Whether making sales, connecting with vendors, or attending that all-important annual trade show, business travel adds up as a significant expense for organizations of all sizes. Yet unlike some rising expenses, travel and entertainment costs can be reined in.

The best way to manage costs—and the employee actions that incur them—is to create and enforce a clear-cut travel policy. Mandated policies move organizations away from “suggested” guidelines, making it easier to keep budgets in check.

A written travel policy should outline all the basic rules. Once reviewed by your legal advisor and approved by top management, your policy should be distributed to all employees who travel. It should also be posted on your organization’s intranet where it can be easily accessed.

Here are some suggestions for developing, implementing, or strengthening your written travel policy.

Get input from your frequent travelers. Whether you’re developing your first policy or conducting a review of an existing one, it’s crucial to solicit feedback from the field sales team and other road warriors of your organization. They’ll be the first to point out the realities of travel, along with any practical issues you may have overlooked. Additionally, their buy-in will help ensure policy compliance.

Require prior approval. Insist that employees secure management approval before booking a trip.

Spell out all aspects of business travel in your policy. That includes spending limits on lodging, meals, entertainment, and transportation. Boundaries should additionally define other specifics, such as rental-car size, allowances for extraneous expenses, and preferred vendor relationships.

Delegate responsibility for the program. Assign a person or department to manage and monitor your travel policy. Consider assigning them the task of coordinating and consolidating all companywide travel needs. 

Narrow the choices. As an alternative to the staff travel representative, you can require that employees book trips through a designated travel agency or website and use airlines, car-rental companies, and hotel chains with which your organization has negotiated discounts.

Issue corporate credit cards and require they be used for all travel expenses. An account used for travel not only provides you with a consolidated bill; it also captures travel expenses to help you track data, and it might even provide rebates, discounts, and special benefits.

Insist on receipts and expense reports. Outline instructions and deadlines for completing standardized expense reports, and specify how employees should report tips, parking meters, and other expenses that typically don’t have receipts. Assign someone to scrutinize the reports. If resources are limited, consider auditing a percentage of reports periodically to detect errors or abuses.

Consider a two-tier policy. Recognizing the unique set of circumstances, some companies have one policy for frequent travelers and executives and another for occasional travelers.