January 28, 2009
The state of our economy has created a need for cost containment and adjustments within organizations to withstand the current financial pressures we are being faced with. Businesses are looking closely at spend patterns to determine where and when costs can be cut to sustain operational viability.
Controlling operational costs can pose many challenges. This is especially true with travel & entertainment. When times are good, companies often let things slide, allowing employees to self-manage and develop certain ways of doing things on his or her own merit whether in line with the company’s best interest or not. Often, it’s not until a company is put in a situation to look at such details that travel compliance even matters.
A recent conversation with a victim of corporate layoffs shed light on a growing problem many company’s face when travel is unmanaged. Learning that this particular company did not have a travel management program in place, I asked if he felt that the lack of monitoring travel spend had ever been taken advantage of.
“Absolutely!” He said. Openly admitting to walking away with more than $3000 in unused airline credits from business trips that were cancelled or changed that the company had already paid for.
This response was in line with many I have heard in the past – and there was a sense of entitlement that worried me in our current economic state.
Turns out, most employees who book his or her own travel are reimbursed for many trips that were never taken. This shortcoming in proactive travel management can cost a company THOUSANDS of dollars each month depending on how many employees travel for business.
The best way for companies to protect themselves against the possibility of fraud, is to enforce internal controls that head off such activity. Beginning with the basics, here are a few suggestions:
- Maintain a travel & expense policy that governs this activity. Prohibited activity and per diem amounts should be detailed in this policy and regularly communicated to your employees. This policy should be reviewed often & adjustments made if necessary.
- Implement the use of corporate charge cards for greater control. With corporate cards, companies can query each card individually and ensure that payments are being made against them.
- Routinely question expenditures that look extraordinary or abnormal. Waiting for a larger problem to build will only be more difficult and costly to resolve later.
“T&E expenses within companies account for between 8% and 10% of operating expenses. With regards to the Aberdeen Survey pool, the actual T&E amount ranges from $50,000 to over $100 million a year for some of the larger corporations. However, the processes used to manage this expense differ across all companies.”
Aberdeen Group, Travel & Entertainment Expense Management
Recommendations for Reducing T&E and Expense Fraud:
- First, you must understand and analyze where your company is spending its money on travel and entertainment.
- Centralize the management of T&E and standardize all processes for booking travel, and reconciling expenses.
- Work to improve communication of corporate travel policy and solicit feedback regularly.
- Work with a travel professional to integrate travel booking with expense management, reimbursement tools, and corporate card programs.
- Keep an eye on savings opportunities and make adjustments to policy as needed.
At Travel Leaders, we are experts in Business Travel Management. We help you to control all aspects of travel management. We know you have a business to run, and that’s why we are here.
If you are interested in reducing your T&E Expenses and gaining control of your Expense Management in 2009, we welcome your call.
Let us focus on what WE do best, so you can focus on what YOU do best.
800-807-8018
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