Like Finding a Needle in a Tech Stack
What to look for when looking for a travel and expense management solution.
It isn’t about the money (okay, it’s about the money), but in this case it’s about more than the money. Any tool can keep track of expenses and help you keep spending in line, but if it isn’t easy (and dare we say enjoyable) to use, no one is going to use it. And we all know that the people doing the spending don’t want or need more hassles in their day. Employees have enough work to do; travellers do too, plus they get to wait in line most of the time.
The tools you give them, therefore, should get the job done in a couple of clicks – and they should do more than any other process you’ve put them through. Everything from auto-filling expense reports and incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI), to syncing seamlessly with your ERP and ensuring safe, sustainable travel.
That’s a big job for a little app, and if you want to find the right one, take a look at the tips from this 2022 buyer’s guide.
Start with the experience
Before the pandemic, we all wanted employees to be happy and comfortable. We still do, of course, but now it’s more of a demand. And if employees don’t get easier, better, safer ways to work, they’ll work elsewhere.
That means the solution you choose should take as many menial, manual tasks off their plate as possible. It should remove any barriers between them and their ability to be productive. It should eliminate the hours spent chasing down receipts and keying in expenses, thus freeing their time to focus on moving your business forward.
The right solution also makes it easier to reduce your environmental footprint – by directing travellers to more sustainable transportation, or encouraging them to travel only when absolutely necessary. It should give them tips on COVID-19 restrictions before they head out the door, and keep them (and you) on top of changing itineraries and emerging travel risks.
And because teams can now work anywhere, your travel and expense solution must work everywhere. On any device. No matter how remote the location.
Make sure it can keep up with you
The Buyer’s Guide describes the right solution as one that provides real-time visibility into employee travel and spending patterns. It’s no longer good enough to know what happened last month, you have to see what’s happening now, so you can always be ready for what’s next.
The right solution has to help you stay ahead of new payment types and meet the needs of new users as expenses and expectations change. It should evolve with employee demands as work and workplaces continue change. And, just as importantly, it needs to meet the demands of your business, from handling new payment processes and policies, to ensuring the security of global transactions while protecting you from fraud.
Ask, and ye shall get some answers
You want to know you have the right systems in place to protect your budgets, protect your employees, and protect your business. You want to keep compliance under control and strengthen cost controls at the same time. You want to know you’re getting value for your money. And if you want to know where to find such a solution, just ask.
The Buyer’s Guide offers ten top questions to ask your vendors. It’s a great place to start your search – or at least figure out what you’re looking for.
