What travel platforms offer direct billing and consolidated monthly invoicing?
Three platform categories handle direct billing and consolidated invoicing: traditional TMCs (SAP Concur for select services), modern corporate platforms (Navan, TravelPerk), and crew-focused platforms like Engine.
Traditional TMCs typically offer both features but require longer implementation timelines and account manager involvement. Modern platforms like Navan and TravelPerk provide faster deployment through self-service configuration, though direct billing may require specific account tiers. Crew-focused platforms like Engine specialize in project-based businesses, delivering consolidated invoicing with job code tagging and direct billing for hotels, flights, and car rentals.
The right platform depends on your operational needs: enterprise-wide travel management, fast deployment with modern integrations, or project-specific cost tracking for field crews. If you manage field teams or project-based operations, learn how Engine eliminates expense reports and streamlines job cost tracking.
What is direct billing and how does it work?
Direct billing eliminates employee reimbursement by charging travel expenses directly to your company account at booking time. Instead of crews paying out-of-pocket and submitting receipts, suppliers bill you directly under pre-negotiated payment terms.
When an employee books travel, the platform generates a virtual credit card or processes direct payment to the supplier. Transaction data flows automatically to your accounting system, creating an audit trail from booking through payment.
Your finance team shifts from processing individual expense reports to managing consolidated invoices. Payment terms typically extend 30+ days with suppliers, improving working capital compared to immediate employee reimbursements. Direct billing eliminates the manual receipt chase from field crews, reducing reconciliation time dramatically.
Which travel platforms offer consolidated monthly invoicing?
Traditional TMCs: SAP Concur breaks down every hotel charge with automated invoice management. BCD Travel matches expenses automatically using AI-powered reconciliation. CWT recently introduced a subscription model with single monthly invoicing, though direct billing is not available on their platform.
Modern Platforms: TravelPerk offers flexible billing cycles including trip-based, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly options with self-service setup for rental car billing. Navan connects with 100+ third-party tools including NetSuite, SAP, QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage Intacct.
Crew-Focused Platforms: Engine delivers consolidated invoicing for project-based businesses, with statement frequencies available weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Direct Bill covers hotel, flight, and car rental bookings with accurate cost allocation to specific jobs.
Do hotels require credit cards at check-in with direct billing?
Yes, hotels typically require personal credit cards for incidental authorization holds, even with corporate direct billing arrangements.
Direct billing covers room charges and taxes but doesn't eliminate temporary holds for minibar, room service, parking, or damages. These holds are released after checkout if no incidentals are incurred.
Engine's Incidental Coverage pays for parking, resort fees, room service, and damages through virtual credit card technology. This feature requires application and credit approval. It's not automatically available for all Engine accounts. When properly configured, it eliminates personal card requirements at check-in. K&K Electric eliminated 15 hours of monthly administrative work by removing personal card requirements for their 40-person field team through direct billing and consolidated invoicing.
How quickly can I set up direct billing?
Engine processes applications in 48-72 hours after you submit financial statements, business verification documents, and company ownership information—the fastest documented timeline in the industry.
Traditional TMCs like SAP Concur and Egencia require longer implementation with account manager involvement, though specific timelines are rarely publicly disclosed. Modern platforms like TravelPerk and Navan typically deploy more quickly through self-service configuration.
TravelPerk requires a Pro account tier for direct billing features. Budget adequate time for credit approval phases, documentation delays, system integration, and staff training beyond the initial approval window.
How does consolidated invoicing help with project cost tracking?
Consolidated invoicing shifts project accounting from reactive cleanup to proactive management.
Instead of chasing individual receipts at month-end, finance teams receive one invoice with project codes attached to every line item. This provides next-day visibility instead of typical reporting lags.
Tally Energy saved over $100,000 by implementing project tagging that linked bookings directly to projects at the point of transaction. Their teams eliminated the cleanup work that comes when weather delays a concrete crew three days and those hotel charges need reallocating across jobs.
Engine integrates natively with QuickBooks, NetSuite, and Xero through direct connections that preserve project-level detail throughout the data flow. Custom field mappings ensure job costs flow automatically from booking platforms through consolidated monthly invoices directly into job costing reports, enabling daily project cost visibility and reducing reconciliation errors.
The right platform doesn't just track spending after the fact—it prevents problems before money leaves your account.
For crew-based operations, Engine's direct billing and project-specific features are worth evaluating.
