Travel & Expense Trends for 2015: How Does Your Businesses Expense Management Process Stack Up?

www.certify.com Travel & Expense Trends for 2015

• Learn the business travel spend trends of 2014 and what to expect in 2015
• Identify ways to improve management of your company’s T&E spend in 2015
• Benchmark key categories of T&E to compare your company's overall spend with
other organizations
• Recognize current and emerging trends in T&E automation
Learning Objectives
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Webinar Event Notes

In 2008, Bob and his team launched the
Certify product featuring mobile
technology and web-based
automation. Certify has accelerated its
position to become the second largest
provider of expense reporting software in
North America.
Robert Neveu
President & Co-founder
Speaker

About Certify
• Industry-leading with first fully automated expense system
• Providing travel & expense solutions since 2008
• 64 languages, 140+ currencies, clients in 18 countries
• #1 Highest Rated Expense Management Software on G2 Crowd,
with a 4.8 out of 5 star rating
• Over 15 million expense transactions in 2014
• Processing over $5 billion/year in expense reports
Featured in:

Travel & Expense Trends for 2015:
How Does Your Company’s Expense
Management Process Stack Up?
Learn the latest trends in travel and expense management for 2015.
Presented by: Certify | Travel and Expense Made Easy

Travel and entertainment (T&E)—second only to payroll as the largest
business expense, accounts for 10–12% of total annual budget
$186,000,000,000
The projected amount North American companies will spend on travel and
entertainment (T&E) in 2015, according to a report by J.P. Morgan
The Importance of T&E

Annual Spend on Travel & Entertainment
The majority of mid-size companies
spend between $50k and $5mm on
T&E
$50k – $5mm
Mid-Size Company
101 – 999 employees
The majority of large organizations
spend over $5mm on T&E
> $5,000,000
Large Enterprise
More than 1,000 employees
The majority of small businesses
spend less than $50k on T&E
< $50,000
Small Business
Less than 100 employees
What companies of all sizes are spending on T&E:
Reference: Certify’s Travel and Expense Trends Data, February 2014

• Total Respondents: 434 companies (non-Certify clients)
• Audience:
• 28% Small Business: less than 100 employees
• 37% Mid-Sized Business: 101 – 999 employees
• 35% Large Business: 1,000+ employees
• Location:
• 6% International
• 94% U.S.
• Demographics:
• 38% C-level or above finance professionals
• 43% Manager, Controller or Accountant
• 19% Other (accounting staff, consultant, administrative, etc.)
Third Annual Expense Management Trends Survey
About the Data
Conducted in December 2014

How does your organization
currently manage its T&E
spend?
Poll Question

Reference: Certify’s Annual Travel & Expense Management Survey 2015
How do organizations currently manage their travel and expense
reporting?
T&E Expense Management Trends

T&E Expense Management Trends
The Divide Between Small, Medium & Large Businesses
Manual - 64%
ERP - 11%
Web-Based - 25%
Manual - 19%
ERP - 33%
Web-Based - 48%
Manual - 48%
ERP - 19%
Web-Based - 34%
Small Business Medium Business Large Business

What is the largest pain point
surrounding expense management?
Poll Question

Top Pain Points
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Reviewing for policy violations
Reconciling the data
Errors on the report
Employees losing receipts
Time it takes to reconcile, review, and
approve
Employee's failure to submit reports on time
Largest Pain Points Surrounding T&E

Areas to Improve for 2015
Top T&E Pressures in 2014
Lengthy expense
reimbursements (16%)
Frequent instances of
noncompliance (16%)
Need to reduce
expense costs46%
Poor visibility
into spend
27%
Lack of control
over T&E spend
25%
Top Pressures & Areas for Improvement

How do organizations improve
T&E management processes
and overcome those pain
points?

