Best business travel & expense management software

There are several options to fund your employees’ business trips. You can give them cash in advance to use for their business expenses or reimburse their out-of-pocket trip spending.

Some companies will also have one corporate card that can be used and shared by the whole team. All these options come with their own sets of problems.

Cash provided in advance may not be enough for emergency expenses during the trip. Employees may also not want to spend a lot of their own money and have to wait around for reimbursements.

Even a corporate card has its issues if it’s being passed around by employees, especially when someone has to make a time-sensitive payment. Each employee will need their individual corporate card for business travels.

It’s difficult to compile all your business travel expenses, especially when you have multiple employees making trips to several different locations frequently.

The more spending there is, the more likely you’ll end up with low spend visibility, which could result in poor budget controls. To get a high level of visibility, it’s difficult to rely on manual work.

Even if your finance team attempts to track every one of the business travel expenses that occur in your company, it’d take up way too much of their time. Not to mention that they’ll still run into the possibility of errors and missing data.

One thing that can help you monitor your budgets better is by using travel & expense management software.

It’s not uncommon that employees are forced to make out-of-pocket expenses for business travel.

While some companies might provide cash advances for certain trips, you never know when your employees need to make expenses that weren’t accounted for in the budgeting. In those cases, they’ll have to rely on shilling money out of their own pockets and wait to be reimbursed.

One of the big issues with reimbursements, however, is that the processes are complex and tedious. More often than not, they take a long time to process from start to finish.

Not only will your employees be discouraged when they have to wait weeks—or even months—to settle their reimbursements, but having to process plenty of reimbursements is also time-consuming for your finance team.



It is important to keep track of your expenses and get reimbursed for them. Check out our article on travel expense reimbursement to know how to avoid common pitfalls and mistakes that will cost your business time and money. Our comprehensive guide that covers everything you need to know, from planning your trip to submitting your claim.

Set-up process and requirements

Volopay is a solution for corporate travel and expense management, meaning that only businesses are eligible to use the platform. If you have a business entity that wants travel & expense management software, you can get started with Volopay by filling up a signup form through the website.

Fees and pricing

You can start using Volopay as your travel & expense management software in Singapore, India, Australia and Indonesia. Instead of a fixed monthly subscription fee as a one size fits all model, Volopay allows you to tailor your fees based on your business usage. Each physical corporate card you issue, for example, costs you an amount.

Key features

Volopay is an all-in-one financial management tool, with features like corporate virtual cards, accounts payable automation, reimbursements, expense reporting, and accounting integration. With corporate cards issued to employees and the ability to file and settle reimbursement claims through the platform, business travel expenses don’t have to be a hassle.

Pros & cons

Equipping your employees with corporate cards makes making necessary expenses during business trips easy. At the same time, you’ll also have control over employee spending. Similarly, if employees have to make out-of-pocket expenses, reimbursements don’t have to be complex and time-consuming with Volopay.

Eventhough Volopay is not a dedicated travel expense management tool, you’ll instead be able to integrate TruTrip with Volopay for more streamlined travel and expense management.

Ratings

On G2, Volopay has an average rating of 4.3 out of 5.

Set-up process and requirements

To get started with SAP Concur, you will have to submit a form through their website complete with your company details to request pricing. You can also do the self-guided demo on their website before deciding to request pricing.

Fees and pricing

The only way to get a quote is to request one from the SAP Concur website. You’ll have to fill out details about your company and your spend volume and you should receive a quote suited to your business needs.

Key features

SAP Concur offers a mix of features that classifies it as travel & expense management software. They have a solution for just expense reporting, with features like streamlined expense reports, auto-categorization for expenses, and settling reimbursements. However, SAP Concur also has travel management features that allow employees to book their business trips while making sure they adhere to company policy. With their TripLink feature, you can have a complete view of different employees, trips, and itineraries.

