Nearly 40% of respondents would rather eat a worm than submit daily expense reports
NEW YORK, 31 January 2023 /PRNewswire/ — New research from an item-level receipt data network, Banyanshows that business travelers find the expense reporting process tedious, time-consuming and error-prone – so much so that they would go to great lengths to avoid it.
More than half (55%) of business travelers surveyed cited the time burden associated with managing expenses as their main pain point in the process. The time burden is evident – nearly 6 in 10 business travelers spend 20 minutes or more organizing materials to submit an expense report.
Outdated cost management processes not only steal employees’ time, but also affect company wallets. According to a 2022 study of Global Business Travel Associationthe very process of compiling a report on the cost of one night in a hotel requires an average cost of $58 for a company. Additionally, a full 87% of business travelers have had to correct occasional errors in expense reports (or had their internal finance team correct them). This adds unnecessary time to the process – and for businesses that are cutting costs amid high inflation, that time is a waste of money.
Banyan, CEO and Founder, Jehan Lutsays: “Integrating item-level data into cost management systems is the key to unlocking faster, more accurate reporting processes and therefore happier users. This is one of the many applications of item-level data that enables brands to create better, more engaging experiences for consumers at all touchpoints of their journey. Key benefits for hotels and retailers include increased revenue and reduced operating costs, all facilitated by a more efficient process – while consumers and business travelers can save time and energy through automated receipt capture, often eliminating the need for an expense report.”
While it may not be their favorite process, research shows that business travelers don’t put off submitting expense receipts, with 90% of business travelers submitting expense reports within a week of returning from their trip. But what happens when they don’t have all the records they need? According to respondents, the main emotions associated with missing travel receipts were negative, with responses ranging from ‘disappointment’ to ‘stressed’ and even ‘panicked’.
Just how much do business travelers dislike the expense reporting process? They are willing to take drastic measures to avoid producing expense reports –
- 1 in 5 business travelers would rather sprinkle lemon juice on a cut than file an expense report.
- Over a third of commuters would rather have a dentist appointment or renew their driver’s license at the DMV than file an expense report.
- Nearly 40% of respondents would rather eat a worm once than file an expense report every day for a year.
- Over a third of respondents would pay $50 or more for someone to report expenses for them.
Business travel is changing and companies are falling behind the trends. Although 3 in 4 business travelers have taken “leisure travel” – meaning travel that is a combination of business and pleasure – only 61% of business travelers say their company has a leisure travel policy. The most common activities that leisure travelers engage in are connecting with friends and family in the area (73%), sightseeing or tourist activities (73%), and dining out (71%). On these combined trips, almost half of travelers use a combination of personal and business cards to pay for travel – and 63% of business travelers would like more flexibility in using their cards of choice on leisure trips time, something that corporations must take into account when building new leisure policies. One solution is to work with a travel and expense management provider that securely and automatically captures receipt information down to item-level data – freeing business travelers from having to track multiple cards individually and limiting time spent on expense and time reports , spent correcting errors in these reports.
As travel trends evolve, CFOs face the added challenge of ensuring that there is no mixing of personal and business credit card charges; they need to make sure the company’s travel budget pays for hotel rooms, not spa massages. Over half (53%) of business travelers have accidentally placed a personal charge on a corporate card or vice versa. This is especially imperative as CFOs tighten budgets in response to economic conditions.
Michael BudeBanyan’s chief financial officer, says: “As we face the high probability of a looming recession, finance departments are laser-focused on where to cut costs and improve productivity. Banyan brings a new level of automated policy spend transparency, without the headache and dependency on employees to chase With item-level data applications, the travel and expense budget is illuminated as an opportunity for companies to save money and instill a mindset that every dollar spent gets the same level of control.”
As the spend management landscape continues to evolve, item-level data is the nexus that can benefit merchants, banks, and consumers to alleviate shared frustrations. For more on Banyan’s item-level data capabilities, visit www.Banyan.com.
About Banyan
Banyan is the all-in-one transaction enrichment partner, serving as an orchestration layer that simplifies the way organizations consume, enrich, and use transaction data to operate more efficiently. By joining the Banyan network, banks and fintech companies can use item-level receipt data from Banyan merchant partners to deliver better spend management solutions, loyalty and card-related shopping offers, and etc. Banyan network participants unlock new capabilities and capabilities while remaining secure and compliant as they leverage the company’s proprietary privacy-by-design platform. With world-class security protection and a highly scalable infrastructure, getting started with Banyan is fast, flexible and easy through secure batch or API data integrations.
Media contact: Maria Arias, [email protected]
SOURCE Banyan