Sure, your T&E costs aren’t the Wolf of Wall Street’s but are you managing the threats to this 2nd largest controllable cost?

In the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill throw hundred-dollar bills in the trash, charter planes, stay in luxury penthouses, and toss cash off a balcony. The movie follows the trajectory of DiCaprio's character, Jordan Belfort, a party-minded stockbroker who spent 22 months in prison for market manipulation and running a penny stock boiler room in the '90s. When I saw the movie I also thought of his gross miss management of his firm's Travel and Expense (T&E) budget. One scene shows Rob Reiner – who plays Belfort's father and the firm CFO– freaking out over the fact that his son spent $26,000 on one dinner. Belfort then asks his business partner Azoff to tell his dad about "the sides." "What, they cure cancer?" asks Reiner's character. So while your T&E might not be that out of control and the abuses may or may not be illegal, can you access data that will assess your T&E spending so that you can identify dangers, opportunities, and strengths in this very significant line item? The data is available from your TMC, credit card company, and/or expense tools. It is easily available today if you have the right partners and the right direction from those partners. After all, simply telling your team to book where they want and make good decisions may have been the travel policy of Belfort's firm Stratton Oakmont!

To avoid these pitfalls and determine where you can determine the health of your travel program reach out to your TMC or join us on our webinar on May 29 at noon. For details on the webinar check here  14 Indicators of T & E Health for 2014 or contact Jess Cardenas at jcardenas@macnairtravel.com.