​Unemployment levels are the lowest in decades. Technology and innovation are outpacing training. Add in finding “culture fit” and employers are struggling to fill open positions. At what point do employers consider alternatives to traditional hiring practices?
 
Nobody wants to compromise standards. Companies still insist on checking all ten must have boxes. The candidate must go through six interviews, perform a presentation, submit to a personality test and pass a drug screen.  The candidate possesses extremely hard to find skills. What are the chances they survive your gauntlet without receiving an offer from another employer? I know. You are a coveted employer. The candidate would be foolish not to complete the process and receive an offer. How has that been working out for you?
 
There are alternatives. Freelancers and firms specializing in the skill sets you seek. Rates may seem higher than hiring an employee, but you need to look at everything. No associated costs. No job advertisements. No computer or cell phone purchases.  You do not pay benefits. No health insurance, workers compensation, vacations or holidays. If work slows or projects placed on hold, you are not scrambling finding work for them. Better yet, you do not have to pay them! You only use (and pay) them as needed.
 
What about turnover? You hired the perfect candidate. Six months later another desperate (and with deeper pockets) employer hires them out from under you with an enticing pay increase. You are back to square one. Their projects? Suspended. Nobody else in the company has the required skills to keep them moving forward. Hiring a firm specializing in those skills means moving a replacement into the role to keep things going.
 
What about the other turnover scenario? Despite your rigorous hiring standards, a bad apple got into the bunch. They do not play well with others. They do not possess the experience and skill level represented during the interview process. You did not have an internal person capable of vetting the candidate to ensure they really did have the right skills. A firm specializing in those skills is only as good as the people they hire. They will not be in business very long employing unqualified people. Let them do the vetting for you. Their livelihood depends on it!

​You selected the “recommended” Travel Management Company (TMC). A junior purchasing clerk handles your corporate credit card programs. Accounting lacks staff so you only audit 10% of your expense reports. You did not negotiate with hotel chains because the TMC guaranteed low rates.
 
Travel and Expense (T&E) averages 10% of corporate budgets. How closely do corporations monitor the components that factor into T&E spend? CFO’s and Controllers tell you absolutely they monitor those expenses – but a comprehensive report is an all hands on deck, weeklong, fire drill to pull together. Accuracy is questionable at best. Does that sound like monitoring to you?
 
It was easiest to go with the T&E management software company’s recommendation for a TMC. After all, you supplied extensive data regarding travel patterns, airlines, hotels, etc. so they could make an informed recommendation, correct? No? If they did not have the data, then how could they make an informed recommendation? Suppose data analysis uncovered opportunities with a different TMC having better agreements and more favorable pricing with preferred vendors.  Suddenly the path of least resistance (going with the recommendation) is not necessarily the best choice.
 
A junior purchasing clerk handles all your credit card programs. They never administered a credit card program before they got to your company, but nonetheless you are sure they have everything under control. After all, you have an executive assistant as their backup. You are certain they spoke with suppliers, credit card providers and business travelers to get the most appropriate cards offering the best deals. It does not sound likely but if it makes you feel better keep believing!
 
10% of the average business budget is spent on T&E. 20% of that falls outside of policy (assuming there is one). 80% of all businesses still rely at least partially on processing expense reports manually. Despite those numbers, 29% of all businesses audit less than 10% of their expense reports. Are you foregoing auditing a high number of expense reports because you think any reduction in fraudulent or duplicate claims will not offset the added cost? That may be the case – but you will never know until you start tracking data. 
 
The biggest organizations can allocate the resources required to hire T&E professionals. Some have entire departments devoted to business travel. For every other organization? It is usually a hodgepodge of fragmented, misaligned responsibilities that fall to the person the company believes “has the time”. When those people exit the company it becomes a mad scramble finding somebody else to fill the role.
 
Because T&E expertise is so specialized, it is not always easy finding people in the labor market possessing those skills. You found a great executive assistant that covers all other requirements but lacks the depth and breadth of T&E skills required to be the company administrator day one. Do you hire and train them or take a candidate with less of what you really need (lights out executive assistant skills) but possessing more of a T&E background? 
 
There are other options. Because I represent a company that provides other options, I am sure you are not surprised we got to this point. Forget the messenger for a moment and consider the message.
 
If you could spend X to save 2X or 3X would you do it? There are also intangible benefits. Improved business traveler experiences. No more combing the labor market to find unicorns possessing all the skill sets you really need plus a T&E background. Eliminate training new hires to fill T&E administrator roles.  
 
If your current system works then by all means keep things as they are. However, if poor T&E management disrupts vital components of your business (sales), then it is worth exploring options to fix that. Ironically, you may save money AND improve performance.  

​The Problem: Concur allows users to charge transactions to projects. The field used to enter projects is free form text. The entity required project entries to follow a specific nomenclature for automated loading into the Oracle Projects module. The free form text format presented a challenge. Without correct input, the project field would fail validation resulting in costly rework and/or manual intervention.    
 
​The Approach: The free form text field was the main item to address. Since the field was going to be loaded directly into Oracle, we needed to create a standard entry format to pass validation. Working with key users and the local accounting team, we identified a nomenclature that would split projects off from tasks. Using unique identifiers throughout the string, the process that extracted information from Concur correctly populated the Project and Task fields in Oracle Projects. We conducted training classes and provided print screen work instructions.
 