Pros & cons

You can get the best of both worlds with SAP Concur. They offer a range of tools for better expense management, including the ability to settle reimbursements through the platform. They also have a comprehensive suite of travel features. However, while SAP Concur offers both travel and expense management, travel is not included in their basic plan expense management-only plan, meaning that it’s likely the addition of it will cost more.  

Ratings

On G2, SAP Concur has an average rating of 4.0 out of 5.

Set-up process and requirements

Expensify offers a free plan that you can get started with first to familiarize yourself with the platform. You have to fill out details like your email and phone number to receive more information on the platform, but the Expensify website states that their product applies to both businesses and self-employed individuals.

Fees and pricing

You can start for free with Expensify’s travel & expense management software. However, you’ll have a limited number of features. To access more advanced features like accounting sync and expense approval, your plan will start at USD 5 per user per month. If you want to add expense policies and custom reporting, the starting price goes up to USD 9/user each month.

Key features

Boasting itself as a solution for managing company spending, Expensify is primarily a payments management platform with features like expense reporting, corporate credit cards, vendor payment tracking, and business travel management. Users will have access to a virtual travel assistant called Concierge Travel, which can be used to book flights and hotels. Expensify also offers many integrations, from accounting software to travel platforms.

Pros & cons

One of the biggest advantages of using Expensify is that you’ll get most of the features you’ll need for travel and expense management. From corporate cards to travel bookings, you have it all on one platform. However, not only can Expensify be costly if you have a large number of employees, but some features also won’t have as much depth compared to other platforms.

Ratings

On G2, Expensify has an average rating of 4.5 out of 5.

Set-up process and requirements

Available in over 150 countries for all kinds of businesses, Zoho’s answer to travel and expense management is the Zoho Expense software. You can set up a Zoho Expense account for free, with businesses from freelancers to enterprises being eligible.

Fees and pricing

At a glance, Zoho Expense seems like a cheap travel & expense management software. Not only can you get started for free, but the paid plans start at only USD 3 per month, with higher tiers being USD 5 and USD 8 per month respectively. However, note that these prices are for each active user on the platform. The more users you have, the more you’ll have to pay.

Key features

Made for business expense management, you can use Zoho Expense to automate and streamline your expense reporting process, implement a multi-level approval workflow, and also track all your payments. Zoho Expense also has travel-specific features like travel report and itinerary creation, travel approval policies, and the ability to make travel bookings through their platform thanks to integrations.

Pros & cons

Usable by all kinds of businesses of all sizes, most businesses can benefit from utilizing Zoho Expense as their travel & expense management software. Zoho Expense is also a part of the expansive Zoho suite, which will allow plenty of integrations with other tools under the umbrella. Despite not being a dedicated travel-only platform, Zoho Expense also has an extensive list of features for travel management. Compared to some other travel & expense management software, however, they may not have as many travel-related perks such as reclaiming VAT.

Ratings

On G2, Zoho Expense has an average rating of 4.5 out of 5.

Set-up process and requirements

As TravelPerk is mainly travel & expense management software for businesses, your business will likely have to have many employees to start using the software, meaning that this isn’t a platform that freelancers can take advantage of.

Fees and pricing

TravelPerk offers a free plan to start with, with its paid plans starting at USD 99 per month. A higher tier is available at USD 299/month for more advanced features, along with the ability to customize plans for enterprises with larger budgets or specific requirements.

Key features

Managing your trips with TravelPerk is easy. From making the initial booking to making changes to your plans, you can do it all on the platform. Track your travel budget and spending in one place. You can also set travel policies and enforce them with TravelPerk. More than that, you can save up quite a bit of money by reclaiming VAT easily and choosing the best and cheapest options for your trips.

Pros & cons

Overall, TravelPerk is the full package for business travel management. With many features that support everything from booking and managing your trips to invoices and payments, your business travels can be stress-free. However, since TravelPerk is fully focused on travel, you won’t be able to manage other expenses, even if they may exist adjacent to travel.

