SPONSORED ARTICLE © pigprox – Fotolia #104758470 Uniting the strengths of travel managers and treasury Valuable arguments for professional T&E payment solutions. By Thorsten Gräf Head of Strategic Accounts In many companies, the decisions to be made concerning Travel & Entertainment payments are becoming more multi-disciplinary, and besides travel management increasingly a matter of treasury. Hence treasurers are more interested in understanding the background of T&E payment decisions. Travel managers, in turn, are more interested in understanding the work performed and the challenges faced by treasurers. The following arguments are the uniting benefits of travel managers and treasury when they decide for professional T&E payment solutions: Improved liquidity All T&E payment solutions offer greater liquidity than alternative payment methods, such as petty cash or direct invoicing. However, unless travel accounts for an exceptionally high proportion of the Improved compliance and risk management Gain better supplier deals company’s costs, small differences in – Detailed information about how much payment terms will have almost no impact on T&E payment solutions mitigate a wide range employees are spending, and with which the company’s overall working capital. of operational, financial and reputational risks. suppliers, makes the difference when Improved process efficiency Prevent employees from over-spending/ negotiating corporate discounts. spending outside policy – You can limit how About AirPlus International Seamless financial system integration much employees are allowed to spend through – Electronic invoicing lets you upload format- monthly limits and individual transaction AirPlus is a leading international provider of friendly information seamlessly into your limits. You can also control who they are solutions for the day-to-day management of accounting system. No manual entry is required. allowed to pay by setting limits on which types business travel. 49,000 corporate customers Rapid invoice reconciliation of merchant may accept the card. count on AirPlus for the payment and analysis – For users of a centrally billed T&E payment of their business trip costs. Products and Make T&E payments without plastic cards services are marketed worldwide under the account (also known as a lodge card), a single – Companies don’t like giving plastic corporate AirPlus International brand. The AirPlus invoice covers all payments by your employees. cards to everyone who works for them, e.g. Company Account is the most successful A reconciliation process that used to take days contractors, interns or new employees. central bill account based on UATP. can now be completed in minutes. Products like lodge cards and virtual cards “Prior to signing with AirPlus, reconciliation and allow closely controlled payments for T&E accounting of employee travel took up to a week. without having to issue any plastic. Contact: Now it takes us 30 minutes to reconcile employee Improved visibility AirPlus International travel information. We get the detail we need, Dornhofstraße 10 last-minute bookings are easier and we can Understand your T&E spend better 63236 Neu-Isenburg Germany instantly account for what we spent.” – By channelling all T&E payments through T: + 49 (0) 61 02 204 444 Teo Contreras, one process globally – a process with F + 49 (0) 61 02 204 3490 Assistant Financial Controller, PGS Americas excellent, precise reporting – you can fully [email protected] understand how much T&E is costing your Minimize cash advances company, and when you need to pay. – Cash advances can be eliminated by employees paying directly through their T&E Track budgets – AirPlus’ payment solutions payment solution or withdrawing cash on allow the addition of up to nine separate fields their corporate cards while travelling. of employee data at time of payment. That allows you to easily break down spend by Lower payment costs employee, client, project or department. And – Handling costs are much lower than so can your budget-holders. Daily transaction cheques or wire transfers. Credit is interest- feeds into your expense reporting system For more information, visit free for the vast majority of travel expenses. ensure fast visibility of total spend. www.airplus.com