How to manage your international business travel expenses?

Living in a global economy, international travel has become a necessity for most big businesses. Employees are expected to travel to more locations than before and explore new markets.

1. Have a transparent travel policy

It is important that business owners know what exactly they are willing to cover for their employees on a business trip, from flight expenses to subsistence costs. If the company has a clear, well-documented travel policy, it will be a lot easier for them to keep the travel costs from going out-of-control. Moreover, with a transparent travel policy, employees will know clearly what will be covered and what won’t, when they head out on a business trip.

2. Provide incentives

To get your employees to stick to the limit you give, provide them with incentives to do so. Offer them cashback on the money they save, or offer reward points or upgrades for future travel.

You can also make it a competition, with the person saving the most on a business trip winning a gift.

Additional read: Benefits of business loan

3. Provide per diems

This is one of the best ideas to control employee expenditure on business trips. It gives a cap on the amount an employee can use per day, per trip. This limit is calculated based on the prices of things at a location. This also ensures that every employee is treated fairly and they all get the same limit, no matter their position in the company.

4. Hire a travel management company

Hiring a travel management service provider to identify preferential exchange rates, reduce fees and manage execution and reporting is a good idea. If they can book tickets, solve travel interruptions, monitor employee safety and report expenses through a mobile device, even better.

5. Keep your travel policy up-to-date

It is important to evaluate and update a company’s travel policy from time-to-time. This helps them stay ahead and thoroughly utilise any emerging technology or innovations for travellers.

Uber, Ola, Air BnB, etc. are some such technologies that a company can use to reap savings. A travel management company would also be able to help you with this. If not, you can opt for a business loan to help with the bookings.

6. Have a ‘save everything’ policy

Enforcing a policy that forces employees on a business trip to save any and all documents related to the trip, assures the company of an easier prospect of availing tax benefits. These documents include bills, tickets and everything in between.

7. Have a quick turnaround for travel expenses

Time is money. A quick turnaround for travel expenses encourages employees to be prompt about turning in their expense reports as well. It also keeps company morale high and encourages efficiency.

Additional read: 9 Things to know about travel loans in India

8. Conduct regular audits

Audits are a great way to check a company system’s efficiency. It gives business owners an idea of what’s working and what needs to be cleaned up. It’ll also tell them if their employees are being refunded properly on time. To take it a step further, it is a good idea to audit the earlier audits and other managerial procedures as well.

9. Get feedback

Getting feedback from employees is a great way to improve the travel policy. Business owners can use an automated survey system to receive the required constructive criticism from employees anonymously. This allows employees to be honest in their opinions, and owners may just find suggestions that they can use.

However, hiring a travel management company could be an expensive process, even for big companies. In these cases, there are business loans that you can avail to assist you with this.