Corporate Travel Managers have many responsibilities to ensure seamless travel for corporate employees. Some of the main duties they have include finding an adequate stay and flight for travelers under budget, managing cost and travel expense reporting, tracking the loyalty program status, and providing various discounts to lower the cost for the companies. Hotel Billback is one option that many TMCs offer to their corporate clients to avoid any confusion and record the hotel expenses of the employees.
Hotel billback meaning
Hotel Billback is an alternative payment method for accommodation during business travel. The corporates hire travel management companies to manage their entire corporate travel. TMCs provide an option to the company where the traveler doesn’t need to pay for their stay during checkout. Instead, TMC pays the amount to the hotel and bills the company later. In simple words, the expenses of the employee during their business travel are paid by the employer at a later date.
How does hotel billback work?
1. Setting up an agreement
The option for a hotel billback is limited to certain hotel chains. The TMC and the hotel need to establish a contractual agreement to enable a billback. This agreement outlines all the terms and conditions for the billing process to avoid any miscommunication.
2. Check-in and billing
The employee must be communicated the terms of billback with the hotel. The traveler needs to provide all the information about their company along with the details of the travel management company. The hotel notes down all the expenses of that employee including wifi, food, room charges, and other services during their stay.
3. Sending invoice to the TMC
The hotel then sends the elaborate list of all the expenses and invoices to the TMC with the full amount. The TMC settles all the payments on behalf of the company.
4. Settlement from the company
The TMC further sends the invoices to the company. The company reviews the statement and verify with the assigned employee before making the payment to the TMC. Here all the expenses are officially recorded in the financial statement of the company.
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Benefits of the billback
1. No liability on the employee
The billback option eliminates the need for travelers to use their cards to make payments for their business travel. This also removes the hectic reimbursement processes and cash flow issues.
2. Expense management
With hotel billback, the employee need not worry about recording each expense. They can instead stay focused to complete the objective of the business trip. All the expenses are directed towards the TMC and ultimately handles by the accounts department of the company.
3. Centralized billing
Billback allows the hotel to record all the expenses in one place. With the detailed invoice, the TMC and the company can double-check all the expenses and ensure policy compliance. They can analyze the reports and make improvement plans for the next business trip.
4. Negotiating and cost-cutting
Travel Management Companies generally have collaborations with hotel chains. TMCs find clients and send them to reliable hotels and in return, hotel chains provide exclusive discounts to such companies, In all, it saves money for the company and proved to be a profitable deal for all the stakeholders.
5. Improved cashflow
TMCs gives a credit period to the company to make payments to them. The companies can take their time to analyze the reports and settle the expenses.
All in all, hotel billback is a convenient alternative to making payments. It saves the employee from making hotel expenses during checkout and eliminates the need for claiming money from the organization later. It separates the personal and official expenses effectively. Although not all hotel chains provide the option of billback payments, it still proves to be a beneficial feature.
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Hotel Billback FAQs
Do all hotels provide hotel billback?
Not all hotels offer the facility of hotel billback as a payment option. It usually depends on the hotel’s policy and its agreements with TMCs. It is best to inquire the hotel about their policies before booking them.
Are there any risks involved in hotel billback?
The hotel monitors all the expenses of the visitors in hotel billback. Therefore, the TMC and the employees must check the policy of the billback to avoid any misuse of this option.
Can individual travelers use the hotel billback option?
This facility is specially designed for corporate travelers where the expenses are directly charged to their company. There is no point in billback for individual travelers, and hence they can’t avail of this facility.
Are there expenses that the employee has to pay for?
It largely depends on the policy of billback. The organizations usually don’t cover the personal expenses of the employee in the hotel. These expenses include minibar charges, room service, or any other personal incidentals.
