Why Corporate Travel Auditing Just Makes Sense

The word audit may sound scary, in fact it sounds intimidating. The word audit has a negative connotation. Most people associate auditing with someone doing something wrong and needing to catch them. However, the more and more I think about what Topaz does and auditing in general I realize not only is it not scary, it is something that should be budgeted for in every company.
The top three expenses in corporate business are:
#1: Wages
#2: COGS
#3: Travel

So I pose a few questions:
-Would you ever hire someone without an extensive interview?
-Do you monitor your employee’s performance?
-Do you measure your employee’s contributions?
-Do you have meetings and quarterly reviews with employees?
-Do you search diligently for good suppliers to buy from?
-Do you spend ample amounts of time creating an appropriate cost structure?
-Do you monitor how your money is spent on your goods or service that you provide?

Most companies do all of the above. They do those things because they are directly related to how a majority of their money is being spent. Unfortunately while many companies understand travel is one of the biggest costs in their business they fail to monitor it the same way they would employees and their goods or services.
Auditing your travel produces the same results that an employee review and supplier research does: A peace of mind that you are getting the most for your money. Simply put, not auditing your travel is as irresponsible as hiring someone and never reviewing their work.
At Topaz we have Fortune 500 companies who audit with us continually. These clients understand the importance of the peace of mind that comes from auditing the #3 cost in corporate business. They are continually given a report which allows them to see if their travel is being booked correctly and if not, how to fix it.
The word audit can be scary, but only if you allow it to be. Next time you hear someone mention a corporate travel “audit,” try to change your mindset and remember what it truly represents: A responsibility to monitoring the #3 cost in corporate business.