Ratings

On G2, TravelPerk has an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.

Set-up process and requirements

While Egencia’s website offers a product demo video to introduce you to the platform, you will have to fill out your details as well as your company’s to get to know more about the platform. When you get in touch with the team, you can request a live demo and pricing details. Egencia is only available for businesses and cannot be used by self-employed freelancers.

Fees and pricing

To find out more about Egencia’s pricing, you will have to fill out a form on their website to request pricing details. Egencia does not offer any free trials.

Key features

Egencia is a travel management platform with a comprehensive set of tools to support corporate travel. Offering travel expense reporting and approval workflows, you can build your company’s travel policies onto the platform to ensure that all bookings and expenses comply with existing policies. Business travelers can report expenses on the go, as well as link personal credit cards that they use on their trips.

Pros & cons

As an established travel management system, Egencia has detailed and customizable features to easily control business travel. With its mobile app, the platform is overall accessible and easy to use. The downside to Egencia is that because it’s a dedicated travel platform, you cannot do other sorts of expense reporting in tandem with travel-specific ones.

Ratings

On G2, Egencia has an average rating of 4.4 out of 5. 

One of the primary advantages of utilizing travel expense management software is cost savings.

By automating expense tracking, identifying discrepancies, and enforcing policy compliance, businesses can reduce overspending, eliminate manual errors, and negotiate better deals with preferred vendors.

Without a centralized system, it is tough to track how an employee is spending for their business travel. These software solutions provide real-time visibility into travel expenses, allowing businesses to track spending patterns, identify cost-saving opportunities, and make informed financial decisions.

Detailed reports and analytics enable organizations to gain insights into travel trends, vendor performance, and employee spending habits.

Manual reimbursement processes can be time-consuming due to the collection of receipts, creation of expense reports, and prone to errors.

Travel and expense management software simplifies reimbursement by automating the process, reducing paperwork, and facilitating faster and more accurate reimbursements, resulting in improved employee satisfaction.

Do you want to save time, money, and hassle for your business? Do you want to streamline your workflows, reduce errors, and improve compliance? Check out our article on expense management automation to know the how automation can help you in improving the way your business function.

Manual expense management leaves room for human error and non-compliance with travel policies. You never know if the employees are aware of all the travel expense rules. It might cause unintentional errors in the form of non-compliant spending that you will have to spend time rectifying.

Travel expense management software ensures accurate and consistent data entry, validates expense claims against policies, and enforces compliance, reducing the risk of fraudulent activities and policy violations.

These software solutions enable businesses to define and enforce travel policies effectively. By setting up predefined rules and workflows, organizations can control travel expenses, ensure adherence to regulations, and optimize the use of company resources.

Related read: Corporate travel policy best practices

Automating travel and expense management processes minimizes administrative burdens on employees, freeing up their time to focus on core tasks. This enhances employee satisfaction and morale, as they no longer have to deal with manual paperwork and lengthy reimbursement processes.

Employees also get the freedom to choose their preferred travel methods as long as they fall under the company policy and budget limits. 

Travel and expense management software automates repetitive tasks such as data entry, report generation, and approval workflows, saving valuable time for both employees and finance teams. This allows for increased productivity and more efficient use of resources.

These software solutions provide built-in policy controls, ensuring that expenses are in line with company policies and local regulations. By enforcing compliance, businesses can mitigate financial risks and maintain ethical standards.

Suggested read: How to ensure expense report compliance for your business?

As the volume of business travel grows, manual expense management becomes impractical and time-consuming.

Travel and expense management software help businesses cope with the complexity and scale of managing a large number of travel expenses. It makes booking and handling the logistics of travel for all employees easier and more straightforward. 

For organizations with remote or global teams, tracking travel expenses and ensuring policy compliance can be challenging. There is also the complication of multiple currencies being involved in the payments you make for your employees who stay in different countries.

