Work travel expenses can be a nightmare to manage, but they don’t have to be. With automated expense tracking tools, the whole process becomes a lot easier, freeing you up to focus on what matters: getting your job done.
If you’ve ever gone on a work trip, you know the drill. You’re in a rush to get to the airport, juggling meetings, meals, and taxis—and then there’s the paperwork. Trying to keep track of all your receipts while focusing on your job is no easy feat.
And when you get back? That’s when the real headache begins. You’ve got to sort through the receipts, fill out forms, and hope you get reimbursed without too much hassle.
Work travel expenses can be a nightmare to manage, but they don’t have to be. With automated expense tracking tools, the whole process becomes a lot easier, freeing you up to focus on what matters: getting your job done.
Let’s take a look at how managing work travel expenses can be made simple, what you should be on the lookout for, and why automation is the solution you’ve been looking for.
What are work travel expenses?
Let’s start with the basics. Work travel expenses are the costs you incur when you’re travelling for business purposes. This can include a wide variety of expenses, such as:
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Flights and transportation: Plane tickets, train rides, rental cars, taxis, ride-hailing services like Uber or Lyft, and even public transport.
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Accommodation: Hotel stays, short-term rentals, or any other form of lodging.
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Meals: The cost of food and drink while you’re travelling, which often includes restaurant meals, snacks, and drinks purchased on the go.
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Miscellaneous expenses: This might include conference fees, tips, internet access at your hotel, parking fees, and more.
Keeping track of all these expenses can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re on a long trip or juggling multiple clients and meetings.
Why managing work travel expenses can be challenging?
Business travel is essential, but it can quickly turn into a financial nightmare if not managed properly. Here’s why tracking work travel expenses can be a real challenge:
Receipts get lost
Let’s face it, you’re not always going to hold onto every tiny receipt from the coffee shop or the taxi ride. By the end of the trip, those little slips of paper can easily go missing.
Manual tracking is tedious
Traditionally, you have to log each expense manually, which means filling out spreadsheets or entering information into a company system. When you’re tired after a long day of meetings, it’s the last thing you want to do.
Reimbursement delays
The longer it takes to submit your expenses, the longer you’ll wait for reimbursement. No one likes waiting weeks or even months to get back the money they spent on work-related travel.
Inconsistent policies
Different companies have different policies about what can and can’t be reimbursed. It’s easy to overspend on something that isn’t covered or to miss claiming an expense that is.
Why automation is the answer
If the idea of manually tracking work travel expenses makes you cringe, you’re not alone. Fortunately, automated expense tracking tools can help solve these problems, saving you time, reducing stress, and making sure you’re reimbursed quickly and accurately.
Who needs automated expense tracking?
If you travel for work regularly, automated expense tracking isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a must. Here are a few people who benefit most from automating their work travel expenses:
Frequent flyers
Sales teams, consultants, and executives who are constantly on the road will see the biggest benefit from automation. When you’re managing multiple trips each month, keeping track of receipts manually just isn’t practical.
Remote workers
If your job involves travelling to different locations, whether it’s to visit clients or attend conferences, automated expense tracking helps keep everything organised.
Finance teams
It’s not just the travellers who benefit. Finance teams often have to sift through mountains of paperwork and receipts for reimbursement claims. Automated tracking simplifies their job, too, making it easier to process claims quickly.
When is the right time to automate?
The best time to automate your work travel expenses is as soon as you find yourself dealing with them on a regular basis. If you’ve ever been frustrated by lost receipts, complicated expense reports, or slow reimbursements, it’s time to look into automation.
What to look out for in expense tracking tools
If you’re ready to ditch the manual paperwork and move to automated expense tracking, here are a few features to keep an eye on:
Receipt scanning
A good tool should let you take photos of your receipts with your phone, so you never have to worry about losing them again. This means you can capture receipts in real-time, while you’re still on the go.
Automated expense reports
Forget about filling in spreadsheets or forms. Look for software that automatically generates detailed reports based on the receipts and transactions you’ve logged.
Customisable categories
Different companies have different travel policies. Your expense tracking tool should allow you to categorise expenses based on what your company covers, so you can easily track reimbursable costs versus personal ones.
Integration with other systems
Your expense tracking tool should integrate with your company’s accounting software, for example Xero. This reduces friction for both employees and finance teams and speeds up the reimbursement process.
Real-time syncing
The best tools will sync across devices in real-time, so whether you’re using your phone, tablet, or computer, you can access your expense reports wherever you are.
How Budgetly makes work travel expenses easy
Now that we’ve covered why work travel expenses can be so difficult to manage, let’s talk about the solution: Budgetly. Budgetly is an all-in-one automated expense tracking platform that takes the hassle out of managing work travel expenses.
Here’s why Budgetly stands out as the go-to solution for managing work travel expenses:
Real-time expense tracking
With Budgetly, you can log your expenses as they happen. Whether you’re at the airport, grabbing a meal between meetings, or paying for a hotel, simply snap a photo of the receipt, and Budgetly takes care of the rest. It automatically uploads and categorises your expenses, so you don’t have to worry about sorting through them later.
Streamlined reporting
Budgetly makes expense reporting a breeze. It automatically generates detailed reports for you to submit to your finance team. No more sitting down after a long trip to manually log every meal, taxi ride, or hotel stay.
RIP to reimbursements
Tired of waiting weeks to get reimbursed? Budgetly speeds up the process by eliminating the need of tedious reimbursement processes freeing up valuable time and resources.
Benefits of automating work travel expenses
So, why should you switch to automated expense tracking? Here are a few key benefits:
1. Save time
Automated expense tracking tools eliminate the need for manual entry, allowing you to focus on your work, not your paperwork.
2. Reduce stress
You’ll never have to worry about losing receipts or remembering to log expenses. Automated tools handle it all for you.
3. No more chasing receipts
With instant expense logging and automated reports, you’ll submit your expenses faster and get reimbursed quicker.
4. Stay organised
All your work travel expenses are stored in one place, making it easy to access records whenever you need them.
5. Improve accuracy
Automated tools reduce the risk of human error, ensuring that your reports are accurate and complete every time.
Wrapping up: Simplify your work travel expenses with Budgetly
Managing work travel expenses doesn’t have to be a hassle. With the right tools, you can log your expenses in real-time, streamline your reporting, and speed up the reimbursement process. Budgetly makes it easy, taking the stress out of work travel and giving you back more time to focus on what really matters.
If you’re tired of the paperwork and ready to automate your work travel expenses, Budgetly’s tools are here to help. With features like receipt scanning, automated reports, and mileage tracking, Budgetly takes the pain out of expense management—so you can get back to business.
Discover how Budgetly can work for your business, schedule a demo with us today, or watch a 10-minute recorded demo.
