needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expense Reimbursement: <\/strong>Once the manual tally of expenses is done, the report is sent to accounts payable. Someone from the account processing team will then enter the expense data on the ledger, and the employee expenses are reimbursed<\/a> as per the company\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Problems with Manual T&E Management <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Manual processes are time-consuming; it takes about 18 days to process expenses after the submission<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. It is difficult to implement policy compliance while managing T&E on paper, leaving room for fraudulent behavior<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. It provides poor visibility on how the money has been spent, preventing control on expense budget<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. It is labor-intensive, with a high burden on the finance teams, making it expensive to manage.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Not only manual T&E management is prone to higher chances of error and is time-consuming; in more than 80% of such cases, the cost of processing an expense report is significantly higher than the expense listed on the invoice.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Implementing travel expense automation can help streamline your business travel expense management process, saving you time and potentially reducing costs. If you’re considering automating your travel expenses, you may be wondering how much you could save. Try using our savings calculator to estimate your potential savings on corporate travel expenses by implementing travel expense automation. Click here to access the calculator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\"New\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t