Benefits of a free travel management system

Travel management software is no longer just for large companies. Small and medium sized companies enjoy significant benefits when they book and manage their travel using software designed for businesses rather than booking on consumer sites and struggling to find invoices.

Whether you have been using travel management software for a long time or are exploring this category of software for the first time, we cover everything you need to know about key features, vendor options and the market in general.

What is travel management software?

Travel management software is used to book travel, manage pending trips, and track and report on past trips.  Other key features and applications include the automation of corporate travel policies and the ability to consolidate travel invoices and suppliers.

The old way for small businesses: Employees read the company's travel policy on a PDF document or an internal wiki, use any website to book their trip, and then need to receive a refund.

The old method for large companies: Use travel agencies or travel software with high margins, commissions and support call charges. Other key features and applications include corporate travel policy automation and the ability to consolidate travel invoices and suppliers.

The old way for small businesses: Employees read the company's travel policy on a PDF document or an internal wiki, use any website to book their travel, and then need to get reimbursed.

The old method for large companies: Use travel agencies or travel software with high margins, commissions and support call charges.

The NEW way (for companies of all sizes): Employees book for themselves using travel management software that integrates the company's travel policy (to block or request permission to travel outside the policy). The software also contains the company's payment details, so no refunds are necessary!

Managing a team of dedicated employees and organizing their travel is a difficult task that requires all the help it can get. While corporate travel agencies are the usual contacts for booking airlines, hotels and transportation, they introduce many sticking points. In today's world of ever stronger ties, these points of friction need not be there.

Think of the role of the Internet: In the last 20 years it has revolutionized everything from leisure travel to accommodation and taxi services. Business travel management is no exception. Companies like ours strive to provide travel managers like yours with a streamlined and intuitive platform, a travel management tool that allows you to review the entire traditional corporate travel booking process.

Systematizing your company's business travel management offers a number of benefits for any travel manager who wants to simplify their work while adding value.

Below are four benefits of a digital travel management tool:

I. Increased employee productivity

By integrating efficient and automated travel and expense management, you make life much easier for your employees.

On average, company employees travel a lot (1 in 3 Australian professionals travel in business class, while 60% of business travelers book economy class tickets).

There are many people in the air. To make such a trip, they usually spend a lot of time preparing, planning, filling out expense reports, finding hotels and flights - the list is long.

Companies that rid themselves of these outdated travel and management policies are relieving their employees, and all the time they spend preparing their business trips is spent on their work. This situation is particularly acute/severe when you look at these hours expressed in dollars, it paints a very bleak picture.

2. Reduction of travel costs

Any type of cost-saving measure is of the utmost importance to a business - it is the difference between a failing and a thriving organization. Investing in an appropriate travel management and expense management policy will help them contain the financial excesses associated with travel.

The visibility provided by such a corporate program will help companies gain an in-depth understanding of their employees' travel habits and spending, identify trends and patterns, and finally develop sound analytical tactics to contain exorbitant travel costs.

3. Minimize travel and expense management risks

Processes such as invoicing and invoice verification become more efficient and less prone to costly errors.

By integrating cloud services and other mechanized systems into your travel and expense management policy, it becomes easier to perform error-free audits that help the company provide external auditors with the information they need, and you stay out of non-compliance.

4. Fewer employees to support

Ultimately, such an automated system allows companies to reduce the amount of time their employees spend managing and supporting these travel activities.

As you can see, there are critical reasons why your company should make strategic investments in travel and expense management automation. As CFO reading this article, I hope you are motivated to be a catalyst for change that everyone can be proud of.

Travel management tool

IceHrm - IceHrm offers powerful travel management features and other Human Resource Management features. It helps employees and managers book travel for themselves and others within the policy framework.

IceHrm provides travel budget owners and finance teams with all the functionality they need: travel expense tracking, expense reporting and integration, and visibility into policy compliance. This tool is highly valued by travelers and administrators alike. A free version of IceHrm travel management software is also available.

At this stage, it is almost obvious that companies that have implemented a comprehensive and automated business travel policy can gain tremendous benefits. Although, as we have seen, many companies are still struggling with this.