Business Travel in IT Companies in Poland: Key Challenges and Effective Solutions

Challenges

Business travel in IT companies in Poland is an essential aspect of their operations. An average IT company may undertake approximately 20-30 business trips per month. In 2023, business travel is gradually returning to pre-pandemic levels, though it remains somewhat lower. Most trips are to Europe and the United States, while a smaller portion goes to Asia and other regions. These trips include business consultations, strategic sessions, and training for corporate clients. Sales teams also periodically visit clients, and teams participate in international trade fairs and conferences. However, such frequent business travel presents several challenges:

1. Diverse Employment Types:

• Employees on employment contracts: All travel-related documents need to be collected in one place and automatically uploaded to the accounting system.
• Contract workers: To recognize a flight by such a worker as a reimbursable business trip, special conditions must be stipulated in the contract.
• Self-employed individuals: It’s crucial to quickly identify these expenses so they are not reflected for corporate income tax purposes but included in the invoice to the self-employed individual. In these two categories, invoices without names may be issued when accounting for business trips.
• Board members: Board members may have employment or other civil law contracts specifying how and to what extent travel expenses can be reimbursed. In the absence of such an agreement, board members can pass a relevant resolution. A correctly prepared resolution allows not only expense reimbursement but also the receipt of per diems, like any employee under an employment contract.

2. Document Issues:

• Using different resources for booking tickets and accommodation leads to document loss.
• Lengthy time spent searching for and approving payments, which is inconvenient for urgent trips or changes.
• Lack of a unified database for quick access. When a strategic session for a client is needed, the company cannot afford delays. Sometimes, tickets for flights and trains are booked just a few hours before departure, and the employee must catch the nearest flight. If the department manager is unavailable, no one knows where to quickly find the employee’s details for booking a ticket.
• Errors in data and closing documents had to be resolved manually, consuming a lot of time to restore documents.

3. Return Processing Issues:

• Clients faced problems with returns processing, requiring additional operations such as advance returns, adjusting accounting documents, and recognizing expenses according to corporate policies.

4. Lack of Understanding of Travel Policy:

• Lack of understanding of which category an employee belongs to, the purpose of the trip, and what conditions are available to them under the company’s travel policy.

5. Lengthy Invoice Processing Periods:

• Long periods for receiving and uploading invoices into the accounting program, which could significantly extend the period close time.

All these factors ultimately affect the tax base and the profitability of the company.

Solutions

1. Using a Single Resource for Booking Tickets and Accommodation:

It is recommended to use a single resource or service for booking tickets and accommodation. This could be a corporate agreement with a major agency, allowing process centralization and document loss prevention.

2. Creating a Centralized Employee Database:

Maintaining a single database of employees with their category, status, and office affiliation. This facilitates the booking and accounting of business trips.

3. Automating Document Flow with Existing Tools:

Utilizing existing tools to automate document flow, such as spreadsheets and accounting programs. In Poland, systems like Comarch ERP or SAP can be used for integration and accounting management.

4. Training Employees on Company Travel Policy:

Regular training and seminars on the company’s travel policy for all categories of employees to ensure everyone understands their rights and responsibilities.

5. Standardizing Accounting Process Handling:

Introducing standard procedures for handling accounting operations in case of trip returns or changes. This includes returning advances, adjusting expenses, and recalculating taxes.

Results

Implementing these solutions can significantly reduce the time spent organizing and reporting on business trips, optimize travel expenses, and improve planning. Working within a well-defined travel policy allows more travel expenses to be included for corporate income tax purposes, reducing the company’s tax burden. Early period closing also becomes possible, enhancing planning quality and allowing companies to respond more quickly and accurately to changes.

Sources:

1.Deloitte Insights – Corporate travel study 2023

2.GBTA – Global Business Travel Forecast 2023

3.Small Biz Genius – Business Travel Statistics 2024