Earlier travel expense management mostly used to focus on permanent employees, but that left non-employees expenses. So companies are planning in different ways to focus on non-employees expenses as well.
FREMONT, CA: A critical shift can be noticed in the travel expense management world centered on non-employee expenses. Earlier travel expense management mostly used to focus on permanent employees, like salespeople, field techs and executives. But that left non-employees, including contractors, vendors, board members, job candidates, interns, and employees’ family members.
Filling the gap
Most of the providers in the software market have noticed this gap between traditional employees and non-employees, and have started working to fill that gap. One prominent example: In 2019, BTN’s Business Travel Innovator Award and its People’s Choice Award both went to business travel software Pana, which focuses on helping companies with non-employee travel. Now, to stay ahead, companies are looking to deal with non-employee travel with newer software or other process changes.
Persistent pain points
Generally, most of the companies have different processes for employee and non-employee expenses. And even if the companies have a good T&E process, non-employee expenses can present different challenges with compliance, communication, and payment. It’s a tricky because usually organizations don’t have profiles or payment methods for many non-employees, and trips booked outside the process can also lead to inefficient spend and leakage with data and reporting.
More than that the reputation of a company may be on the line if a non-employee has a miserable travel experience. Some companies have proper arrangements in place to handle expenses of non-employee. All the firms want a more permanent fix as non-employee travel continues to grow and impact business reputations and bottom lines.
What works for your company?
Every firm has a different way of working, and so different methods work for them, so all the companies should address how to address non-employee travel. That may include adding software, changing processes, etc. Of course, the method will largely depend on how much a company manages non-employee travel.
See Also: Top Travel and Hospitality Solution Companies
