How Browning Chapman saved more than $45,000 in 6 months

Initially, Browning Chapman approached hotel bookings like anyone else, using various online travel sites or negotiating contractor rates directly with hotels. Kelli Bays, Browning Chapman’s Office and HR Administrator, explained how that quickly became too time-consuming and rigid when the business began to grow. “As travel started to pick up, we’d have two or three crews traveling all over the United States, and they might change their schedule,” she explained. “I’ve got three or four nights for them, and all of a sudden, on a dime, we’ve got to change that… Depending on how you book, sometimes you can’t get your money back.” They were frequently paying for one or two nights per traveler, per trip that were not being used.

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Meanwhile, all these individual bookings and hotel invoices were also costing them time. Peter Lyon, Browning Chapman’s Controller said, “I’d have to go through every credit card statement to find every hotel charge, and then figure out what job it was for.”

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Because of the way hotels and online booking tools handle payment, Browning Chapman’s employees were being asked to put down personal credit cards at check-in. It’s a common practice for hotels, and a common problem for businesses. “A lot of our guys that are traveling don’t have the personal funds to cover a hold of hundred dollars or more,” Kelli explained. “They don’t have that—and those hotels can take 7 to 10 days for it to be released after they leave the hotel.” Kelli began to look for a better way.

Through Engine’s Direct Bill, Incidentals Coverage and FlexPro features, Kelli was able to solve all of Browning Chapman’s major frustrations with travel arrangements.

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With FlexPro, Kelli pays one flat annual fee and has saved her company over $45,000 on unused nights in the last six months. “FlexPro has been a godsend for us, because it’s very common for us to have things change,” she said. “We used to have to negotiate with the hotel [to try to get a refund], but now if we have to make a change, we know we’re getting that money back: if the hotel won’t reimburse us, you guys credit us.”

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Meanwhile, Direct Bill is making reconciliation a breeze for Peter: “It saves me hours just from not having to track down the various people that have made the charges on their credit card.”  Since Kelli enters job numbers at booking using Engine’s custom fields feature, he doesn’t have to track those down, either. “It’s much easier now that it’s coming from a single report. I can print out one report and I’ve got the info that I need… I bet it saves me two to four hours a month.”

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Perhaps most importantly, Engine makes it easy for Browning Chapman to add Incidentals Coverage. This Engine feature eliminates the need for credit cards at check-in. Their employees are very happy that they don’t have put deposits on their personal accounts. Engine covers the costs, verifies each finalized charge, and creates one streamlined bill for easy payment. “Incidentals coverage has been a huge help,” said Kelli. “We use that on all our bookings.”

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