Monash University needed a more efficient way to:

• flag transactions that could be liable for fringe benefits tax (FBT)
• reduce manual invoice reconciliation processes
• increase visibility on the travel spend
• better control the reconciliation process when dealing with third party credit cards
• reduce the amount of travel bookings leaking to non–approved TMCs and websites.

The team needed the means to mandate a university-wide change to reduce these issues.

Monash University partnered with AirPlus to deliver a centralised, complete payment solution that would integrate with their existing systems. Using a central AirPlus billing account, they now receive just one bill for all travel a month, significantly reducing the time previously spent on reconciling invoices and auditing expense reports.

David Newington, Country Manager at AirPlus, says the solution is flexible enough that universities can customise it to suit their needs.

“No matter how they tailor it, universities using an AirPlus central billing account will receive just one bill for all travel – once a month, at a date that suits them. We can integrate travel management data into any university’s existing systems to reduce manual data entry, TMC booking fees are easily allocated to the right cost centres, and, importantly, those travelling do not need to worry about individual corporate cards or individual credit limits while they’re on the road. By combining a lodge card and corporate card program, AirPlus offers a richness of data. The AirPlus Company Account is accepted worldwide and our AirPlus Business Travel Portal allows access to up to the minute data on travel spend at any time during the month. Overall, the AirPlus Company Account saves an enormous amount of time reconciling and inputting travel transaction charges while improving transparency, the ability to track and measure spend, and the experience for travelling employees.”

Terry Johnson, Category Manager, Strategic Procurement at Monash University praises AirPlus’ centralised payment solution for driving efficiencies in travel payments at the university.

“On top of the savings in time and effort reconciling travel expenses, AirPlus provides a sophisticated, user friendly reporting tool from the AirPlus Information Manager. This reporting tool provides easy to use and configurable data fields that allow Monash to report on any element or aspect of our travel and expense program. This has saved Monash many hours as we now have an easy to use reporting tool at our finger tips."

The reporting capability has contributed to better data for Fringe Benefits Tax tracking, allowing for the university’s travel spend to be uploaded into SAP within only a couple weeks.

Interested in saving time and money like Monash University? Call us today on 1800 079 558 or fill in this form to learn about our custom-made solutions, including our stellar virtual payment solution.