Good things come to those who wait – this clearly also applies to the use of electronic bills. No matter how current a company’s IT equipment or networks are, paperless billing is still far from being the standard in travel management. Quite the opposite: the recently released AirPlus International Travel Management Study shows that a quarter of companies prefer old-fashioned paper bills. Another quarter relies on a ‘mixture’ of paper and electronic records. In Western Europe, almost 40% would not give up hard copies – it’s even over 60% in Germany. The reasons for this (especially in Germany) are the complicated laws and tax system which require all expenses to be recorded in paper form.

It appears that this devotion to paper will continue to endure – the number of companies that still work with paper bills has fallen by 12% to around 50% in the past 3 years, while the number of those who receive electronic bills has doubled to around 20%. Leading this trend are the countries of Australia, China, South Africa and Brazil.

But management consultants and software experts alike are surprised at the reluctance of companies in Europe and the United States to use electronic travel statements. Even though 80% of companies analyze their travel expenses (in some travel-intensive industries it is even 90%), only a third use professional software. That is despite the fact that more than half of the companies are of the opinion that using electronic bills and professional software would bring advantages through saving time and money. But apparently tight budgets and a lack of individualized evidence scare most companies away from making that investment.

In general the paper/ electronic question is met with an ‘either/ or’ strategy: 43% of the companies surveyed want to switch completely to electronic bills in the long run, and 31% wish to remain entirely with paper. Companies increasingly want to avoid a ‘mix’ of the two.

Nearly 1,500 travel managers from Europe, the USA, Mexico and Brazil, South Africa, as well as China, Singapore and Australia were interviewed for the latest AirPlus International Travel Management Study.