Corporate travel management is a dynamic and complex process. Enterprises often need help to enhance process efficiency despite deploying in-house travel managers. Likewise, global inflation makes it difficult for them to increase the ROI of business travel by achieving cost efficiency.
Company travel software makes it easier for companies and startups to improve process efficiency and cost-efficiency through automation. The leading company travel management solutions automate several steps in the process by providing features and tools.
Also, they create opportunities for managers to make informed decisions based on the latest business travel statistics and data. Hence, company travel software has revolutionized domestic and international business travel in several ways.
We can understand the transformative impact of the special-purpose software application on business travel based on some of its essential features and benefits.
9 Ways the Company Travel Software Has Been Revolutionizing Business Travel
- T&E Policy Compliance
While making business travel arrangements, employees refer to the organizational travel and expense (T&E) policy to book the right travel product. Likewise, the predefined guidelines help them identify and avoid non-reimbursable travel expenses.
Travel management software facilitates the implementation of granular T&E policies. The travel manager can divide the guidelines into small sections. Each work traveler can access relevant T&E rules using the software.
At the same time, the software ensures policy compliance by recommending only in-policy travel products and flagging out-of-policy travel expenses. In addition, it sends automated notifications to travel managers when an employee violates predefined T&E policies.
- Travel Booking Efficiency
Leading company travel management solutions facilitate self-booking. By accessing an extensive travel inventory, employees can use the software to book the desired flights, accommodations, car rentals, and other travel products.
The new-age software further recommends the appropriate travel products to employees based on their booking history and travel preferences. At the same time, it simplifies business travel booking by supporting multiple currencies and payment options.
Employees can further use the same software to cancel or reschedule bookings without visiting the websites of travel suppliers. The increased travel booking efficiency helps employees make business travel arrangements without neglecting their professional responsibilities.
- Travel Risk Management
Employees can only accomplish business travel goals by mitigating various travel risks. Company travel software providers help reduce business travel risks by providing 24/7 support. A work traveler can use the software to interact with a skilled travel consultant using famous communication channels like phone, email, and instant chat.
In addition, the software helps them manage emerging travel risks by delivering real-time information like flight status and travel guidelines. The travel risk management feature allows employees access to the information and support required to engage in business travel confidently and safely.
- Duty of Care
Duty of care has become an integral part of modern business travel management. Employers must meet this legal obligation by ensuring the safety and security of each employee traveling for business. Company travel software helps them provide the safety and security of work travelers by featuring duty-of-care solutions.
Leading providers provide emergency assistance to employees across destinations by partnering with global health and security risk management firms. Hence, it becomes easier for employers to meet duty of care obligations without escalating costs.
- Expense Reporting Automation
Company travel software helps you switch from paper-based expense reporting to digital expense reports. It enables employees to generate automated expense reports by scanning receipts and invoices. Hence, employees can submit digital expense reports without making data entry errors and executing expense fraud.
At the same time, the finance team can review and process the automated expense reports without putting in extra time and effort. The expense reporting automation helps enterprises keep work travelers stress-free and motivated after business trips by reducing expense reimbursement time.
- Expense Tracking and Auditing
Company travel solutions feature intuitive dashboards. Managers can use the dashboard to track and monitor travel expenses in real-time. The real-time spending visibility helps them boost the travel management process by making informed financial decisions.
In addition, the software enables them to reduce the time and resources required to audit travel expenses regularly. While reviewing expense reports, approvers make various comments and remarks. The business travel software creates a digital audit trail by capturing those comments.
The software further enables auditors to access digital receipts and invoices instantly. Hence, it becomes easier for enterprises to enhance policy compliance and control costs by auditing travel expenses regularly.
- Custom Report Generation
Travel managers can use the dashboard to generate and schedule various reports. They can use the software to create custom reports based on real-time T&E data. The reports help them analyze the T&E data using multiple parameters and metrics. They can share the reports with the finance team to make budgets and predict cash flow based on real-time data.
- T&E Data Management
The company travel software comes with several features to simplify data management. It mitigates the risk of identity theft and financial fraud by enabling employees to book business trips without visiting external websites. In addition, the software captures data from the expense reports automatically.
It further stores the information in a centralized location. The new-age travel management solutions analyze the T&E data analytics using advanced data analytics. Decision-makers can leverage the business travel statistics and data-driven insights the software shares to refine policies and control costs.
- Cost Savings
The software reduces human resource costs by automating the T&E management process fully. In addition, it helps enterprises control business travel costs by ensuring policy compliance, preventing expense fraud, and finding cost-saving opportunities.
Also, the software provided by leading travel management companies enables employees to book travel products at negotiated rates and leverage the best deals. Hence, a surge is noted in the enterprises increasing the ROI of business travel by implementing new-age company travel software.
Conclusion
Company travel software has revolutionized domestic and international business travel through end-to-end process automation. Leading travel management solutions have built-in features to facilitate crucial tasks like travel policy implementation, business travel booking, and travel expense management.
At the same time, new-age company travel solutions transform the process by leveraging business travel data and business travel statistics. They facilitate data-driven decision-making by featuring advanced data analytics solutions.
Also, travel management solutions have been evolving consistently to meet the changing business travel needs and adopt emerging business travel trends. Hence, the software will continue to shape business travel management in the short and long runs.