tips for significantly reducing firm travel...

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)



“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




“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


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.

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