In speaking with a colleague today, I learned that one of his clients does not have a T&E preferred supplier program in place for airlines, hotels or ground transportation. In fact, this company spends millions on travel and allows their travelers to buy tickets from any place of their choosing. They have no travel policies. Their employees look up the typical trip cost estimates in their travel database and use it as a guideline when booking trips. With the estimated trip costs in hand, they are free to book their travel any way that they choose. When they return, if their trip was less than the estimated cost, they may bank the additional "credit" for their next trip.
How do you measure your travel and entertainment expense behaviors and outcomes? Most leaders are taught to focus on the bottom line, and then cut, cut, cut expenses. I recommend reviewing the leading and lagging controls that are in place to obtain cost reduction.
Where do we find T&E spend? What is T&E spend? Most call it Travel and Entertainment; some call it Travel and Expense. Regardless of what you call it, most organizations spend millions of dollars on it annually. And, look beyond corporate card data to truly understand your organization's buying behaviors.
