Tips for Significantly Reducing
Firm Travel Costs
Panelists: Stephen G. Dempsey, CLM
R.J. Filipski Patrick E. Guilfoyle
Scott Jordan
Moderator: Michael Steiner
FM23
4/4/2017
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
The handouts and presentations attached are copyright and trademark
protected and provided for individual use only.
1
Tips for Significantly
Reducing Firm Travel Costs
Today’s Panel
• Stephen Dempsey
Director of Administration, Dallas, Houston and D.C.
• R.J. Filipski
Vice President, Business Development
• Patrick E. Guilfoyle
Support Services Assistant Director
• Scott Jordan
Director of New York Sales
• Michael Steiner
Executive Vice President
2
Opportunity
– Business travel is typically 2-3rd largest in-
direct law firm expense
– Up to 60% non-billable
– It’s controllable!
• Well-managed programs save 10-45%
– Source GBTA
The Industry is Unpredictable
Your guide to the
new ‘basic economy’
airfares
Hidden travel fees and
how to avoid them
Airlines Hit Record
Load Factor in 2016
Hotel industry: 2017
could be year corporate
travel bounces back
3
Best Practices
• Consolidate
• Build preferred supplier partnerships & rates
• Shift bookings online
• Automate expense management
• Focus on safety & security
Tip 1: Consolidate
• Require use of designated travel management
company for consolidation
• Establish guidelines and policies
• Much easier to manage spend, risk and
compliance
4
Tip 2: Preferred Suppliers -
Air
• Optimize savings on air travel
• Focus on key routes and classes of service
• Point of sale discount vs. rewards programs
Tip 3: Preferred Suppliers -
Hotel
• Focus on top destinations/offices
• Most properties require 80-100 nights annually
• Tap into TMC negotiated rates
5
Tip 4: Shift Bookings to the
Cloud
• Online Booking Transaction fees 65-75%
lower
• Optimized for policy compliance and savings
• Capture spending – wherever & whenever it
happens
• Modernize and increase the relevance of
your travel program
• Proactively engage & service travelers mid-
trip
Tip 5: Integrate Expense
• Insight and control over all firm travel
expenses
• Saves time & increases accuracy of bill-
backs
• Booked vs. billed comparisons
• Acquire trusted e-Receipts directly from
suppliers
• Go Mobile – Receipts, Mileage, Payments,
Approvals
6
Duty of Care
• Manage risk
• Safeguard your firm’s most important asset
• Choose a manager
• Consolidate
• Obtain data for reporting
• Incorporate full location data – virtual office,
mid-trip locations (ie. card swipes)
• Monitor and communicate
Thank you
• Q&A
Your opinion matters!
Please take a moment
now to evaluate this
session.
LAW FIRM QUARTERLY BUSINESS TRAVEL INDEX*
FEBRUARY 2017
Each quarter, Lawyers Travel takes a look back at select legacy law firm clients’ quarter-over-quarter travel patterns. This high-level analysis allows us to identify trends and to benchmark individual law firm client activity against a “yardstick” representing over $180 million in annual law firm air and hotel spend.
Both the average domestic ticket price paid ($470) and international ticket price paid ($2,965) decreased in Q4 2016, while the overall average ticket price paid increased ($754 in Q4 2016; $709 in Q3 2016). Look to the growing percentage of international trips booked in Q4 2016 (11.4%) to explain the increase in the overall average price paid, despite both domestic and international averages decreasing.
As for booking class specifics, while the percentage of First Class bookings (10.2%) decreased minutely, law firms booked Business Class 17.0% of the time in Q4 2016, a notable increase over previous quarters where Business Class bookings have been hovering at or below 15%. In fact, Q4 2016 saw the lowest percentage of Economy Class tickets purchased since Q4 2013.
On the hotel side, both the average domestic and international prices paid by law firms increased slightly. Hotel prices paid by law firms have been steadily creeping up since Q1 2016.
*Data culled from cross-sample of law firm clients, representing over $180,000,000 in annual air and hotel spend. Lawyers Travel recently adjustedthe means by which First and Business class upgrade data is reported and Index class of service data has been adjusted retroactively.
