Around 83% of employees struggle to reconcile trip expenses, according to new research into the hidden financial burden of outdated expense processes on employees and finance teams published by TravelPerk.
The survey of 4,000 business travellers – with equal numbers from Germany, Spain, the UK and the US – revealed that more than a quarter of business travellers (26%) use their personal credit cards for large purchases. Yet 28% face delayed reimbursements, meaning those who use personal cards risk late payment fees and surcharges that further their financial burden.
Nearly one in five employees (19%) said they didn’t know what is reimbursable and 25% worry about going over budget. This suggests greater clarity on travel and expense policies is required. By embedding policy guidelines directly into the booking and checkout process, companies can eliminate uncertainty and drive better compliance from the start.
The expense process is too complicated for 24% of employees and the same number responded to say they don’t have time to submit claims. When asked how artificial intelligence (AI) could improve the work travel experience, nearly a quarter (24%) of employees named automated expense processing as their priority.
More than a third (36%) of respondents booked business travel through consumer travel platforms, while 25% said they have lost receipts while travelling. An integrated end-to-end platform to book and manage travel and expenses could save time for finance teams who have to reconcile expenses.
GVB rolled out expense automation this year and estimates that the efficiency saves more than 300 hours annually. “It used to take maybe 10–15 minutes to enter an expense report. Now it’s 10 seconds flat – a timesaving factor of 60,” said Philipp Röthlisberger, Member of the Innovation Board at GVB.
Roy Hefer, Chief Financial Officer at TravelPerk, said: “Travel expenses dominate company P&Ls [profit and losses], yet most businesses still subject employees to manual, disconnected processes that our research shows creates real financial hardship.”
“By embedding policy at the point of booking and through the expense claim process, automating things like receipt matching with AI, and optimising the whole process, you’re not only freeing up your employees’ day from unnecessary paperwork, but also giving them back their time to focus on what really matters,” suggested Hefer.
