How to draw up a travel policy for your company?

A travel policy is essential. For the company, it is an effective method for managing trips, anticipating and managing costs, facilitating the management of refunds and saving.

For your employees, it's an important framework that shows them with complete transparency what is or isn't subject to reimbursement and under what conditions and proportions. Find out in this article how to draw up a travel policy, what it is, and how to make it work.

Defining a business travel policy: what is a travel policy?

A company travel policy consists of setting the rules for employee travel, establishing a precise framework for defining the budget, monitoring expenses, transportation and accommodation, and internal approval processes.

In short, the definition of a business travel policy is to establish the rules that must be respected. It also makes it possible to apply framework contracts negotiated with partners (transport, hotels, etc.).

The travel policy is a document in which all the rules are established, which makes it especially important. It helps to avoid excessive, unnecessary or inadequate spending and therefore acts as a safeguard.

Employees can consult it to make the right decisions, just as the company's financial director and accountants can use it to validate or reject an expense request and thus justify their decision to an employee.

How can a travel policy be successful?

Preparing a travel policy requires a lot of organization and time to properly analyze each situation, anticipate different scenarios and make appropriate decisions. Although the magnitude of the task can be daunting, it's important to realize that this is a true investment that will give you

• A calmer relationship with your employees;

• A real time saver on a daily basis;

• Better organization;

• A significant source of savings.

Here are 6 main points to keep in mind when creating an effective travel policy.

1 Define the objectives of the travel policy

Being clear about what you want from the policy will allow you to draft it more effectively. The goal is often to reduce costs, while ensuring the comfort of your employees during their business trip.

The travel policy also sets out certain rules that must be followed to ensure the safety of your employees when they travel. Setting clear objectives will give you a guideline, which will make your task easier, but of course, you can add elements or adjust it later to optimize it whenever necessary.

Once you have set these goals, you can begin to establish all the rules of the trip. The ideal is to work with at least one employee who is used to taking business trips for the company.

Your industry experience will help you find the best compromise between company costs and employee needs. It can also provide you with questions and scenarios that you may not have thought about.

2 Offer flexibility to employees

Your travel policy lists all possible expenses and indicates the budget and preferred solutions (mode of transport, type of accommodation, etc.). It should allow the employee to make the best spending decisions, so it's both an aid to him and a framework.

However, you should be aware of how your employees feel: a framework can easily be perceived as a prison if the rules are too strict. In order not to frustrate employees or lock them up, it is a good idea to give them several options, even if they are minimal.

For example, establish rules on the type of accommodation and its level of comfort, the maximum rate that should not be exceeded, without forcing the employee to go to a specific hotel.

Of course, if you have an agreement with a hotel chain, the question of the choice of accommodation will not be raised, but you can be flexible on other points, such as the services included, the choice of the room or the freedom to eat certain meals on site or elsewhere.

The same goes for transportation, you can set a budget and a date and then let the employee choose the most convenient departure time or mode of transportation within that price range.

3 Take into account the needs of the company

Do a full analysis of the situation: what are the most common destinations? What are the most efficient ways to get there? What are the real needs of your employees on site to meet their objectives?

Your travel policy must be based on the reality on the ground and on the specific needs of your company, otherwise you run the risk of setting objectives that are not in line with reality.

Therefore, you should include in your reflection at least one employee who participates in business trips. They will be able to point out inconsistencies in their policy and provide ideas and practical solutions based on their own experience in the field. In addition, employees will feel better about their travel policy if they know that one or more of their colleagues were consulted in their drafting.

4 Disclose your travel policy

This document is not only a guideline for the CEO, the company travel manager or the financial director, but also a guide that explains the company's travel policy to employees. It is necessary that this document be known and easily accessible for consultation.

You have several options: make it available on the intranet, print it, send it by email to each affected employee, etc. Remember to inform your employees when changes are made to the document.

5 Use the right tools

Self-booking tool, corporate card, expense account management application... It has a whole series of tools that will help you manage and automate the management of business travel expenses.

These tools are not only practical for management: they help you better anticipate costs, give you more control over current or future expenses and, in the long term, help you reduce business travel costs.

6 Define a budget

Establish a clear and relevant budget for each situation. Depending on the length of the trip, the destination and the type of mission, the budget will not be the same. Use previous business trips made by your employees and analyze different situations to define a consistent budget.

This budget must take into account everything that is common and predictable (accommodation, transportation, food expenses, etc.) and also allow for additional expenses. For these additional expenses, provide a framework: what expenses, on what occasions and for what maximum amount?

Travel policy: an opportunity to digitize expense management

The travel policy makes it possible to clearly define who is traveling, when, under what conditions and for how much. More than a framework, it's a valuable source of information to help you better manage your expense reports.

Therefore, it is totally appropriate to take advantage of this opportunity to digitize the management of expense reports, especially since this digitization is also beneficial for your employees (time savings, peace of mind, simplicity, real-time monitoring, etc.).

The digitization of expense report management not only has an immediate impact on business travel, but it is also an effective way to create a true repository that will help you on a daily basis.

For example, you'll be able to collect enough data from each country your employees visit to better determine which expenses are “normal” and which are potentially inappropriate. This practical tool will prove to be an advantage in the fight against errors... and even more so in the fight against fraud!

Establishing a business travel policy requires organization, analysis and time. But once established, you'll have a clear and practical base for all of the company's business trips. Following our advice, the entire chain is optimized: better organization, satisfied employees, reduced costs and time savings.

Vyootrip: A digital solution to implement your travel policies

At Vyootrip, we offer a multi-device platform that allows companies to implement their policies, and provide travelers with autonomy when it comes to booking and managing their trips. It also gives managers a solid system with which to control and monitor their expenses, as well as to have a centralized overview of all their employees' trips.

Discover now the advantages of Vyootrip for your company

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