Michael SteinerExecutive Vice PresidentLawyers Travel
AVERAGE PRICE PAIDQ1 2013 TO Q4 2016
AIR FARE
LAWYERS TRAVELLAW FIRM QUARTERLY BUSINESS TRAVEL INDEXFEBRUARY 2017
HOTEL
$3,313$3,212 $3,246
$3,043 $3,210
$2,970 $2,897 $2,944 $2,879$3,009 $3,086
$2,965
$819 $871 $793 $800 $794 $778 $732 $758 $719$761
$709$754
$533 $562 $542 $536 $518 $523 $508 $493 $492 $500 $476 $470$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
Q114'
Q214'
Q314'
Q414'
Q115'
Q215'
Q315'
Q415'
Q116'
Q216'
Q316'
Q416'
International Overall Domestic
$400 $403
$387
$370
$351
$371
$355 $351
$337
$354$356
$369
$287
$307$296
$303
$288
$316$309 $310
$297
$318 $316$324
$269
$289$282
$292
$278
$307 $302 $303$290
$311 $310 $316
$220
$260
$300
$340
$380
$420
Q114'
Q214'
Q314'
Q414'
Q115'
Q215'
Q315'
Q415'
Q116'
Q216'
Q316'
Q416'
International Overall Domestic
76.8% 74.5% 75.7% 75.2% 76.2% 74.7% 76.0% 73.0% 73.9% 74.7% 76.8% 72.8%
13.9% 14.6% 14.1% 13.5% 13.5% 14.5% 13.7%14.9% 15.0% 14.5% 12.9% 17.0%
9.3% 10.9% 10.2% 11.3% 10.3% 10.8% 10.3% 12.1% 11.1% 10.8% 10.3% 10.2%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Q12014
Q22014
Q32014
Q42014
Q12015
Q22015
Q32015
Q42015
Q12016
Q22016
Q32016
Q42016
Economy Business Class First Class
89.7% 88.3% 90.7% 89.5% 89.7% 89.6% 90.6% 89.2% 90.5% 89.6% 90.9% 88.6%
10.3% 11.7% 9.3% 10.5% 10.3% 10.4% 9.4% 10.8% 9.5% 10.4% 9.1% 11.4%
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
Q12014
Q22014
Q32014
Q42014
Q12015
Q22015
Q32015
Q42015
Q12016
Q22016
Q32016
Q42016
Domestic International
LAWYERS TRAVELLAW FIRM QUARTERLY BUSINESS TRAVEL INDEXFEBRUARY 2017
TRAVEL PATTERNSQ1 2014 TO Q4 2016
A Forrester Consulting
Thought Leadership Paper
Spotlight Commissioned By
Concur
December 2016
SMBs Drive Growth And
Innovation When They
Embrace The Full Power
Of T&E Solutions
Table Of Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1
T&E Process Efficiency Is A Primary Challenge For SMBs ......................... 1
SMBs Focus On Improving T&E Processes ................................................... 2
Picking The Right T&E Solution ....................................................................... 2
What Improved T&E Solutions Mean For SMBs ............................................ 4
Key Recommendations ..................................................................................... 5
ABOUT FORRESTER CONSULTING
Forrester Consulting provides independent and objective research-based
consulting to help leaders succeed in their organizations. Ranging in scope from
a short strategy session to custom projects, Forrester’s Consulting services
connect you directly with research analysts who apply expert insight to your
specific business challenges. For more information, visit
forrester.com/consulting.
© 2016, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.
Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to
change. Forrester®, Technographics®, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact
are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
companies. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com. [1-11G3RQ7]
Project Director: Chris Taylor, Market Impact Consultant Contributing Research: Forrester's Application Development and Delivery research group
1
Introduction
Managing employee-generated travel expenses can be a
challenge for many businesses. For small and medium-size
businesses (SMBs), the challenge is not as much about
tracking a high volume of expenses as it is finding the right
tools and processes that will enable employees to be as
productive and efficient as possible. This is a key challenge
for financial leaders at SMB organizations as they make
decisions about new technology investments and their effect
on the business as a whole.
In April 2016, Concur commissioned Forrester Consulting to
explore current activities and challenges around travel and
expenses (T&E) for SMBs and evaluate how financial
leaders in these organizations are responding to these
challenges, from both a financial and strategic business
perspective. To support this research, Forrester surveyed
247 financial decision-makers from SMB organizations in
the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, China, Japan,
India, Australia/New Zealand, and Mexico.
