How you can keep track of workforce travel costs in 2022

Do you know how much your organization has spent on business travel in the last month? The last year? What about travel policy compliance among your most active travellers? A recent survey conducted by the Global Business Travel Association in partnership with Roomex found that keeping track of travel spend was a major organizational challenge for 30% of Travel Managers, while policy compliance was the number one headache, accounting for 60% of all respondents.   Whether your business uses a company card to pay for travel, pays by invoice with each hotel or even tasks employees with expensing their trips, reconciling all these costs and keeping on top of spend can quickly become a daunting task for your Finance department. Often, businesses will not be able to accurately track their overall travel spend, and with that comes the risk of soaring budgets and even fraud. Roomex have partnered with Allstar to streamline this process and make keeping track of travel spend simple. Our all-in-one travel platform is built for the mobile workforce, enabling Travel Managers and Finance Directors to book accommodation, manage expenses and consolidate spend into a single invoice. What’s more, Roomex users can now lodge an Allstar Plus card into the platform to enable weekly invoicing for all travel spend, including accommodation, meals, expenses and even train travel. Allstar Plus is a unique all-in-one business credit and fuel card providing you with one payment method and one invoice making it easy to manage on and off the road expenses. The Allstar Plus business credit card helps you to stay in control with spend limits tailored by card and allows you to manage expenses in real-time with digital receipts. According to the survey, the full list of organizational challenges faced by Travel Managers is: Compliance enforcement  60% Traveler satisfaction  51% Keeping track of all company travelers  38% Keeping track of travel spend/budget  30% Unsuitable accommodation types  17% Spending too much time browsing websites  16% High Travel Management Company fees  11% With these challenges in mind, here’s a few tips on how to make travel management easier, safer and more efficient in your organisation: Create a comprehensive travel policy You might be surprised to learn that 40% of companies don’t have a travel policy at all. This is the biggest mistake in expense management, since it allows colleagues to spend without any guidance – and is subject to abuse. However, putting a travel policy in place will help to instantly reduce the cost of business travel and encourage compliance. Streamline your booking method One of the major costs in business spending for travel is transport and accommodation. If your corporate travel policy falls short on these elements, you can expert to incur the financial repercussions. A well-thought out travel policy will include a process for making hotel and transport bookings that are within budget. If you use a streamlined self-service platform like Roomex, you’ll be able to benefit from exclusive hotel rates and the ability to pay only after checking-out, which helps with cashflow. Link your travel policy to your booking platform Roomex offers the option to input your travel policy (including cost caps, star ratings and more) into the platform. Doing so will inform bookers and travelers if their choice of accommodation is within their business’s travel policy at the point of booing. It also unlocks visibility into how much of your travel booking is within policy, which travelers are booking out of policy, and more, in the free-to-use RoomexAnalytics suite. As a final thought, it’s easy to think of a travel policy as a corporate requirement, but it’s so much more than that. It’s an extension of your business and company culture, which forms part of the crucial employee experience. Making it easy and stress-free to make and amend travel bookings, as well as quick and easy processing of expenses, goes a long way in employee satisfaction scores. Combining a platform like Roomex with the Allstar Plus card unlocks a wide range of benefits for businesses with a mobile workforce. Get in touch today to find out how Roomex and Allstar can help you save time and money on your workforce travel.