1. Automate key components of T&E expense management
• Ranked the #1 top priority in 2014 by 52% of companies in the
2014 Aberdeen Report
2. Take measures to improve and enforce corporate T&E policies
• Ranked #2 by 48% of companies
3. Arm travelers with better technologies to make T&E expense
management simpler and faster
• Mobile applications
• Globally accessible tools
1. Leverage analytics to improve intelligence and data
Key Strategic Actions to Improve
Processes
Reference: Aberdeen Group 2014, The Traveler & Expense Management Guide for 2014

Expense Management Features
1. Automation
For example, automated expense reports, direct credit card feeds, and
automated approval workflows.
2. Policy Enforcement
Employees receive immediate out-of-policy notifications, and companies can
set expense limits by category.
3. Integrations with Finance Systems
Manage large-scale user data through integrations with HRMS interfaces,
multiple ERP systems, and accounting software.
4. Mobile Technology
Mobile apps allow users to report and manage expenses remotely, whether
using a smartphone to capture receipt images or for on-the-go travel booking.
Must-have features requested by the finance department:

Automation is the Finance Department’s
#1 requested feature. How are
companies leveraging this technology?

Ways to Automate T&E Management
1. AutoFill (Parsing) Technology
Extracts receipt and expense data from receipts, eliminating manual entry
2. Automated Expense Report Creation with Scheduled Build days
Expense reports are built automatically, ready for users to review and submit for approval. Users receive
customizable email reminders, with optional manager notification of non-compliance.
3. Automated Approval Workflows
Managers are instantly notified of electronic reports pending approval, decreasing expense report lifecycle
and reimbursement times
Standard Automated T&E Features:
Emerging Technologies, Specific to Certify:
1. Credit Card Integrations
Automated data feeds of corporate credit card transactions eliminates the reconciliation process
2. Mobile Receipt Capture
Employees take a photo of a receipt with their smartphone, turning it into an electronic receipt
3. Online Expense Report Creation
Create, submit and approve expense reports online, eliminating time-consuming spreadsheets
4. Direct Feeds
Automated feeds sync data with accounting and HR, eliminating manual data entry between systems

How is your organization enforcing
T&E expense policies?
Poll Question

Policy Enforcement
14%
35% 36%
21%
1%
4%
31%
27%
19%
63%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
T&E policy is not
enforced
It is the responsibility of
the employee
Manager manually
review each expense
Accountant manually
reviews, checking only
high value expenses
T&E system
automatically flags out-
of-policy violations
How Companies Enforce T&E Policies
Manual Process Web-Based System

T&E Policies

Online Travel Sites
Travel Agency
Online Booking Tool
Corporate Travel
How companies
are booking travel:
Manual Process Automation
Open Booking
(through direct
provider)
Online Travel
Sites/Agencies
(i.e. Expedia,
Orbitz, Kayak)
Online Booking
Tool (OBT)
(i.e. Carlson,
Get There)
Travel Agency
(through a
travel agent)
PRO: Flexibility
CON: No control
over policy
enforcement
PRO: Flexibility
CON: No control
over policy
enforcement
PRO: Policy
enforcement
CONS: Contracts and
systems; minimum
transactions. Best for
organizations
spending over $2mm
on T&E.
PRO: Full-service policy
enforcement
CONS: Cost; $40-50 fee
in addition to booking
fees. Best for
organizations spending
over $4mm on T&E.
Manual Process
Web-Based
Process

Fraud in Expenses
• 59% of companies indicated 20% of expenses submitted are in violation of T&E policy.
• 6.3% of all transactions are “out of compliance,” according to a report by Oversight
Systems. Of these noncompliant transactions, 19% of expenses submitted are
“fraudulent” with average amount of $115, amounting to $13.7 million in losses.
• Organizations who monitor compliance have a 70% decrease in fraudulent spending.
Reference: www.businesstravelnews.com/Expense-Management/Study--Fraudulent-Expense-Reports-Have-Cost-Cos--Millions-In-2014

The Craziest Business Expenses of 2014
$125 Cher Concert Tickets
“Because I was in Vegas and had a free evening.”
Expensed by an employee at a small insurance company
2nd Monitor
“Because I have two eyes.”
Expensed by an employee at a mid-sized company
Beers at $100 each
“Liquid to maintain life in the tropics.”
Expensed by an employee at a mid-sized company

