Have You Been Misled? Auditing your Corporation’s Travel Procurement must be Independent.
Corporations must have Independent Travel Audit and Oversight services. The same business rules that you use in engaging your CPA firm are the same for you to audit your travel suppliers and processes, to ensure that your hotel rates, air fares and travel purchases are correct, fully disclosed, and are at the lowest costs for your corporation.
Too many times corporations employ their Travel Agency as their auditor, or any audit firm that is in conflicting partnership to you by being in partnership with travel agencies. In contrast, Independent auditors are not influenced by any relationships with any other companies or service firms.
The Travel Agency (TMC) have individuals, departments and consulting arms that attest to auditing, essentially themselves. This is in complete conflict with all accounting standards and is completely prohibited by the Sarbanes-Oxley rules, and All International Wide-Accounting Rules and Guidelines.
When a corporation employs a Travel Audit firm ( that promises to show the best, or better fare or rate) who is in partnership with a travel agency, it defeats the purpose of an Independent Audit. These travel audit firms are essentially interested in their own needs, not yours.
The results they submit can be biased, favoring the travel agency versus you, the Buyer, the Corporation. Too many accurate articles, and knowledgeable experts have identified many of these conflicts, and their severely adverse impact and cost to you, the buyer. You are wondering if this is legal; it is unfairly legal, and misleading. There are many travel audit firms and travel agency “audit departments” that claim to offer the best audit services for you, the corporation, for great pre-trip, hotel, and airfare savings.
Yes, they may offer a lower prices [buyer beware], but definitely not Independent…what this show you is not necessarily your best price- It is their best price.
Many of these travel audit firms, offering the lowest prices to you for alleged quality services, do this because they can afford to offer little or no fee since they will get a large piece of the cake from indirectly referring you to the travel agency (or visa versa) and/or suppliers they partner with. The corporate buyer’s interest is definitely not their focus.
The act of some unscrupulous travel audit firms should not taint the entire industry. There does still exists a few travel audit firms that offer real and Independent travel audit and oversight services for the corporate buyer.
If you are wondering how you can find a genuine one. Hire only travel audit firms that are Independent. Before you hire an audit firm for your travel purchases and services, ensure that they have no ties, again, I repeat, no ties with a travel agency or suppliers of any sort. That is a basic, proven rule to always go by. Do some background checks. When you see signs of anyone partnering with a travel agency, pull the plug on that deal.
Every corporation deserves the best in travel audit, this is why they should always opt for independent travel audit firms, with no ties to a travel agency that is completely Independent.