A complete guide to travel and expense process management

An efficient travel and expense process is key to staying organized, on budget, and compliant. It connects everything from travel booking and business trip approvals to expense reporting and reimbursement policies. When done right, it reduces admin work and gives companies better control over their travel expenses. 

In this guide, we’ll break down the essentials of expense management—from automating receipts and tracking travel expenses to implementing smart travel expense software that eliminates bottlenecks. If your company is still juggling spreadsheets and manual approvals, now’s the time to reimagine how you manage business travel. 

What’s business travel expense management (T&E)?

You may already know what T&E is, but here’s a quick review: Travel and expense management (T&E) is the system companies use to oversee, organize, and control all business travel and related business expenses. From booking flights to submitting receipts, travel and expense reporting ensures every dollar spent is accounted for and aligned with company goals. A well-run travel and expense system keeps spending transparent and helps teams stick to their travel policy and budgets. 

The core stages of a typical travel and expense process include:

• Travel request: Employees submit a request before booking corporate travel, often through integrated management software that flags any out-of-policy plans upfront. 
• Booking travel: Once approved, employees reserve hotel rooms, flights, and car rentals—ideally through a centralized platform like Engine that supports compliance and cost control. 
• Expense tracking: Employees track their travel expenses and save or upload receipts as the business trip unfolds. This saves time chasing crumpled papers later, making it easier to keep spending visible and organized. 
• Approval workflows: Submitted expenses go to managers for a quick check. Engine helps speed things up by surfacing only what needs attention—no digging through spreadsheets required.
• Expense reimbursement: Once approved, an employee’s travel expenses are reimbursed via direct transfers or bank account credits. You can also match corporate cards for easy reconciliation. 

In short, a strong travel and expense management system keeps everything on track. It improves cost-efficiency by limiting overspending, builds compliance into the process, and gives finance teams clean, accurate data for smarter expense reporting. Engine brings it all together in one platform so you can manage trips, track travel, and close the books with a lot less manual work. 

5 challenges of travel and expense reporting 

Even with the best intentions, managing travel and expense workflows doesn’t always go smoothly, especially if you’re relying on outdated tools or loosely defined company policies. Here are five of the most common hurdles teams run into:

1. Compliance issues: Vague travel policies or inconsistent enforcement can lead to non-compliant travel expenses, which add up fast. Without guardrails, it’s hard to know whether spending is justified, approved, or even allowable. 
2. Lack of visibility: When data lives in scattered systems, finance teams lose insight into overall spending, pending reimbursements, and category-level trends. This makes it harder to manage the travel budget or spot areas for cost-saving. 
3. Manual processes: Manually collecting receipts, chasing approvals, and building expense reports slows everything down. It also increases the risk of human error, from missed entries to duplicate transactions. 
4. Reporting discrepancies: Without real-time expense tracking, mismatches between what was spent and what’s reported are common. This leads to delayed reconciliation and frustrations for employees and finance departments. 
5. Delayed reimbursements: When approvals are backlogged or corporate travel processes are unclear, employees sometimes wait too long to get reimbursed. That’s bad for morale, especially for frequent business travelers juggling multiple business trips. 

The importance of a travel and expense policy

A travel and expense policy is your company’s playbook for managing business travel. It spells out what counts as a reimbursable travel expense, how to book a business trip, and which costs are off-limits, like personal upgrades or out-of-policy meals. A good travel and expense policy

also sets expectations for how employees should submit receipts, use corporate cards, and follow company policies on the road. 

More importantly, a clear, well-structured travel and expense policy helps control spending, reduce the risk of fraud, and ensure compliance with tax laws and internal guidelines. It creates transparency in the expense reimbursement process and gives finance teams the data they need for accurate expense reporting. When you integrate your travel and expense policy with a tool like Engine, the policy becomes part of the process, automatically guiding travel booking, flagging out-of-policy charges, and making expense management seamless from start to finish.