BENCHMARKING DATA FOR
KEY T&E CATEGORIES

Reference: Certify’s SpendSmart Report, Q4, 2014
1. Meals
21%
2. Airfare
16%
3. Lodging
14%
4. Gas
12%
5. Misc.
8%
6. Cell Phone 6%
7. Car Rental 5%
8. Groceries 5%
9. Supplies 5%
10.Taxi
5%
How the T&E budget was
spent by business
professionals:
Spend Trends in 2014

Benchmarking Data: Expense Categories
Reference: Certify’s SpendSmart Report, 2013-2014
The average expense amounts, based transaction
data from the 2014 Certify SpendSmart Report:
Category 2013 2014 Difference
Meals $26.08 $25.67 – 1.58%
Airfare $329.65 $345.21 + 4.61%
Lodging $200.24 $213.90 + 6.6%
Car Rental $185.27 $193.58 + 4.39%
Taxi $32.76 $31.81 – 2.94%
Gas $50.73 $40.41 – 22.65%
Parking $32.75 $32.70 – 0.15%
Cell Phone $98.88 $89.30 – 10.18%

Benchmarking Data: Meal Expenses
Reference: Certify’s Annual Travel & Expense Management Survey 2015 | http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/101518
A breakdown of meal expense amounts, based on Certify
transactions and the GSA’s per diem meal rates:
Meal Breakdown
Average Expense
Amounts for 2014
GSA Per Diem Highest
Tier (Major Metros)
Breakfast $11.88 $12
Lunch $21.46 $18
Dinner $28.24 $36
Total Per Day $61.58 $71*
*includes $5 for incidental expenses

T&E EXPENSE MANAGEMENT:
LOOKING FORWARD

53% of companies on a manual process—who indicated they will switch to a
web-based expense system—estimate they will switch within the next 12
months.
21% 32% 26% 9% 9%
Within the next 6 months
6 – 12 months
12 – 24 months
24 – 36 months
Not sure
The timeframe anticipated to switch to a cloud-based expense system:
Switching from Spreadsheets

Reasons for Switching
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Improve employee compliance rates to
corporate travel policies
Provide an expense system accessible
from anywhere
Gain reporting and analytics around T&E
spend
Simplifying the expense reporting process
What are the forces driving the switch to a web-based
system?

Simplification with Integrations
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
General Ledger Corporate Credit Cards AP ERP CRM
Integrations: Manual vs. Web-Based
Manual Process
Web-Based System

13% 13%
44%
19% 14% 16%
6%
22%
76%
67%
60%
57%
43% 43%
31%
53%
Mobile receipt
capture
Mobile report
creation
Direct deposit Automated
expense reports
Reporting &
Analytics
Integrated travel
booking
Multi-language User support for all
Manual Process Web-Based System
Expected Benefits vs. Achieved Results
Expectations vs. Results

ROI on Expense Management Software
Time to recoup costs after
switching to a web-based
expense management
system:
Small Businesses
Experience Fastest ROI
25%
of small businesses
currently use a web-based
system
of small businesses
experience 100% ROI in one
year or less
70%

CERTIFY: WEB-BASED SOFTWARE FOR
T&E EXPENSE MANAGEMENT

ReceiptParse Technology
1. Snap a photo of your receipt with your phone
2. Click AutoFill and the data is instantly extracted
3. Review the entry, and submit!
Automated Expense Reports with ReportExecutive™
Automatic expense reports, coordinated to your company’s
scheduling preferences. Configurable and always on time.
• Add Receipts & Expenses Reminder
• Submit Expense Report Reminder
• Company-Wide Scheduling
Save Time and Simplify Expense
Reporting
Mobile Technology Streamlines the Expense Reporting
Process for On-The-Go Business Travelers

7/1/2014 - 7/31/2014
7/2/2014
7/2/2014
7/3/2014
7/5/2014
7/2/2014
7/3/2014
7/3/2014
7/3/2014
National

Q&A SESSION

For more information about
Certify, visit www.certify.com
Thank you
for attending today’s session.

Travel & Expense Trends for 2015: How Does Your Businesses Expense Management Process Stack Up?

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