Accommodation is frequently among the largest discretionary cost lines in an organisation with a travelling workforce, and among the least examined. These six questions establish quickly whether you have control or merely records.
The six questions
One. What did we spend on accommodation last quarter, by cost centre? If the answer requires a reconciliation exercise, the spend is not managed.
Two. What rate did we pay at our most used property, and what is the best rate available there? Without this comparison there is no way to judge value.
Three. How many of our bookings complied with our travel policy? A policy that is not measured is a document, not a control.
Four. Who is accountable when a booking fails? If the answer is the traveller, the risk sits in the wrong place.
Five. What is the administrative cost of managing our accommodation? Count the hours spent booking, reconciling and disputing.
Six. Do we know where every traveller is staying tonight? This is a duty of care question, and it is not optional.
What the answers reveal
Organisations that can answer all six typically have a managed programme. Organisations that cannot are usually paying more than they need to, and carrying risk they have not quantified.