The Result: Most users adapted quickly to the new format. Accounting Review identified any reports with incorrect Project-Task strings. Accounting review returned incorrect reports. Rework and payment delays were the impetus to users embracing the new format. Soon after go live we achieved virtually 100% first time, zero defect compliance. Covering three years and hundreds of expense reports the process is an unqualified success.

​​Credit card programs are essential to sound Travel and Expense (T&E) management. The first step to improving almost anything is gaining control. Credit card programs gain control of T&E spending allowing you to assess current spending patterns and identify opportunities for improvement. Learning spending habits leads to informed decisions. Credit card programs offer different options and features. Use what you learn about spending habits to select card programs best suited for your organization.    
 

Here are the main benefits credit card programs offer:
 
Visibility
 
You see where and how company funds are spent. Transactions are marked for the various credit card programs. You can build reports for individual credit card programs. You can perform company-wide consolidations across multiple credit card programs. Using a Travel Management Company (TMC) and an Expense Management software in conjunction with your credit card programs increases visibility exponentially. TMC’s record details not found in credit card transaction feeds. Expense Management software programs possess robust reporting tools. Reporting tools that allow you to combine data from the TMC, credit card feeds and expense management program. The result? You can slice and dice data to find the answers you need to make the right decisions.                    
 
Automation
 
Automated transactions feeds reduce processing times. Receipts are included with transactions. Eliminate paper chases. Using a Travel Management Company and an Expense Management software in conjunction with your credit card program(s) increases automation exponentially (yes – I realize I also said that about visibility). Expense reports build themselves. Would rather have your sales force selling or spending time filling out expense reports?   
 
Control
 
Credit card programs let you decide where and what employees charge as expenses. Allowing employees to use personal cards makes it easier to blur business and personal expenses. Credit card programs use commodity codes to block or limit spending to defined categories. Using multiple credit card programs allows you to group spending sharing similar characteristics. Group travel spending - sometimes into sub categories like Airfare or Hotel.
Purchasing cards for supplies and operations related spending. Narrowly focused credit card programs are easier to monitor and control.   
  
Fraud Reduction
 
You decide what constitutes allowable spend. You can implement card programs that only allow the purchase of specific services or commodities. No $300 charge for a night on the town if that card is only good for airfare or hotel stays. Reiterating a control feature, you can block purchase categories using commodity codes.        
 
Industry oversight found that 37% of business travelers had at least one exception on their expense reports. Oversight estimates have the typical company losing at least 5% of its annual revenue to fraud.
  
Discounts and Rebates
 
Funneling spending through defined credit card programs leads to volume discounts and cash rebates. You can direct spending through multiple programs to maximize savings. Use card programs tailored to maximize travel related benefits, discounts and rebates. Split off operations expenses by using a purchasing or P-Card program.
  
Closing Summary
 
If credit card programs are such a good idea, why are some companies not using them?
 
Often it is a lack of internal resources to select and administer appropriate programs. T&E spend averages 10% of company budgets. Despite that, few companies hire professionals dedicated to controlling and administering T&E spend as their primary role. It becomes part of somebody’s job. Somebody who often lacks a T&E background. They forego fully implementing customized programs. They limp along using outdated, legacy programs.
 
Investing in internal or outsourced credit card administration can pay for itself and then some.

By Jack DiMatteo

​When you say Travel and Expense (T&E) Management, most people think Travel Management Companies.  When you suggest consolidating T&E Management responsibilities, most people still think Travel Management Companies. Is it that easy?  Look a little closer…
 
A Travel Management Company is certainly a good start. What about all the peripheral activities that also go into T&E Management? What about expense report processing, affiliated credit card programs, maintaining your T&E Management System?
 
All too often, responsibility for these associated areas fragments throughout the company. An executive assistant or staff accountant handles the credit card program(s).   A high-level finance related Director assumes responsibility for the T&E Management system. Expense report processing is scattered between A/P, payroll, treasury and internal audit. Manual processes and handoffs compromise the T&E Management system automation capacity.  All the fragmentation clouds visibility on a line item that often comprises 10% or more of an organization’s annual budget. 
 
Does the idea of consolidating T&E Management make more sense now?
 
Credit card programs negotiated and selected in a silo. How does the person doing the choosing know how compatible the selected programs are with the T&E Management system? Does the newly selected program take full advantage of the company’s historic or forecasted spending patterns? What mechanisms are in place to track and ensure compliance with T&E policies? Is the expense approval process slow, cumbersome and frustrating to everyone involved? Is it easy to gather information when executive management asks?
 
Consolidating responsibility either internally or through outsourcing is the first step to gaining control. Spending and generating enough volume to staff internal positions may be one approach. The key is to hire dedicated and experienced travel, credit card and expense reporting experts. The goal is to see savings over and above the cost of hiring dedicated staff – based on their collective experience, expertise and ability to wring costs out of the process.
 
Outsourcing is another option. Even if your spend totals and travel volume justify adding staff you may still prefer outsourcing.  Do you want to be in the T&E Management business? Long searches to find and hire professionals with the right skill sets are costly. What happens while key vacancies are waiting to fill? Outsourcing offers cost effectiveness, delivers expertise and provides continuous support. If your current T&E function is scattered in pieces as “part of someone’s job” then you should definitely consider outsourcing.