Business Travel and Expense Reporting

Travel and expense (T&E) spending is the third-largest controllable business expense after salaries and data-processing costs. For the business traveler, reporting travel expenses is a necessary but sometimes unpleasant aspect of business travel.

While many frequent travelers have expense

reporting down to a science, some aren't as organized. And this can be problematic since organization is essential for tracking, logging and submitting expenses and getting reimbursed in a timely manner.

Most businesses have a T&E form for employees to submit at the end of a trip. If your company doesn’t have one, most office-products stores sell standard T&E forms and travel logs.

Collect a Paper Trail
Receipts are the paper trail of your business trip. The more you have, the easier it is to fill out your expense report. Some companies don’t require receipts if the expense falls below a certain amount, but play it safe and always ask for a receipt. Pay by credit card when possible since your statement can act as a backup for a misplaced receipt.

A receipt won’t guarantee reimbursement for every expense (check your company's policy before leaving on a trip), but it's safer than not having one. Always note the expense on the back of the receipt if it might not be obvious later.

Organization Is the Best T&E Policy
As you collect receipts on your trip, keep them in the same place (purse, wallet or suit pocket) rather than toss them haphazardly. Depending on how many receipts you’re likely to accumulate, consider using an envelope to keep your receipts organized in one place. (Separate envelopes are unnecessary and involve a time-consuming filing system.)

Remember Everything
Common mistakes made by even the most savvy business travelers include:

• Forgetting to ask for a receipt
• Misplacing or losing receipts
• Failing to report travel expenses (such as mileage, tolls, tips and parking)

Downtime Is the Best Time
Take advantage of downtime to document your expenses from the previous day. And figure the final totals either on the trip back home or immediately upon your return. This way all the trip's expenses are still fresh in your mind.

Frequent Travelers
If you frequently travel for business, T&E reporting can be especially time consuming and burdensome. T&E software programs, such as Quicken ExpensAble or Expense Reports Pro from Zoom Systems, can streamline your reporting.

Most T&E software programs come with a selection of standard forms; however some vendors will develop a customized form for your business or allow you to do so. These programs often sell for less than $50 and some can be downloaded from the Internet. There are also a number of high-end programs that enable businesses to automate their company-wide T&E reporting and administration. Costs vary and pricing is typically based on the number of user licenses.

Some handy features available on T&E programs include:

• The ability to scan receipts into the program
• Automatic sorting of receipts by date
• Automatic sorting of expenses into categories
• Calculation of totals and the ability to split expenses among different accounts
• Foreign currency conversions

One program even offers reminders about overlooked expenses, such as parking, mileage and tips. It can also differentiate between business and personal calls made from a hotel.