T&E Process Efficiency Is A Primary Challenge For SMBs
Digital technology has enabled consumers to make
purchases and engage with businesses in new ways in their
daily lives. Many consumers now expect the same level of
digital capabilities and convenience from the T&E solutions
and policies in their workplace. Spurred by these
advancements in digital technology, changes in employees’
spending preferences have put greater pressure on SMB
organizations to enable more effective T&E processes. Due
to their smaller headcount, SMB organizations see fewer
challenges regarding business silos or control issues.
However, they see greater challenges with T&E processes
(see Figure 1), including:
› A high number of inaccuracies caused by the human
element of paper-based processes. A lack of digital
capabilities or automation increases the chance for
human error in the T&E process.
› Large time requirements for paperwork and approval.
Time is precious to employees, especially within small
organizations where they are required to wear many hats.
A lack of streamlined processes forces employees to
spend extra time managing expenses, which is valuable
time that could be spent elsewhere.
› A lack of mobile connectivity. Companies need to
embrace the technology that employees are using in their
everyday lives (i.e., smartphones and tablets) in order to
make T&E processes more accessible and convenient.
This is especially important as employees are traveling
and don’t have immediate access to office resources.
FINANCIAL LEADERS NEED AN EASIER WAY TO
MANAGE EXPENSES
Financial leaders in SMB organizations are very aware of
the current challenges and concerns with T&E solutions. In
fact, managing expenses was the single most challenging
responsibility cited by financial decision-makers in our
survey, with 56% of respondents identifying it among their
top three challenges (see Figure 2). However, as mentioned
earlier, financial leaders within these organizations often
carry more strategic responsibility overall. This means they
must distribute their time to an increasing number of
FIGURE 1
Key T&E Challenges Focus On User-Induced Errors And Long Time Requirements
Base: 247 global financial decision-makers from SMB organizations
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Concur, April 2016
Key
challenges
Lack of
visibility
and control
Business expenses
being tracked
through siloed
systems
High number of
inaccuracies
caused by the
human elements
Large time
requirements for
paperwork and
approvals
Lack of
mobile
connectivity
Small (1-499) 27% 28% 31% 36% 29%
Medium (500-999) 30% 21% 37% 33% 32%
2
business priorities and have less time to manage finances
only, specifically expenses.
With limited bandwidth, SMB financial leaders recognize the
need to improve the overall T&E process in order to enable
employees to track expenses more efficiently. These process
improvements will give employees more confidence and
reduce their frustration in tracking expenses, which creates a
win-win situation for both employees and financial leaders.
SMBs Focus On Improving T&E Processes
We found that as financial leaders look to address the
challenges with their current T&E processes, SMB companies
have a different primary focus than enterprise-size
organizations. The survey results highlighted two areas of
significant difference based on company size (see Figure 3):
› SMBs view improved process efficiency as the No. 1
benefit of T&E solutions.
› Enterprise organizations see more accurate reporting
through data consolidation as the top benefit of T&E
solutions.
SMB organizations are intently focused on making T&E
processes as seamless as possible and are less concerned
initially with better data consolidation. SMB organizations have
far fewer employees to manage or business departments to
reconcile, so it makes sense that their attention is focused on
process improvements to eliminate inefficiencies of paper-
based processes. As a result, 67% of SMBs surveyed are in
the process of updating or are planning to update their T&E
system within the next six months.
Picking The Right T&E Solution
Knowing that companies are looking to invest in new T&E
solutions, we asked them about the importance of two
primary facets of these solutions: 1) user friendliness and 2)
business readiness, or the ability to easily integrate into
existing business infrastructure and processes. For SMB
organizations, user friendliness was the top priority at 41%.
However, it was closely followed by 37% of respondents
who said it was equally important to be user friendly and
business ready (see Figure 4). Balancing user friendliness
and business readiness is important when considering T&E
solutions. As one interviewed CFO explained: “It has to be a
mix of several factors. No single factor is big enough to
bring strategic change in the organization. If you could
eliminate the paperwork, get everything online or cloud
based, get departmentalized statistics, and drive
compliance, then any organization would be tempted to look
into the adoptability of the new [T&E] solution/technology.”
