Travel costs creep up fast. When companies scale, transactions and expenses can get overwhelming without centralised systems to track spending patterns. A few last-minute flights here and scattered receipts there, and suddenly finance teams spend more time chasing paperwork than managing budgets.
Modern business travel tools solve this problem, bringing reliable structure to corporate trip planning and expense tracking. Today’s platforms go well beyond booking flights and hotels. They connect travel costs to credit cards, approvals, and expense workflows, providing finance teams with real-time visibility.
Read on to learn the key features of business travel software, the main benefits, and the top choices to fit into your tech stack.
What’s a business travel tool?
A business travel tool is software that helps companies plan and manage work-related trips↗. These platforms can cover several stages of the travel process, from booking flights to capturing expenses. Corporate travel software gives employees an easy way to take work trips while giving finance teams clarity and control.
While early versions of business travel software focused mostly on booking, modern platforms sit much closer to finance. They connect trip activity to expense policies, payment methods, and accounting systems so travel spend doesn’t live in silos. This lets finance teams achieve consistent budget management, especially as teams scale.
As these tools are often separate, many companies pair a dedicated booking platform with an expense and spend management↗ system. For example, travel bookings might happen in a specialised tool, while cards, reimbursements, and approvals flow through a finance platform.
Key features of business travel management solutions
Depending on the tool’s focus, the best software may have these core capabilities.
Centralised travel booking and approvals
Dedicated travel platforms centralise flight, hotel, and rail bookings so employees can choose options that align with their needs. They often also offer itinerary management features, allowing users to create schedules and sync calendars with teammates.
Many teams use these tools in tandem with expense platforms. For example, an employee may book a hotel with travel software, and the finance team will approve the transaction in Moss. This platform receives card requests, invoices, and reimbursements automatically, then uses your personalised company policies to send requests to the right people instantly.
Real-time expense tracking and policy enforcement
Expense policies↗ play a big role when adopting a corporate travel tool. Define clear rules around limits, categories, and required documentation, then input them into the software to automatically enforce them.
These tools track and visualise expenses, too. When an employee pays for travel with a corporate card↗, the transaction shows up immediately, letting finance teams keep an eye on budgets in real time. Moss allows teams to effortlessly monitor and track their spend, whoever ensuring no spend goes over budget effortlessly monitor purchases and compare them to your company rules, flagging issues early instead of weeks later during reimbursement.
Corporate cards and virtual cards for travel
Purchase cards remove friction from travel payments. Employees don’t need to spend personal money, and finance teams don’t need to process constant reimbursements. With Moss’ corporate cards, teams can set spending limits for travel budgets and assign cards to specific use cases. This is particularly useful when companies want tighter control over discretionary spending↗.
Many platforms provide virtual cards↗, too. These are fully digital cards you can issue instantly, whenever an employee needs access to funds. For instance, an employee may need a card for a quick, one-off trip, but they don’t need a dedicated card for day-to-day use.
Mileage reimbursements↗ are expenses related to wear and tear on cars, so they often fall outside card payments, and teams need to manage them retroactively. Still, travel platforms make them easier to manage. Moss supports structured mileage tracking and policies, helping teams automate, centralise, and verify each reimbursement automatically.
Benefits of using a business travel tool
For growing companies, adopting a travel management tool changes how travel spend feels day to day. Instead of chasing information, finance teams get clarity. Instead of performing repetitive tasks, they automate their workflow. These benefits can save teams hours per week. Here are a few advantages of using corporate trip software.
Improved cost control and visibility
Real-time transaction data offers a clear picture of travel spend as it happens. Moss shows a clear balance so teams understand their budgets in real time, before they hit their limits, preventing surprises at month’s end.
Faster reimbursements and simplified workflows
Automation cuts out small, tedious actions, which can save teams hours per week. Card transactions flow in automatically, receipts attach to expenses, and approvals route to the right people. These tools also provide simple, consistent workflows for managing reimbursement expenses↗ — employees take photos of their receipt, and the finance team issues reimbursements with a single click.
Enhanced employee experience and productivity
Employees appreciate processes that let them focus on their work. They can pay with a virtual card and move on with daily tasks, knowing the little details are taken care of. For example, a worker can book accommodations with one of Moss’ integrated travel platforms and pay with a corporate card, and Moss will automatically fetch the receipt and match it to the right transaction. Employees spend less time on follow-ups, letting them concentrate on high-value actions.
Best business travel tools
The right business travel software depends on how your company handles booking, payments, and expense management. Here are a few of the best options.
Navan
Navan combines booking and expense management. It allows employees to book trips and organise itineraries, while finance teams can track spending and policy adherence.
SAP Concur
SAP Concur is a business travel management tool that offers trip booking, expense reporting, and invoice processing. It works best for large organisations with complex reporting and compliance needs.
Perk
Perk centres on travel booking, including hotels, flights, and transportation. While it offers some expense management features, it primarily focuses on booking and itinerary functionality. Teams that use Perk often rely on integrated platforms to help them manage the financial side.
Moss: Simplified corporate travel spend management
Moss approaches travel from a finance-first perspective. It connects trip-related spend, approvals, and reimbursements in one system.
Employees book trips on a supported travel platform and pay with a corporate card. Using Moss, they can scan their receipt on their smartphone using OCR↗ and upload it for approval. Finance teams can track missing receipts and send emails or in-app reminders. This setup eliminates manual document chasing. Moss captures transactions instantly, and if a receipt goes missing, the software’s built-in workflows handle reminders and follow-ups.
Finance teams enjoy real-time spend visibility↗ and breathe easy with automatic budgets and custom approval policies. Moss also integrates with accounting systems, like Xero↗ and QuickBooks↗, so travel costs flow through to the general ledger without extra steps.
Moss keeps travel spend transparent and flexible, matching how modern teams actually work.
Achieve smarter travel management with Moss
Business travel tools bring structure to overwhelming corporate trips. By connecting travel bookings, payments, and expenses to finance workflows, companies gain control without adding friction. For SMBs, this approach turns travel from a reactive cost centre into a manageable part of everyday operations.
Moss fits into this system by connecting travel-related spend under one roof. When you integrate it with a booking tool, you can manage expenses, receipts, and approvals without breaking your flow. Then, Moss funnels the details into your accounting software in seconds for a clean month-end.
Explore Moss’ integrations↗ to see how trip expenses effortlessly connect to the rest of your financial picture.
