Compare the experience of completing a travel request form in Excel vs. a mobile-friendly, online, customizable form.
With an online form, you can digitize your business travel approval processes, including automated workflows and routing.
This travel request process collects employee and travel information. It pre-fills fields such as employee name and manager automatically. Some travel data is dynamic e.g. the form ensures that your departure date is before your return date. The form also validates business constraints e.g. the maximum cost of travel and the maximum advance amounts are enforced. It's also signed digitally. The form then routes to a manager for approval and then conditionally to Finance and/or the Travel Desk depending on the data in the form. Finally, after completion, it emails a PDF of the entire travel authorization for the employee's records. Compare it with using Excel (or Word or PDF or even paper). This kind of automatic conditional routing is not possible. After the manager approves, someone has to know to send it to either the Finance Department or the Travel Desk and manually email it for approval. It's a recipe for errors.
This travel request form allows an employee to enter estimated expenses and business justification prior to travel and get it signed and approved by a manager / department head. The form also pulls employee information from a backend system, performs calculations automatically, validates dates and other fields, allows attachments and electronic signatures. At the end, it will email you a PDF of the completed process. Compare it to using Excel. The spreadsheet can also perform calculations automatically. However, it can't pull logged-in employee information, needs to be printed so that it can be signed and must be sent around by email for approval. Electronic processes have huge advantages.
This travel request form does not demonstrate frevvo's built-in workflow routing. The form pulls in employee data and pre-populates fields. It also displays dynamic behavior such as displaying a list of US States if the country is US but allowing free-form entry otherwise. It validates fields automatically but also uses a visual business rule to ensure that the selected return date is after the departure date. It also supports electronic signing. Finally, when the form is submitted, it simply sends an email for approval including a PDF of the travel request.
This approval workflow is used to reimburse employees for actual miles driven. Instead of requiring them to enter miles manually, it uses the Google Maps Distance API to compute mileage between city pairs and then automatically calculates reimbursement amount and totals. It's easier, faster and has fewer errors. The form also demonstrates digital signatures which verify the identity of the user signing it and guarantee that the signed data has not been tampered with. Compare it to using Excel or paper. None of this functionality is possible. The online version saves time and reduces mistakes.
Travel authorization and mileage forms are extremely common across all industries. They're used to ensure that business travel is undertaken only when necessary and also that costs are controlled. These forms apply business protocols automatically to guarantee that internal norms cannot be bypassed, the travel in question produces real business value and is pre-authorized. delivered, and the price being paid. The travel request form almost always includes one or more signatures.
frevvo provides 100% visual workflow automation software (watch this short demo video to learn more) that anyone in your organization can use to digitize these forms and processes without being an expert programmer. The system includes many built-in templates that you can use as starting points and all features needed for real business solutions such as a rich array of controls, visual business rules, drag-and-drop routing and a lot more. Sign up for a free 30-day trial and get started today.
