Travel Management Solutions for Small Businesses

Managing travel expenses as a small business grows more complex as the company changes. At first, travel management for small business may involve few employees and few trips. However, as your business expands or changes, implementing policies and practices related to business travel becomes more critical.  

What Is Travel Management? 

Travel management is the disciplined practice of using policies to track and coordinate aspects of business travel. The practice provides integration and consistency to the booking of travel, recording expenses, and reimbursements. 

The practice of travel management covers everything from the development of travel and expense policies to the management of vendors and approval of travel reimbursements. It often includes booking travel and developing itineraries on behalf of your corporate travellers. 

In addition, travel management covers the monitoring and reporting on travel and travel-related costs and expenses. With a strong travel management approach, businesses can gain insights into how their employees are travelling and make informed decisions about changes or enhancements that save money and help employees. 

Oversight of travel and related expenses often falls to an individual traveller’s manager. However, that management should be grounded in the policies that determine everything from allowable airfare classes, hotel prices, and requirements for booking and changing travel. 

Managing small business expenses can be a complex endeavour. However, developing a business travel policy may help businesses alleviate headaches and provide fair and proper guidance to on-the-road expenses. 

Use Technology for Travel Expense Management 

Many businesses today opt to use technologies that can simplify travel management. These platforms help ensure that employees understand travel policies and use the same tools for recording expenses and being reimbursed. 

Why use technology to manage your business travel? Here are some of the core benefits: 

• Reduced Costs. A travel management solution can help save costs for your company. It will ensure that travellers are using the best available rates. In addition, a travel management solution can help ensure your travellers are compliant with policy and ease the management of your overall business travel program 

• Booking and Itinerary Management. A travel management solution empowers travellers to book their own travel and create itineraries using online booking tools. These technologies enable travellers to select from policy-approved options and create or modify itineraries as needed 

• Expense Reporting and Reimbursement. A travel management solution works best when paired with an expense tool. This allows travellers to coordinate all their travel expenses in one place, allowing for fast and convenient reporting and reimbursement for expenses 

• Access to Support. A good travel management solution is backed by a strong team of experts who know the travel industry and can help your travellers save time and solve any problems that arise. You may consider a travel management company, which can provide industry-specific and general support to assist with the booking and management of travel and the analysis of your travel program 

• Better Rates. By consolidating travel management to a single solution, you may gain access to preferred rates, reducing the costs of airline tickets, hotel stays, car rentals, rail tickets and other essential elements of your travel program  

• Access 24/7. With a travel management app, your travellers and managers have access to the technology 24/7 on any device from anywhere. This access makes it easier for travellers to record expenses, make changes, and gain access to helpful tools no matter the time zone or location 

• Risk Management. With a good travel management solution, you can reduce the risks to travellers and ensure they feel safe and secure while on the road. If employees are travelling in potentially dangerous areas, travel management tools can issue alerts and help in the case of natural disasters, civil unrest, or other unnerving disruptions 

• Consolidated Reporting. When all your business travellers are using the same tools, your reporting and analytics are much stronger. The application you choose can help with the generation of reports that show the costs and expenses by division, department or traveller. Analytics can provide deep insights for decisions about budgets and policy 

Tips for Small Businesses 

If your small business is looking for help in creating a travel management program, follow these suggestions: 

• Create a Travel Policy. It’s important to have a travel policy that covers all elements of your travel program. Involve human resources and finance staff in developing the policy, along with representatives from the departments that travel frequently. Be sure to be clear about the objectives of the policy and cover what expenses are eligible, the booking process, reimbursement policies, and expense categories 

• Communicate Often. Be sure to communicate to your employees about your travel policy, especially if it’s new. Tell them why it’s necessary and be transparent about what the policies are achieving 

• Consider a Travel Management System. A travel management system will simplify and automate key elements of your business travel program. With the right travel management tools, you’ll have expense software for small business, tracking and reporting tools and simpler, smarter reimbursement and expense management for travellers and managers alike 

SAP Concur offers solutions for small businesses looking for a comprehensive travel management solution. SAP Concur solutions are easy to use for travellers, offer 24/7 customer support and integrate seamlessly with other business systems. 

With SAP Concur solutions, your employees can book policy-compliant travel and submit expenses from anywhere.  

Learn more about how SAP Concur can enhance and empower your small business travel program.