This highlights that while SMBs are primarily focused on
improving the process for users, the technology behind
FIGURE 2
Expense Management Is A Top Challenge For Financial Leaders
Base: 247 global financial decision-makers from SMB companies
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of Concur, April 2016
“Which of the following financial tasks or
responsibilities are the most challenging for
your business to manage?”
(Percentage ranked as top three challenge)
39%
46%
47%
50%
56%
Increasing employee
productivity and satisfaction
Promoting revenue
growth
Analyzing pricing/
financial analysis
Managing risk
Managing expenses/
cash flow
FIGURE 3
SMB And Enterprise Organizations Value Different Benefits Of T&E Solutions
Base: 247 SMB and 253 enterprise financial decision-makers (global)
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of Concur, April 2016
“What do you consider to be the most important
benefits of your current T&E solutions?”
More accurate reporting
through data consolidation
and analytics for real-time
expense tracking
Improved process
efficiency and faster
reimbursement cycles
SMB
Enterprise
51%
36%
40%
50%
3
these new processes must also integrate well with existing
business ecosystems.
“If you could eliminate the
paperwork, get everything online or
cloud based, get departmentalized
statistics, and drive compliance, then
any organization would be tempted
to look into the adoptability of the
new [T&E] solution/technology.”
— CFO, international mining company
MAKING T&E SOLUTIONS USER FRIENDLY
Modern financial leaders know that new T&E investments
cannot just be financially driven. Without the support and
buy-in from employees to follow new processes and use
new tools, new investments will do nothing to ease the
burden of managing T&E. We asked our survey
respondents what capabilities and features of T&E solutions
they consider to be most effective at enabling employees to
better comply with T&E policies. The top capabilities were:
› A mobile app connected to the T&E system. The ability
to connect with a company’s T&E system via a mobile
app is considered the most effective way to get
employees to comply with T&E policies, with 75% of
SMBs rating it as effective or very effective. Commented
one CFO: “One thing that could really use a boost is our
online capabilities. It would be great if we can log in to
some application and directly book the travel and lodging
at the approved accommodations and flights . . .” Giving
users mobile T&E support allows them to capture
expenses and receipts in real time within the application
and stay connected to corporate travel services as trips
evolve.
› The ability to manage T&E and invoicing from a single
solution. Financial leaders and employees alike can
benefit from consolidated solutions and applications, and
65% of SMBs consider a single solution to be an effective
way to promote better T&E compliance among
employees. Commented one VP: “We need more control.
Getting more granular in our control is what is driving
[new investments].” By providing more control via a single
system and mobile application for managing both
expenses and invoices, organizations can introduce more
automation, enable greater insight into employee
spending, and foster better T&E compliance.
› Faster reimbursement cycles. Employees will be more
likely to follow policies and guidelines if they know the
company will reimburse them quickly. Seventy-three
percent of SMB respondents considered this to be an
effective capability for maintaining T&E compliance.
MAKING T&E SOLUTIONS READY FOR BUSINESSES
Part of making a solution business friendly is to ensure it
can quickly and seamlessly integrate with legacy systems
for HR and finance so it can deploy and scale quickly.
Approximately 77% of the SMB companies surveyed are
currently using or planning to use cloud apps that can
provide faster deployment for a number of systems,
including finance, T&E, and accounts payable. SMBs lag
slightly behind enterprises in cloud adoption, which
highlights a key opportunity for new T&E investments in this
area. Other key features and benefits of improved T&E
solutions that are most important to SMBs include:
› Accurate reporting through data consolidation and
analytics. Improved T&E solutions must integrate data
from across the organization to create a more accurate
view of spending. With data and reporting being such an
important part of T&E solutions, we asked survey
respondents to rank the importance of certain attributes of
FIGURE 4
T&E Solutions Must First Be User Friendly
Base: 247 global financial decision-makers from SMB companies
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on
behalf of Concur, April 2016
“When making financial decisions regarding T&E
investments, what attribute do you feel is
most important?”
22%
37%
41%
Both equally important
New/updated systems are
user friendly
New/updated systems are
business ready
4
their data: accuracy, consolidation, up to date (current),
comprehensive, and easy to interpret. The top-ranked
priority was accurate data (35%), followed by
consolidated data (28%). In many cases, the accuracy of
the data will be based on having visibility into all types of
spending across the business, for which data
consolidation plays a vital role.
