Understanding Your Travel Management System Part - II | Software | Computers

In the last article, we discussed some of the features of the travel management system that the companies found useful in its daily transactions. Let us look at more features that they might find handy. Some of the other questions that your organization would like to see answered are:

·         Does the company really need a travel management system or is it an unnecessary investment?

·         When is a travel management system absolutely necessary?

·         What is the estimated breakeven period if the company invests in such a system?

·         Can the internal IT team develop such an application?

·         Does the system have to be hosted on the cloud for it to operate?

·         Can the company just use an online version of the software instead of buying the software?

Through this article, I wish to address these concerns so that the management is better informed to make a decision.

In addition to the features mentioned in the last article, most travel management systems also have stringent approval workflows which is set up before the implementation of the software at the client’s location. This workflow is customised depending on the hierarchy in the client’s organization, and the current travel and expense policies. Updates are sent up the chain through e-mails containing all comments and links pertaining to the specific expense report. The manager will be able to view all cases that are submitted to him in a single panel. Cases that do not violate the travel and expense policies are automatically recommended for approval and those that do are flagged for review and the manager is compulsorily made to review the files before escalating the case or sending it back to the employee for editing. Most travel systems have an inbuilt function for automatically transferring reimbursement into the employee’s account. They can also generate automatic expense reports that can be sorted and classified based on what section the management wishes to view. They allow spend analysis at various levels such as employee, department, project, category, client, cost center, mode of billing etc.

An extensive travel management system with all the described features is required only for medium or large scaled companies which consist of a number of operating locations or employees more than fifty in number who are constantly on the move. For companies that do not require such extensive feature list and only require a few singular features like report generation, or expense tracking, the company can make use of online applications. These are available in plenty and get the job done. But the security of these applications is not guaranteed.

From a breakeven point of view, since the system promotes paperless environment, the company ends up saving a great deal on stationary and printing. With its capacity for saving expenses for the company, breakeven period should be the last thing on your mind. An ideal travel management system comes equipped with a number of complex features which could pose to be a challenge if your IT team is small. They can, however, maintain and update the same for efficient operation. Travel management systems support online operation. The employees can submit their claims online similar to accessing their e-mail. The system does not require operation on the cloud. The data submitted by the employee is directly stored in the company server. A mere access to an internet browser is sufficient.

Enaviya provides Travel and Expense Management, Expense Management Solution and Travel & Expense Management Application

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