Five Ways to Make Your Company Travel Policy Best-In-Class

So, you want to be the Crufts of the business world and have a show-stopping travel policy to wow colleagues and clients. It’s not a bad idea, after all 90% of companies believe a robust travel policy is essential for business growth.   That’s not all, a sturdy travel policy will encourage compliance, help with cost savings, and can even impact on productivity and satisfaction levels. What’s not to love? So then, here’s what you need to do to ensure your business travel rules are the best in class, especially as we enter a new period in post-covid travel. TL;DR To craft a top-notch business travel policy, keep it concise and engaging. Use visual aids like graphs and bullet points, and consider creating a one-page brochure for easy access. Involve employees in policy development to boost satisfaction and compliance. Simplify expenses with self-service platforms and prepaid cards. Regularly update the policy to adapt to post-COVID changes and minimise fraud.   Keep it punchy There’s nothing more frustrating than poring over the words of a corporate travel policy, only to realise that no one is reading it. In these digital times where attention spans are shorter than ever, and consumers are used to reading in bitesize nuggets, you must tailor your policy to be an easy read. This doesn’t mean skimming over the facts or avoiding the details. It’s about making it easy to navigate and engaging to read, and here’s how: Create a table of contents with numbered references for easy access. For the online version, offer click throughs. Bring your travel policy to life with eye-catching graphs, infographics and bullet points to keep it readable. Be sure to highlight any points you want to bring to their attention using bold or large fonts, such as new business travel rules, so these aren’t easily missed. Go that extra mile and create a one-pager brochure that can be emailed or printed out for easy access, including emergency contact details and information on how to make or amend bookings. Make sure this is available offline for remote workers too. Use it to channel employee satisfaction Here’s a radical thought. What if your travel policy was a tool to create further engagement and satisfaction with employees? Perhaps it’s not so radical after all. Inviting colleagues to share their feedback and suggestions on how to shape future policies is a great idea. After all, your workforce is your front line, and best placed to offer insight into post-covid travel policies. Plus, colleagues are more likely to buy-into and adhere to policies that reflect their needs. There are numerous free online survey tools you can use to create a survey. You might even want to go one step further, by offering vouchers or incentives for taking part never underestimate the small wins that these perks can have with employees.   Take the sting out of expenses Ask any employee what’s the worst thing about business travel, and they’ll tell you it’s being out of pocket for expenses. Offering a self-service travel platform is one of the best practices you can introduce to enhance your overall travel policy. This allows colleagues the flexibility to make transport and accommodation bookings without fronting the cost, as well as make cancellations which are even more frequent in post-covid travel. With Roomex, bookings are only charged after check-out, meaning any changes or cancellations will not be charged to your payment method (which also makes life easier for the Finance team!) Similarly, offer an expenses process. Make it easy for colleagues to submit expenses, and allow them to do so at great frequency, rather than say on a monthly basis. Even better, offer a prepaid physical or virtual card for on-the-road expenses, saving the out-of-pocket cost to your employees and avoiding the need to chase receipts after the trip. Keep things fresh As we’ve seen over the past few months, business travel rules are ever-changing in line with the post-pandemic world. Staying ahead of the game is vital to businesses, which means frequently reviewing your company’s travel policy and updating it as necessary at least once every few months. But this alone isn’t enough. The corporate travel policy should be easy to read, easy to access and easy to find. The document should be available in digital format – either on a shared intranet or other easily accessible place. Drive colleagues to updates using company newsletters and communications, so they aren’t overlooked. Fraud proof And finally, one of the cornerstones of having a solid travel policy, is to help encourage compliance and reduce the occurrence of fraud. And yes, this is a thing – costing the UK economy a staggering £137 billion a year. With a robust travel policy in place, you’re able to command greater visibility and compliance, especially when it comes to expenses. If you use a self-service travel booking platform, this will further reduce the chances of fraudulent behaviour, as well as providing oversight into spending. And when it comes to auditing, it also makes it that bit easier too. So there you have it, five essential considerations to create a best-in-class travel policy. If you’re looking for an all-in one solution for workforce travel, or to learn more about prepaid expense cards, speak to us today. FAQs Why should a company have a travel policy? A company should have a travel policy to: Save costs: By setting clear guidelines, companies can control expenses and negotiate better rates. Simplify expense management: A policy streamlines expense reporting, making it easier for employees to claim reimbursements. Ensure duty of care: It outlines safety protocols and provides support for employees travelling for work, fulfilling legal obligations, and promoting employee well-being.   What’s included in a travel policy? A travel policy typically includes: Booking procedures: Guidelines for booking flights, accommodation, and other travel arrangements. Expense reimbursement: Procedures for submitting and approving expenses incurred during travel. Safety protocols: Information on travel insurance, emergency contacts, and safety precautions. Travel restrictions: Any restrictions on..

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