› Improved visibility into and access to data. As process
improvements make data more accurate, financial leaders
must be able to get that data at any time, so they can
guide their financial decisions with a clear view of
spending. Timely access to this data is important as well,
as sometimes reports are needed mid-month in order to
help inform decisions. Many companies are able to collect
the data they need, but they lack direct access to or
management of the data. Therefore, it is difficult for them
to get the data when and where they need it. This was a
primary issue for one VP of enterprise systems for a
business technology vendor, who said: “For us, we can
get whatever data we need; it's just that we need
someone else to do it for us, which is not ideal. We
usually see the data at month-end.” More direct access to
data is critical for helping inform financial leaders.
What Improved T&E Solutions Mean For SMBs
Modern financial leaders know that improving T&E systems
is not just about gaining better control of costs and saving
money. In fact, it is the combination of various benefits (e.g.,
user friendliness, data consolidation) that ultimately drives
strategic change and improvement. For SMB organizations,
the top expected benefits of T&E investments are (see
Figure 5):
› Reduce time spent on expenses. Less time spent on
expenses means more time spent on core business
functions. This productivity gain is considered by SMBs to
be the top benefit of improved T&E solutions, as cited by
38% of respondents. Improved productivity can drive
higher employee satisfaction — which was identified as a
top benefit by 34% of SMBs — as it enables employees
to focus more on their day-to-day responsibilities and less
on rote administrative tasks.
› Reduce overall spending. Thirty-seven percent of SMBs
surveyed expect to see an overall reduction in employee-
related expenses as a result of employees being given
the proper T&E tools. Seventy-three percent of
respondents agreed that through the use of improved
expense tracking tools, they can proactively identify
issues for employees and eliminate problems before they
occur, saving both time and money. As such, 51% cited
cost savings as a primary driver for new T&E investments.
› Experience fewer complications and errors. Better
tools and processes can help employees submit
expenses with great ease and accuracy, which will result
in less overall time needed from financial leaders to
reconcile submissions and balances. Fewer complications
will also enable faster processing time to allow
reimbursement to happen more quickly.
FIGURE 5
T&E Improvements Carry Productivity And Cost Benefits
Base: 247 global financial decision-makers from SMB companies
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf
of Concur, April 2016
“What are the top businesses benefits your business
has achieved or anticipates achieving through use of
improved T&E solutions?”
34%
36%
36%
37%
38%
Improved employee
productivity and satisfaction
Reduced invoice processing
time and reimbursement
turnaround time
Fewer complications and
reduced number of errors with
expense submissions/balances
Reduced overall spending on
employee related expenses
Reduced time spent on
expenses to enable
productivity in other areas
5
Key Recommendations
Modernizing T&E processes through new technology solutions helps financial leaders achieve greater leverage and
control over corporate travel expenditures, while enabling their employees with a better experience to manage travel
needs and report expenses quickly and efficiently. Based on our research involving SMB financial decision-makers, we
offer the following recommendations:
› Improve process efficiency and reduce cycle time on expense reporting. Neither finance nor traveling
employees want to spend any more time than necessary on expense reporting or invoice approvals. Use a
modern T&E solution to automate data collection, report processing, approvals, and reimbursement.
› Actively involve employees in expense management. Digitally native employees will be receptive to a T&E
solution that has a consumer-grade user and mobile experience. Leverage this technology to enable them to
book travel easily, record expenses with minimal effort, and get reimbursed quickly. Enlist the involvement of
employees to make wise travel decisions that reflect corporate policy, while enabling them to make business
travel a positive experience.
› Achieve cost savings with cloud-based T&E. Digital technologies optimize expense management. Cloud-
based T&E systems connect to financial systems, suppliers, and third-party solutions for a seamless flow of data.
Drive greater T&E compliance by guiding the employee through the T&E process to make the right decisions
(before, during, and after spend occurs).
› Demand more from your data. Utilize the reporting and analytics capabilities of modern T&E systems to monitor
expense patterns and help drive ongoing improvements of T&E practices. Explore opportunities for expanding
analytics capabilities to more fully understand not just what is being spent, but where it is being spent, how it is
being spent, and by whom. Understanding these metrics will allow you to make investments that are both
financial and strategic while gaining the trust and support of employees.