101 Controlling Travel Costs
With the responsibilities of running and managing a business, related-travel sometimes comes with the territory. But in an age where budgets are tight and expenses scrutinized, learning to control travel costs is vitally important.
“There are sane ways to cut travel and entertainment expenses,” says Joe Brancatelli of Portfolio.com. “You won’t be living the lush life, of course, but you won’t feel like a traveling tramp, either.” The following suggestions should help you minimize travel expenses while still maximizing the gains of traveling for your business.
Plan Ahead. There’s plenty of money to be saved for those who think ahead.
“You can cut your airfares by as much as 70 percent if you book your travel far enough in advance,” says Brancatelli. “[But] most plan-ahead hotel and airline rates require full prepayment.
Change your plans and you’ll not only pay the full, walk-up rate, you’ll pay a ‘change fee’ too. So plan carefully and then stick to it.”
It’s your policy. Sometimes the best way to reduce travel spending is to limit what you reimburse.
“A travel policy should provide your employees with clear guidelines about the types and amounts of allowable expenses,” says the staff at AllBusiness.com. “Your written travel and expense policy should also include consequences for violating it.”
Plenty to report. Not to be overlooked, extensive savings can be found simply by using consistent expense-reporting forms.
“Get all of your employees to use standardized forms for reporting expenses,” AllBusiness.com says. “This helps ensure that every report is accurate and can be easily reviewed by you and your accountant.”
WBJ Web Partners
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