How to manage corporate travel, in a company where the office manager does it between other jobs, comes down to keeping four records in order: the policy the team books against, the request costed and approved before booking, the bookings filed against the trip, and the register of who is away. Managing business travel goes wrong when any of the four lives in someone's head or inbox. This page is the order of operations, with the free worksheet that produces each document, so managing corporate travel becomes a routine rather than a series of favours.
Write the policy first, with numbers in it
A policy that says 'reasonable' will be argued about after every trip. The travel policy worksheet turns the caps you already apply (fare, nightly, daily allowance, the estimated cost above which a named approver signs) into a document with a two-night ceiling the office can quote. Many small companies borrow the federal standard rates the GSA publishes as their caps; the worksheet takes whatever you choose and the policy states it. Publish it, and every request is read against it.
Cost and approve every trip before it is booked
The request form adds the fare, the nights at the rate, the ground transport and the days at the allowance per traveler and gives the approver a figure to sign. Under the policy's threshold the manager approves, over it the named approver does. To manage business travel is mostly to insist on this step: a trip approved after booking is the trip that overspends, and the approval date beside the booking date in Perdiemo Pro shows which is which.
File the bookings against the trip, not in the inbox
Wherever the booking is made, the reference, the dates, the fare and the cancellation terms go against the trip. When a flight is cancelled at nine at night, the person answering the phone can see what was booked and what the airline owes, which is set out in the Department of Transportation's Fly Rights. Managing corporate travel without that record is asking the traveler to forward the confirmation while they are standing at the gate.
Keep the register, and close each trip
The register lists every traveler away this week, the destination, the hotel, the flight and the emergency contacts, and in Pro it is a view of the trips rather than a list someone maintains. A trip closes when the traveler is home, the receipts are filed and the follow-ups are sent, and the business trip checklist counts those items. That close is what makes next year's budget come from the record rather than the card statement.
Questions people ask about how to manage corporate travel
How do I manage corporate travel for a company of thirty?
Policy with caps, a costed request approved before booking, bookings filed against the trip, a register of who is away. The free worksheets produce each document; Pro keeps them as one record per trip.
Who should be managing business travel in a small company?
Whoever approves the trips, usually the office manager or operations lead, with a named senior approver for requests over the policy's threshold. The job is the record, not the booking.
Do we need a platform to manage business travel?
No. A platform is a booking channel and is worth its fee at high volume. The record works with any channel, including the airline and hotel sites you already use.