Here's the Travel Expense Policy Template You Need

Setting clear guidelines is important in every aspect of business, particularly with your most valued audience – your employees. Managing travel and expense is no exception. And, with an average of 10% of a company's business budget devoted to employee expense and travel, this isn't a cost area you can afford to overlook.

A formal expense policy provides employees with knowledge of what they can and cannot submit  for reimbursement, while providing management with critical real-time visibility into budgets. Having this protocol in writing can cut down on expense report fraud, which is often unintentional, but can have big consequences. Oversight found that 37% of business travelers had at least one exception on their expense reports, and the typical company loses at least 5% of its annual revenue to fraud. 

Key Components in a Travel and Expense Policy

An effective expense and travel policy should be comprehensive, easy to follow, and customized to your organization. Essential components include:

• Purpose and scope: Define the goal of your policy, who it applies to (employees, contractors, etc.), and under what circumstances.
• Booking guidelines: Outline approved travel booking procedures, preferred vendors, and acceptable travel classes for flights and accommodations.
• Reimbursable and non-reimbursable expenses: Clearly list what expenses are covered (e.g., airfare, hotel, per diem, transportation) and what are not (e.g., personal purchases, entertainment).
• Spending limits and per diems: Set daily allowances for meals, lodging, and incidentals to ensure consistency and avoid overspending.
• Documentation requirements: Specify what documentation is needed for reimbursement (e.g., itemized receipts, credit card statements).
• Approval workflow: Detail who must approve travel and expenses at each stage and define escalation procedures for exceptions.
• Use of company cards or P-cards: Outline rules for usage and reconciliation.
• Tax and compliance: Include information relevant to tax reporting and any specific legal requirements based on your location or industry.
• Use of technology: Recommend tools that support travel and expense reporting, such as mobile apps or automated systems.

The Benefits of a Travel and Expense Policy

Did you know that nearly 20% of T&E expenses fall outside of travel policies? Implementing clear T&E policies can help eliminate non-compliant spend. However, that’s just one benefit. Here are several of the key advantages a clear expense and travel policy will do for your organization:

• Cost control: Standardized spending limits help reduce excess costs and improve budgeting accuracy.
• Improved compliance: Clear rules and automated enforcement reduce the risk of fraud or accidental non-compliance.
• Faster reimbursements: With proper documentation and streamlined processes, reimbursements happen more quickly, boosting employee satisfaction.
• Real-time visibility: Tools like SAP Concur provide actionable insights into travel and expense data, enabling better financial planning.
• Sustainability: Encouraging digital receipts and e-receipts reduces paper waste and helps your business operate more sustainably.
• Increased productivity: Automated tools simplify the submission and approval process, saving employees and finance teams hours each week.

How to Do a Travel and Expense Policy

Creating an employee expense reimbursement policy from scratch can be overwhelming, but an expense policy template can help get you started. You can use our expense policy template to create your own expense policy.

Consider the following when you start working on (or revising) your policy.

Ditch the Jargon

Write the policy to cover the basics, but don’t be afraid to revise it later. Make sure it’s easy to read and not bogged down by jargon.

The easier a policy is to understand, the easier it is for your employees to follow.

Keep it Fair and Reasonable 

Write your policy to guide behavior, but be flexible enough to adapt to local and international requirements, such as higher hotel costs in more expensive cities. Make sure employees know when they need to ask for approval before booking.

Invite Participation

Before you implement your travel and expense policy, ask team members to participate in the process. For example, if they help develop the policy, they’ll see why it’s necessary and will be more likely to adhere to the rules, encouraging others to do the same.

Make it Easy to Find and Easy to Use 

Your expense policy won’t be followed unless people know about it. Make sure yours is visible and easy to find. Make it available on your company’s intranet and accessible within your expense management app.

Emphasize the Positive and Lead by Example

Hold training to explain your expense policy benefits and purpose. Familiarizing managers who approve expenses with the content, the importance of compliance, and the reasons for implementing the policy can help them confidently enforce the rules.

Consider Helpful Software Tools and Leverage Existing Tech

An automated solution that automatically populates charges from suppliers, credit card companies, and receipts will save time and allow you to focus on your core business. Choose a solution that works with mobile devices and allows for the submission and approval of photographed receipts, no matter where you or your employees are. 

Get a Travel and Expense Policy Template

Creating a policy from scratch can feel a bit overwhelming, but you don't need to start from scratch. You can download our guide, Expense Policy Template, to make it simple. Our guide has been updated for 2025 and is based on insights gained from working with more than 56,000 businesses worldwide. It includes a comprehensive travel expense policy template you can start using today. 

How SAP Concur Can Improve Your T&E Management

SAP Concur streamlines every step of the travel and expense process.

• Concur Expense: Automatically creates expense reports by pulling data from bookings, cards, and e-receipts.
• ExpenseIt: Uses AI to capture, categorize, and itemize receipts.
• Drive: Tracks business mileage via GPS for accurate reimbursement.
• Concur Travel: Lets employees book travel and remain compliant
• Concur Request: Automates and simplifies spend requests and approvals

All these solutions are integrated into one platform, delivering real-time data, compliance monitoring, and a better experience for employees and finance teams alike.

Take the first step in simplifying your T&E process. Download our updated Expense Policy Template today and set your business up for smarter spending.