The keynote's taxi receipt arrives in March
Your client's conference has speakers travelling from across the country and a couple from abroad. The keynote's agreement says business class flights and two nights in the conference hotel. Panellists get standard rail and one night. Some speakers book their own trains and claim them back. Your team books others directly on the company card. One speaker's assistant books everything and sends a single invoice.
Two months after the event, a panellist emails a photo of a taxi receipt and a hotel minibar bill. Your finance person has no idea what that speaker was entitled to, whether the client agreed to cover taxis, or whether the hotel room was on your block already, meaning you could be paying twice.
Why speaker travel is hard to keep straight
Each speaker has slightly different terms, and those terms live in agreements, emails and the account manager's memory. The costs come back through several routes at different times.
- Some travel is booked by you, some by the speaker, some by their office.
- Allowances differ: class of travel, nights of accommodation, meals, taxis.
- Hotel rooms for speakers may be on the event room block or booked separately.
- Claims arrive late, with receipts as photos, and without saying which event they are for.
- What can be recharged to the client, and at what markup if any, depends on your contract with them.
What loose speaker travel does to an event
Speakers who do not know their arrangements ring your team in the week of the event, when you are busiest. Speakers who pay first and wait a long time to be reimbursed are less willing to speak for your clients again. On the money side, duplicate bookings, claims outside what was agreed, and costs never recharged to the client all come out of your margin, and they are usually found months later, if at all.
The speaker travel record we build
- Each speaker has terms recorded against the event: what is covered, class of travel, nights, allowances and who books.
- Travel requests go through a short form where the speaker gives their dates and preferences, and your team books or approves their own booking against the terms.
- Each booking (flight, train, hotel, transfer) is logged with its cost and confirmation, and linked to the speaker and the event.
- Speakers receive one itinerary page with all their arrangements, updated when anything changes.
- Expense claims come in through a link, with receipt photos read into amount, date and type, and each line is checked against the speaker's terms before a person approves it.
- Anything outside the terms is flagged for a decision rather than quietly paid or quietly refused.
- Approved costs are marked rechargeable or not under your client contract, and flow to your accounts package, such as Xero or QuickBooks, and to the client's final invoice.
| Cost | Booked by | Check | Rechargeable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keynote flights | Your team | Class matches terms | Per client contract |
| Panellist rail | Speaker, claimed | Standard class, dates match | Per client contract |
| Speaker hotel | Room block | No duplicate booking | Included in venue cost |
| Taxi from airport | Speaker, claimed | Allowed under terms? | Flagged for decision |
How speaker travel runs afterwards
When a speaker is confirmed, their terms are set in a couple of minutes, and they get their travel form. Your coordinator books from a list of requests rather than from a pile of emails. Speakers know where they are staying and how they are getting there, on one page. Claims come in with receipts attached to the right event, are checked against terms and paid in your normal payment run. At reconciliation, all speaker costs sit on one line of the event budget, with the rechargeable portion ready for the client invoice.
Could this be your team?
- Speaker entitlements are buried in emails and agreements.
- Speakers ring in the week of the event to ask about their travel.
- Expense claims arrive long after the event with photo receipts.
- You have paid for a hotel room twice for the same speaker.
- Speaker travel is not always recharged to the client when it should be.