As a business, organizing travel and managing expenses can prove to be quite the headache. For those staff responsible for booking and managing corporate travel, the challenge to provide the same quality service can get harder as the business expands.
Whether it’s a small startup or a business that has since expanded to an SMB, travel and expense management software can be extremely helpful in meeting the expectations of staff, as well as any clients that you may organize travel for.
No matter what type of travel it might be or what expense procedures you have in place currently, it can all be managed in one place with the right software. There are plenty of software options out there, so how do you choose the best for your business?
In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of this software and invest in it for your business. We’ll also share five of the best travel and expense management software to use in 2022.
What is travel and expense management software?
Many businesses will utilize the benefits of corporate travel, whether it’s to meet new clients or to network for business opportunities. Travel for business is a big industry and business travel spending, it’s expected to reach $1.7 trillion USD by 2022.
Travel and expense management software is a central system that helps manage all aspects of business travel and expenses that need claiming by those that travel. From booking travel to managing the travel itineraries of employees, software like this one can do everything quickly and remotely for those businesses who may not always be on-site to manage problems.
From an expense point of view, it can help create expense reports as well as keep files of all expenses to make the process of doing expenses, a lot easier. It’s pretty apparent that technology can do tasks a lot quicker than most humans can do, so it’s a worthwhile system to implement.
Also read: 5 Ways to Travel and Make Money Online
The benefits of travel and expense management software for business
Incorporating a travel and expense management solution can offer a number of benefits that a business might not appreciate until it’s in place. The travel and management software industry is a growing one with it reaching $2.3 billion as of 2019. Here are a few reasons why you should be investing in it for your business in 2022.
Helps minimize the monotonous administrative work
Planning business travel is one thing in itself but managing it in the lead-up and during the trip can be a whole other challenge. Having a software like travel expenses tracker in place can certainly help to minimize the monotonous administrative work that likely comes with a lot of corporate travel on a regular basis.
Saves money
Having a system that can find the best deals when booking travel or accommodation, can be worthwhile from a financial standpoint. Any business would be happy to save money where they can and with a system like this in place, it does help. Some software features include exclusive deals and corporate rates/discounts for booking through the platform.
Improves employee satisfaction
Employee satisfaction is a big one because keeping your staff happy is essential to a successful business. With good travel and expense software in place, it can help pick up any slack or tasks that have been missed before they cause issues.
It offers a seamless experience for the most part when it comes to your employees or anyone for that matter that uses the travel services.
5 Travel and expense management software to use in 2022
There are plenty of travel and expense management software options out there but which ones come out on top in 2022. Here are five to consider for your business, including their individual benefits and pricing.
1. Travelperk
As a business travel management platform, TravelPerk has helped many of its customers to book and manage all aspects of corporate travel. In one easy platform, you can access multiple user platforms, which makes it a great option for scalability.
Other features include company policy compliance and third-party integrations with popular tools used for business purposes. Travelperks list of travel expense software offers a great insight into some of the third-party tools they work with including Expensify and BambooHR.
As well as 24/7 customer service support and advanced reporting/insights, there’s not much that they don’t offer. TravelPerk is an excellent option for saving money with its FlexiPerk feature that helps organizations to limit some of the business spending that happens and is unnecessary.
Pricing – TravelPerk offers a number of subscriptions depending on your business needs. From €0-to €25 per trip, it’s worth exploring your options and what you require from the platform.
2. SAPConcur
SAP Concur is an all-in-one travel and expense management solution that helps to simplify the process of booking travel and managing the various expenses that come with it.
Regardless of whether you’re simply booking domestic travel or international, this platform helps with booking airline tickets, cabs, hotels and much more.
Some of the main platform’s features include visibility into travel and spend data. You can book everything through an online booking tool that’s easy to use for anyone who needs to access it. It helps with maintaining travel policy compliance and helps protect travellers and the business against potential risks related to travel.
There are many benefits to using this platform from reducing overall costs to a scalability solution for your business as it grows. It’s also mobile optimized for those looking for mobile apps and for those employees who need to access the platform on the go.
Pricing – For SAPConcur, their prices aren’t as transparent as some other platforms. A demo should be requested before a quote or pricing is given.
3. TripActions
TripActions offers both an all-in-one travel solution with corporate card and expense management. It’s a provider to over 8,800+ customers on a global scale and has generated a considerable amount of popularity amongst businesses looking for this travel and expense solution.
With many travel managers and finance teams opting for TripActions over other platforms, there are some great features worth mentioning.
TripActions helps provide real-time data that enables businesses to manage employees more efficiently, reducing costs and helping improve overall user satisfaction.
As a platform, it’s a scalable solution that can help you create a world-class corporate travel service for both employees and clients alike. On the expense side, it can provide support and access to all those travellers who need it, particularly in the case of adhering to company travel policies in place.
They offer a variety of premier services for executives and exclusive events that might require a more tailored approach. The platform is robust and helps improve the travel and expense services offered to all those in the business. It’s a platform that empowers its users at every turn.
Pricing – Another one to hold back on sharing their pricing with the general public, TripActions requires you to request a demo before being shown the costs.
Also read: 10 Best Travel Android Apps Help in Travelling and Trips
4. Expensify
Expensify is predominately an expense management solution, however, it does have travel features as part of its platform.
The payments super app is one that helps many individuals and businesses on a global scale to simplify their money management. For travel, it helps businesses to book travel in one, easy-to-use application – and all of it for free!
With Expensify, you can easily book flights, cars and hotels through their Concierge service. With travel management reporting and a travel virtual assistant as just two of their features, it’s already off to a good start as a platform.
Other features include free emergency services, management of trips through their app and tailoring travel to adapt to ongoing economical and social climates in various travel destinations. The travel and expense management reporting tool helps give administrators full access to the trip costs and where savings can be made going forward.
Pricing – In comparison to some platforms, Expensify is extremely affordable with prices ranging from $0 to $9 per user, per month.
5. Zoho
Finally, but certainly, by no means least, Zoho Expense is considered one of the best for both travel and expense management platform. It’s good for growing businesses and for those looking for a simple solution to their travel and expense needs.
Some of its features include real-time notifications to alert travellers of updates and changes to bookings. There’s an analytics dashboard available that can help review current travel and expense performance, as well as excellent inventory opportunities and customer service.
Create trips that include all the relevant information and details for the employee and generate the data required for business analysis when booking future trips. With over 5 years of experience in the business, they’re one to certainly consider carefully.
Pricing – As with some of the top platforms, Zoho isn’t afraid to show off its pricing and why should they? Pricing ranges from $0 to $8 per user, per month.
Do the research to find the perfect platform for your business
With travel and expense management software, just like any software for your business, it’s important to do your comparisons. Look at what each platform offers and how best it can benefit your organization when it comes to these company departments.
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