First impressions are everything - especially when it comes to attracting new talent!
Today, candidates are ready to travel just for the job interview, but a hitch in your expense reimbursement process can create doubts. One wrong move and it can create the impression that your company isn't serious about scale. On the other hand, if you can provide your candidates with excellent hiring experience, it can be an added advantage.
Providing candidates with a seamless hiring experience goes beyond just promising them travel and expense reimbursements. Your company should also be able to offer a modern and prompt expense reimbursement process to help build your case. Your business can achieve this with the help of an expense management software.
In this article, we focus on candidate travel reimbursement and its importance. Additionally, we look at some quick tips on how to effectively enforce these expense policies.
Why Is a Candidate Travel Reimbursement Policy Important?
Finding good talent is tough. Hence, businesses are actively blurring boundaries when it comes to hiring the right candidates. While some businesses open up to freelancing opportunities others encourage candidates from different cities to apply for their job openings.
Choosing to reimburse or not can limit your applicant pool. If a candidate is aware that the expenses incurred while traveling for an interview are reimbursable, he/she will be encouraged to take up the opportunity. Having a clearly communicated candidate travel reimbursement policy can also help build trust.
A candidate who’s traveling for an interview is taking time from their regular schedule to do so. Hence, providing them a seamless hiring process speaks leaps and bounds about your company culture. Additionally, having a good or bad interview experience can also affect their decisions.
Out-station candidates often have queries regarding procedures concerning travel and expense reimbursements. Having a clear and crisp candidate travel reimbursement policy can help answer questions like:
- Does your company provide expense reimbursement for travel?
- How much can the candidate spend on specific categories?
- How long does the reimbursement process take?
- What are the reimbursable and non-reimbursable expenses?
- When should the candidate submit an expense report?
SUGGESTED READ:
A comprehensive guide to Travel and Expense Policy
How to Draft a Candidate Travel Reimbursement Policy?
A good candidate travel reimbursement policy should communicate and clarify all doubts regarding expense reimbursements. Here are some critical pointers your travel and expense policies must address:
- Spend limit for transportation, meals, accommodations, and other reimbursable items
- Identify and itemise reimbursable and non-reimbursable expenses
- List down all the responsibilities of the company and the candidate
Pro-tip: Candidates should be made aware of the expense reimbursement workflow that your organisation uses. This includes when and how to report business expenses.
Your Policy Should Be Upfront and Transparent
Being straightforward with your travel and expense reimbursement policy can avoid confusion and awkward communication between stakeholders. Ensure you address your candidates about all the necessary details concerning your expense reimbursement policy before the interview. Remember, being honest helps the applicant build trust and a relationship with your company.
Some companies cover expenses on multiple categories while others on just a select few.
- If your business prefers paying only for airfare and meals, your expense reimbursement policy should be explicit about it. This way, the candidate is aware of what arrangements they need to make for themselves.
- Also, if a candidate is required to submit proof of expenses such as receipts, candidates should be made aware before they begin traveling. This gives them prior knowledge to handle receipts with care rather than discard them away.
Make the Reimbursement Process Concise
A candidate may be unaware of how the expense reimbursement process works in your company. Hence, your reimbursement process must be as clear and concise as your policies.
Expense reporting should be an effortless task for all the stakeholders involved. For this, finance teams or the respective hiring teams should inform candidates about the expense reimbursement process and how long it takes for reimbursements to come through.
Pro-tip:
1. Identify and adopt ways on how to keep candidates in the loop in case of unforeseen delays.
2. Avoid keeping candidates in the dark; this reassures them that you will reimburse their expenses.
SUGGESTED READ: Five ways to make expense reporting easier for employees
How Can Fyle Help With a Candidate Travel Reimbursement Policy?
The candidate travel and expense reimbursement process is a vital part of expense management. Having a robust policy in place can help the process run smoothly. Fyle automates the entire expense approval process while also providing a layer of security and transparency to all submitted expenses.
A new age Expense Management Software like Fyle also empowers businesses to manage their candidate travel reimbursements effectively. Here’s how:
- Expense reporting becomes easier for candidates without having to fill or send report forms physically.
- Fyle helps automatically detect and prevent expense report fraud.
- Businesses can effectively enforce reimbursement policies in real-time.
- Finance teams can stay assured that candidates are compliant.
- Teams can avoid having awkward interactions with applicants in case of overspending.
- Fyle ensures submitted expense reports come with all supporting documents for easy expense report approval.
- A streamlined and well-documented approach ensures lesser back and forth and quicker expense reimbursements for candidates.
- Candidates can identify the stage of their expense approval to get clarity regarding their expense reimbursements.
We promise to make expense reporting a breeze for both your potential and current employees! Schedule a demo today and bid goodbye to all your expense management woes.