Travel expense management software provides a centralized platform for managing expenses across multiple locations, enabling better control and visibility.

Tracking and categorizing travel expenses manually can lead to errors, delayed reimbursements, and lost receipts. It is cumbersome for both the employee and the admin to handle all the receipts for reimbursements in physical form.

Implementing travel and expense management software simplifies the expense tracking process, improves accuracy, and ensures all expenses are accounted for.

Businesses aiming to gain better control over their travel expenses and optimize costs should consider adopting travel expense management software. These solutions offer cost-saving features, such as policy enforcement, vendor negotiation, and spend analytics, to help businesses optimize their travel budgets.

You would be able to prevent an unwarranted or unauthorized expense to occur and seamlessly control spending as much as possible. 

Companies following the manual way of handling travel expenses will only be able to see the expenses long after they are made in an expense report.

Organizations seeking real-time visibility into their travel expenses and comprehensive reporting capabilities can benefit from travel and expense management software.

Such software provides detailed insights into spending patterns, identifies cost-saving opportunities, and facilitates data-driven decision-making.

Manual expense management processes can frustrate employees, leading to reduced productivity and dissatisfaction. Implementing travel expense management software simplifies expense reporting, streamlines reimbursement processes, and improves the overall employee experience. 

Evaluate the pricing structure of the software and consider the return on investment it can offer in terms of time and cost savings. Gauge whether you get all the features you need at the price that you are paying for the software subscription.

Receipt capture using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology is a game-changer. It enables employees to capture receipt data using their smartphones, eliminating the need for manual data entry.

Choose software with an intuitive and user-friendly interface to ensure ease of use and adoption across the organization. Test the software out with different employees of your organization and get their feedback about the tool. 

Check if the software integrates seamlessly with corporate credit cards, simplifying expense tracking and reducing manual effort. This will help you improve expense tracking and reporting even more than already is possible with travel and expense software. 

Assess the reporting and analytics features of the software, ensuring it provides comprehensive insights into travel expenses and supports data-driven decision-making.

See if the software is capable of filtering out data with deep customization to how you want to create reports for travel expenses. 

Consider the level of customer support offered by the software provider, including availability, response time, and support channels. Make sure that your company can be assigned an individual customer support representative to help you at all times.

Check if the software integrates with other existing systems such as accounting software or HR systems to ensure seamless data flow and eliminate silos.

Having such integrations makes processes much more efficient between different departments of the organization. 

Look for software that offers mobile accessibility, allowing employees to manage expenses on the go and capture receipts using their smartphones. This will eliminate the need for employees and managers to constantly open their laptops or desktops in order to file any expense claim or approve or reject any expenses in the case of managers.

Each company has its unique expense policies and approval processes. Look for software that allows customization of expense policies and workflows to match your organization's specific requirements.

Effective expense tracking and auto-categorization capabilities save time and minimize errors. The software should automatically categorize expenses based on predefined rules, making it easier to generate accurate reports.

An automated reimbursement process accelerates expense reimbursement, reducing the time employees spend waiting for their money.

Interesting read: A detailed guide on expense reimbursement

Software that integrates with popular travel booking platforms simplifies the process of managing travel arrangements, ensuring that all bookings are automatically recorded.

To maintain data security, the software should offer role-based access controls, enabling different levels of access for employees and administrators.

There are plenty of options for your travel & expense management software. Each platform will have its pros and cons. Depending on what it is that you’re looking for, one platform may suit you more than another.

Generally, however, the best travel & expense management software are the ones with a comprehensive suite of tools that enable easier expenses of all kinds and their respective reports. 

With an expense management software like Volopay, you’ll be able to manage your bookings and business travel-related expenses through many different fronts.

Whether that’s through corporate card, faster reimbursements, or better expense reporting, Volopay can help you through it all. You’ll also get access to other features that’ll help you manage non-travel expenses as a bonus.

In short, Volopay is an all-in-one platform for all your business expense management needs.