The Latest T&E Benchmark Report: Where Does Your Travel and Expense Program Stand?

Benchmark Your T&E Program Against New Research

A recent Emerald Research Group global study of 2,350 global decision-makers, including Australia, shows the performance gap between integrated and fragmented travel and expense is wider than most finance leaders expect.

Most Finance Teams Think They Have T&E Under Control

Most finance teams will say they already have tools to manage travel and expense. The harder question is whether those tools work together.

In many organisations, a trip is booked in one system and the receipts land in another. Card data arrives on its own schedule. By the time the pieces meet, the money is already spent. Budget overruns surface weeks after the fact. Policy exceptions pile up for manual review. Employees spend time on admin instead of the work they were hired to do.

That gap has a cost. New research puts a number on it.

Emerald Research Group surveyed 2,350 finance, IT, T&E, and procurement decision-makers across ten countries, including Australia, between August and September 2026. The study was conducted blind: respondents were unaware who commissioned the research, so their answers reflect their own experiences rather than a brand preference. The finding was consistent across all 18 measures tested: integrated T&E organisations reported stronger results than fragmented ones, every time.

What Does Integrated Travel and Expense Management Actually Mean?

One primary solution, not two connected ones

Integrated travel and expense management means one primary solution handles both travel booking and expense reporting. Fragmented T&E means travel and expense run on separate systems, with data moving between them manually or not at all.

That distinction matters because most of the performance gap flows from data connectivity. When booking data and expense data sit in separate systems, finance leaders cannot see the full picture until after the fact. Policy enforcement only makes a difference when it is applied at the point of booking or submission, not weeks later during a review. The research makes three comparisons: integrated versus fragmented organisations, Concur customers versus customers of other integrated T&E solutions, and Concur customers who are still fragmented versus those who have connected both functions. Every comparison points the same direction.

How Does Your T&E Program Stack Up Across Four Goals?

The research grouped its findings into four business goals. Together, they form the basis of a 12-question self-assessment included in the full report. The benchmarks below give a preview of where the gaps between integrated and fragmented organisations are largest.

• Cost control and spend visibility
• Risk, compliance, and duty of care
• Workforce productivity and reimbursement speed
• Operational efficiency and scale

For a framework to evaluate your current setup against each of these four areas, see how to choose the right T&E management solution.

Is Your T&E Program Ready for AI?

AI appears in every chapter of this research, and the findings are consistent. Decision-makers want AI embedded in their T&E workflows rather than added as a separate tool. Among Concur integrated T&E customers, 77% prefer AI built into the workflow. Among customers of other integrated T&E solutions, 71% share that preference.

The benefits of integrating travel and expense [https://www.concur.com.au/blog/article/benefits-integrating-travel-expense-management-solutions] explains what connected data makes possible for AI in a T&E workflow.

Key Takeaways

• Integrated T&E organisations outperformed fragmented organisations on all 18 measures tested across four business goals
• The performance gap compounds: gains in spend visibility, compliance, productivity, and operational efficiency add up to a measurably stronger T&E program overall
• Concur integrated T&E customers reported stronger outcomes than customers of other integrated T&E solutions on all 39 measures in the analysis
• 72% of Concur integrated T&E customers report ROI of 100% or more, compared with 49% for customers of other integrated T&E solutions
• Decision-makers prefer AI built into the T&E workflow over separate tools, with data privacy rated the most important responsible AI capability

Download the Full Research Report

The full research report includes a 12-question self-assessment covering all four business goals, with peer benchmarks for each question and guidance on which area to prioritise based on your results. Download it to benchmark your program against 2,350 decision-makers globally.

FAQs

What is the difference between integrated and fragmented travel and expense management?

Integrated travel and expense management means one primary solution handles both travel booking and expense reporting. Fragmented T&E means the two run on separate systems, with data moving between them manually or not at all. When data sits in two systems, spend visibility is delayed, policy enforcement happens after the fact, and finance teams spend more time reconciling records than analysing them. The research defines integration as one primary solution for both functions, not just a data connection between two separate platforms. For an overview of how an integrated T&E platform works in practice, see Concur Travel and Expense.

How should finance teams benchmark their T&E spend visibility?

The starting point is to measure how much of your T&E spend appears in central reporting at any given time. The research found that 82% of Concur integrated T&E customers can see more than half of their T&E spend in central reporting, and 63% say timely data helps them make spending decisions with more confidence. If your organisation relies on month-end data to identify budget overruns, that is a gap worth quantifying. The full research benchmarks for spend visibility and the three other business goals are set out in the T&E ROI and business value report.

What ROI can an organisation realistically expect from an integrated T&E solution?

The research found that 72% of Concur integrated T&E customers report a return on investment of 100% or more, meaning they earn back their investment or better. Among customers of other integrated T&E solutions, 49% report the same. ROI will vary depending on current T&E volume, the level of manual processing involved, and how fragmented the existing setup is. To model a starting estimate based on your own claim volumes and processing times, the expense management ROI calculator provides a practical baseline.

How does integrated T&E improve expense policy compliance?

When travel and expense data sit in the same system, policy can be applied at the point of booking or submission, before spend is approved rather than after it is reimbursed. The research found that 56% of Concur integrated T&E customers report improved policy compliance, compared with 45% of customers using other integrated T&E solutions. For ANZ finance teams, this also supports more accurate GST recovery: 46% of Concur integrated T&E customers report increased recovery. For a practical guide to closing the most common compliance gaps in a T&E program, this Expense Policy template is a useful reference.

How do we assess whether our T&E solution is ready for AI?

The research found that decision-makers with AI embedded in their T&E workflows report stronger results than those using AI as a separate tool. Among Concur integrated T&E customers, 57% report AI improved policy enforcement, 53% saw better spend visibility, and 54% benefited from improved employee guidance during expense filing. The key test is whether your current T&E solution applies AI at the point of spend, not just in post-submission reporting. The essential checklist for evaluating an AI-driven T&E solution gives finance leaders a structured framework to assess where their current setup stands.