More and more cost control and travel expense optimization is rising to the top of the list of CFO priorities. Why? Because with an economy that’s fluctuating constantly and sociopolitical circumstances like war, inflation, rising prices, political tension, and more, CFOs have to be sure to make wise decisions when it comes to how they spend their companies’ money.
With questions about whether business travel will be affected by all these factors, it is true that travel expense optimization has never been a more important financial strategy for companies who send their employees on business trips regularly. With a renewed attention on transparency and return on investment, CFOs are putting cost control in the spotlight.
Why business travel expenses have moved to center stage
With costs rising for everything from food, to gasoline, airfare and hotel prices, it’s only natural that cost savings is becoming more and more important. Business trips are becoming less frequent, but perhaps more intentional while decentralized and remote teams are creating new kinds of travel demands for teambuildings and other kinds of trips.
Many companies are still operating without a clear corporate travel policy, which can lead to unnecessary spending, poor oversight and low visibility and compliance when it comes to travel spend. For CFOs focused on value, every uncontrolled travel money is a missed opportunity. This is why CFOs must prioritize travel expense optimization.
The question is how? Below we’ll take a look.
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Key strategies to optimize travel costs
When it comes to travel cost optimization there are some clear effective strategies that can be implemented, such as standardizing travel policies, automating approvals and expenses, analyzing spend data regularly, and encouraging advance bookings.
Standardization of travel policies
This means that you have a clear policy that your staff must live up to, ensuring fairness and control. This also helps keep an eye on where your travel budget goes making unnecessary spending less likely. You can also create transparency across departments so that everyone is aware of best practices when it comes to traveling for business and what is permitted and what is not permitted under your company’s travel policy.
Don’t have a travel policy yet?
Automating approvals and expenses with a travel & expense management platform
By having a travel and expense management platform you can automate the approval process as well as expense management, which reduces manual errors and delays. You can easily scan receipts and upload to the platform so you can make sure no receipts go missing, and all travel expenses are accounted for. You can also set automatic approvals that fit within your travel policy so you don’t risk losing a good fare due to long approval processes.
Analyze spend data regularly
With a travel and expense management platform you can analyze spend data regularly so you can see where your money is going, and which departments or individuals are spending more to optimize the budget accordingly. If a department is overspending for example you can reduce the number of trips to business essential trips until the budget gets on track. It’s a great way of creating visibility so you can stay in control of your costs.
Encourage advance booking
You can encourage advance bookings by writing guidelines into your travel policy that help your travelers make wiser decisions about how and when to book to get the best prices. For example, trips must be made at least 1 month in advance or they need an extra level of approval. Advance planning also puts less stress on the team that is left behind to take over while your travelers are on a business trip.
How technology can help CFOS prioritize travel expense optimization
Finance teams can gain control over travel costs with travel and expense management platforms like GetGoing.
With all these features, expense optimization can be made easy this 2025!
Travel expense optimization summed up
Travel expense optimization is not just a concern for finance teams, but it should be a strategic priority this year. As CFOs drive efficiency across the enterprise, business travel is just one of the many areas where improved visibility can help make better decisions. In 2025 and beyond, it is important that amongst CFO priorities is that of optimizing travel expenses so that it can be leveraged as a strategic means for growth.