Efficient Travel Expense Planning
How AI-Powered Systems Help Companies Optimise Costs
Author: Lea Schuh18. November 2024 SAP Concur
Increase of Business Travel Costs
In today’s business world, where efficiency and cost awareness are increasingly important, effective travel expense planning is crucial. Companies often face the challenge of optimising their spending, especially when it comes to business travel.
Travel expenses represent a significant portion of corporate costs. According to the VDR - Verband Deutsches Reisemanagement e.V. (German Travel Management Association), total business travel costs in Germany alone increased by 72% to €46.2 billion in 2023 due to growing demand, capacity bottlenecks and energy costs, making the need for targeted management of financial resources even more urgent.
SAP Concur Request Assistant
The introduction of a flexible travel request system equipped with an AI-supported estimation function (Request Assistant), a new feature of SAP Concur, offers a promising solution here.
This innovative module enables employees to create a travel request quickly and efficiently while receiving realistic cost estimates. The function not only relieves applicants of the responsibility for accurate price research but also gives approvers a transparent basis for their decision.
Intelligent support like this reduces the administrative workload and helps to cut costs within the company - a necessary step, especially in times of austerity. The new module ensures that companies can act not only more efficiently in this area, but also more strategically.
Applicant (Employee)
Time savings:
The new feature eliminates the need for lengthy price comparisions. Employees can submit their travel requests in just a few steps.
Easy cost indication:
Employees benefit from AI-generated cost estimates that guide their decision effectively without having to make their own calculations.
Approver
Better cost overview:
The cost estimates gives approvers a clear overview of expected expenditure and thus facilitate decion-making.
Risk reduction:
Transparent estimates minimise the risk of unexpected costs for the company, which is particulary important in times of austerity.
Company
Cost control:
By utilising accurate cost estimates, the company can plan and control budgeting more effectively, resulting in better financial oversight.
Increased efficiency:
The optimised approval process reduces the administrative workload, which leads to faster decisions and less resource consumption.
Strategic planning:
With more accurate travel cost data, organisations can develop long-term travel budgets and strategies to better achieve financial goals.
Travel & Expense Management with SAP Concur
National or international business travel is part of everyday life for many companies. Planning, approving and invoicing these trips is the core competence of SAP Concur, the cloud-based solution for business travel management from SAP.
