Control Company Costs
Research Reveals Blind Spot in Business Travel Expenses
The eighth annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey suggests finance and travel leaders are working with an incomplete view of employee expenses, hindering strategic decision-making.
Expense fraud is one contributing factor. Sixty percent of CFOs surveyed say travel expense fraud is increasing in their business. At the same time, some employees are choosing not to submit legitimate business expenses because they do not want to draw attention to themselves or the claim.
Both behaviors matter as organizations strive to manage spend and strengthen compliance. A fraudulent claim puts inaccurate information into the expense process. An unsubmitted legitimate expense leaves important information out. Either can make it harder for leaders to understand how employees spend company money and how expense policies work in practice, leaving organizations to make financial and policy decisions based on only part of the story.
“The best expense programs make it easy for employees to do the right thing,” said Fiona Ashley, Vice President of Product Marketing at SAP Concur. “When people understand what is expected of them and trust the process, organizations can build a more complete picture of spend and leaders can make better decisions from it.”
Concern about expense fraud is high, but perceptions differ
AI has added another dimension to expense fraud. According to the survey, 92% of CFOs say it is likely that employees at their company are using AI to falsify travel expenses or receipts, up from 84% in 2025. Eighty-six percent of travel managers believe this is likely as well, compared with 66% of business travelers.
Finance leaders and travel managers perceive considerably more AI-enabled expense fraud than employees do, reflecting different levels of trust among the groups. Theodora Lau, an expert and author on AI in financial services, sees this finding as evidence of a broader cultural concern.
“If 92% of CFOs believe employees are using AI to falsify expenses, then the bigger issue may not be technology or governance, it may be trust. If leaders assume employees are acting maliciously, that's a cultural challenge that extends far beyond AI,” Lau said.
Technology can also play a role in identifying suspicious claims. Expense management tools can help detect patterns such as incorrect dates, spelling errors, or fonts that do not match. However, technology does not eliminate the need for effective oversight, as managers must still pay attention to what they approve.
Survey findings reinforce the concern. Nearly half of business travelers surveyed (48%) say they have breached company policy while on a business trip. That includes 13% who have used company funds for personal expenses and 8% who have submitted altered or falsified receipts.
There are expenses that leaders never see
But fraud does not tell the whole expense story. One-quarter of business travelers surveyed say they have chosen not to submit a legitimate business expense in the past year specifically to avoid drawing attention to themselves or the expense. This behavior is more common among younger employees: 30% of Gen Z business travelers and 29% of millennials report doing so, compared with 17% of Gen X and 8% of baby boomers.
The reasons employees give offer more context. Travelers say they might avoid submitting a legitimate expense if:
- The expense was for something that benefited them personally (25%).
- Submitting it would put them over their pre-approved budget (24%).
- They were worried about appearing to spend more than their colleagues (19%).
- They feared the expense would be flagged as excessive (18%).
- They were embarrassed about others seeing it (14%).
These motivations do not necessarily indicate fraud. They do suggest some employees make decisions about whether to report legitimate spending based on how they expect the expense will be perceived.
Policy breaches and expense-hiding often overlap
The survey also found a strong connection between employees who report breaking policy and those who withhold legitimate expenses. Among business travelers who have previously bent or broken policy, 42% say they have withheld a legitimate expense in the past year. Among travelers who say they have never breached policy, that figure falls to 9%.
This suggests the decision not to submit an expense may sometimes be connected to a broader concern about scrutiny. An employee who has already deviated from policy may be more reluctant to submit a legitimate expense that could draw additional attention to their spending or travel behavior.
The wider survey findings provide another clue. Half of business travelers say their company's policies are flexible enough that most things can be justified. This perception exists even among employees who say they have never broken policy.
For travel and finance leaders, clearer policy remains important, but the findings indicate that policy alone will not provide a complete answer. Organizations also need to understand how employees interpret those policies and what influences their decisions when they are traveling, spending, and submitting expenses.
Better expense visibility starts with understanding employee behavior
Expense data helps organizations monitor costs, identify compliance issues, and make decisions about travel and spending. But the choices employees make around their expenses can be informative, too. When legitimate spending goes unreported, or employees worry about how a claim will be perceived, those behaviors can point to areas where the expense experience deserves closer attention.
For travel and finance leaders, understanding those behaviors can help reveal where employees may need greater clarity or where policies and processes may not be working as intended. Addressing those gaps can help employees navigate the expense process with greater confidence and provide leaders with more reliable, actionable information.
Now Available: 8th Annual SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey
For more findings from this year’s Global Business Travel Survey, download the report here.
The SAP Concur Global Business Traveler Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 1-20, 2026, among 3,300 business travelers in 21 markets: ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and U.S.
The SAP Concur Global Travel Manager Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 1-20, 2026, among 800 travel managers, defined as those who direct or administer travel programs for businesses, across eight markets: ANZ (Australia and New Zealand), Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, UK, and U.S.
The SAP Concur Global CFO Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research between April 1-20, 2026, among 700 CFOs across seven markets: ANZ (Australia and New Zealand), Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and U.S.
