Corporate travel programs have undoubtedly become a core part of business today; but gathering, consolidating and reconciling employee incurred expenses can be costly and labor-intensive. Manual expense management involves a lot of paper, tiresome reports, slow approvals and human error, creating a major burden on the company. A corporate card program can streamline expense reporting by replacing many manual processes with automation and consistent reporting. Moreover, it provides easy access to transactional data and improves visibility, thus freeing up employees time while enhancing cash management.

Most organizations treat business travel expenses as an out-of-pocket expense to be paid in cash or by personal cards. It is a burden on employees and creates a poor fund management for an organization. Corporate cards can reduce the employee’s burden while shedding light on purchasing, since they offer complete spending data that can be useful in reconciliation and reporting. This program can also simplify expense reporting. An automated system like expense management software can extract data directly from corporate cards and populate it into a standardized reporting template, saving time and eliminating human errors. Also, this can enhance travel policy compliance, since policies are fixed into the reporting system.

Analyzing corporate card data and spending patterns can help businesses make better strategic purchasing decisions. Along with superior compliance rates, this can improve your leverage to negotiate deals with travel providers. Employees using non-standard payment methods to cover their travel expenses are likely to make distinct purchases. With this, businesses can’t capture the full amount with a particular vendor, reducing the leverage to negotiating better deals.

The corporate card program offers a trusted option for both organizations and suppliers with transparent expense data and the added benefit of shorter payment cycles. Also, the transaction data can make it easier to assess supplier compliance, while increasing dispute rights and enhancing protection when vendors violate agreements.

Businesses can benefit financially from mandating corporate card usage. Often they can achieve cost savings from adopting more efficient processes and reallocating resources away from tedious tasks. Also, many card providers offer rebates for specific spending thresholds, which can add up to an important cash reimbursement.

It is essential to examine expense reporting data and plan comprehensive T&E policies. This must be a continuous process, since policies may need to be adjusted as the business, and employees trigger change. Well defined policies and compliance monitoring can eliminate unwanted spending, and create an audit trail that makes it simple to analyze out-of-policy exceptions.

After creating a T&E policy, it is important to drive awareness and adoption. Posting policy terms on a central web portal can assist employees in knowing what types of purchases to make with their corporate cards. Showing employees how they can help personally and financially can also help speed execution. Send regular notifications how employees can expect to benefit, including less time spent on expense reports and reimbursement. Implementing training programs that introduce the corporate card program and defining the potential negative impacts of not using the company card can also be helpful. During training, employees will also have the chance to experience the simplicity of how to integrate corporate cards to manage their T&E spends.

Once businesses have launched the corporate card program and gotten employees on board, it is crucial to review payment patterns and flag non-compliant transactions. Regular purchase reviews are helpful for improving visibility on the types of payments made when using alternative payment methods. If it is concluded that purchases should have been made using corporate cards instead, cardholders should be reminded of how the business benefits from corporate card use.

Alternate payment methods can damage the company’s ability to enhance its deals with suppliers and is therefore recommended to act on by directly notifying employees that they have misused their card. Ongoing reviews in corporate card programs help businesses to monitor supplier compliance because they can make it easier to see whether suppliers are upholding their side of the deal.

A corporate card program in managing T&E expenses can offer benefits to both business and its employees. Management should raise awareness and drive adoption, while finance team must develop clear policies that boost supplier deals and ensure compliance. Also, you can consult a global card provider who can work with you closely to assist create a custom program that can address your unique business needs.