How to design and automate a travel and expense policy

Designing a clear travel and expense policy is one of the easiest ways to bring structure to your company’s business travel program. But the real magic happens when you automate it. Manual workflows slow down expense reimbursement, leave room for error, and frustrate team members. Engine lets you build your policy directly into your travel booking platform, so rules are easy to follow and even easier to reinforce. 

Here’s how to build a modern, automated travel and expense process that works: 

• Define reimbursable and non-reimbursable expenses: Outline exactly what qualifies—airfare, hotels, car rentals, meals—and what doesn’t, like personal entertainment and bar tabs. This helps keep travel expenses predictable and within your company’s travel budget.
• Educate employees on their responsibilities: Make sure your team knows how to track business expenses, upload receipts, and follow company policies. When expectations are clear, compliance naturally improves.
• Clarify the travel and expense process workflow: Lay out each expense reporting and approval workflow step, from booking to reimbursement. A streamlined process helps avoid bottlenecks and delays. 
• Integrate a travel and expense tool: Automation eliminates manual entry, flags out-of-policy charges, and gives your finance team complete visibility into travel booking and business expenses. Engine brings it all together so you can focus on smarter corporate travel management. 
• Set role-based spending limits: Not every traveler has the same needs, so it’s helpful to build tiered limits based on seniority, department, or project type. This helps manage your travel budget without micromanaging individual trips and ensures corporate credit cards are used appropriately. 
• Establish a policy review schedule: Travel and expense management isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it process. Business needs evolve, and so should your travel policies. Review your travel and expense policy quarterly or biannually to adapt to changes in vendor pricing and your team’s structure or travel volume. 
• Centralize vendor relationships: Streamline your process even further by working with preferred car rental companies, airlines, and hotels. Engine can help you with negotiated rates, giving you more control over travel expenses and boosting employee satisfaction with better travel experiences.

Create and automate your travel and expense process with Engine 

A well-defined travel and expense policy isn’t just nice to have; it’s essential for aligning your team and keeping your travel expenses under control. When paired with the right tools, your travel and expense policy becomes more than a document—it becomes part of your process.

With Engine, your company can embed custom travel policies directly into the booking flow so that only compliant flight, hotel, and car rental options show up in results. From travel booking to reimbursement, Engine streamlines every step, giving you full visibility, faster approvals, and fewer surprises. We help your team focus on where they’re going, not how they’ll get there.

Ready to simplify your business travel? Start booking with Engine today. 

Frequently asked questions 

What is a travel stipend?

A travel stipend is a fixed amount of money a company provides to cover an employee’s business travel expenses. It’s often used for short-term trips or events, where giving a flat allowance is easier than managing detailed expense reporting. 

Some companies include a per diem travel budget for meals, lodging, and car rentals. While stipends simplify the business travel process for travelers, it’s still important to align them with your company’s travel and expense policy to avoid overspending. 

What are the benefits of T&E?

A well-run travel and expense process keeps costs in check and helps your entire business travel program run smarter. With the right tools in place, travel and expense management support: 

• Better business travel experiences: When your process is automated and easy to follow, travelers spend less time chasing receipts and waiting for expense reimbursement (and more time focused on work). 
• Stronger vendor relationships: Detailed expense tracking helps you spot where your team is spending the most so you can negotiate better rates with your go-to hotels, airlines, and car rental companies. 
• Smarter forecasting: Real-time data gives finance teams accurate insight into travel expenses, making it easier to plan budgets and avoid last-minute surprises. 
• More equitable travel access: With clear travel policies and transparent reporting, you can ensure business travel opportunities are distributed fairly across roles, teams, and locations. 

What are examples of T&E expenses?

Everyday T&E expenses include airfare, hotels, car rentals, other transportation, and meals while traveling for work. Other examples include baggage fees, parking, internet access, and tips. These are typically considered reimbursable if they fall within our company’s approved travel policies. Non-reimbursable expenses often include personal purchases, alcohol, and non-business-related activities.