A travel request is a formal submission an employee makes before a business trip to get management approval and a pre-authorised budget. In Zoho Expense, travel requests are separate from expense reports: the request covers planned costs before travel, while the expense report covers actual costs after the trip.
Employees submit a travel request with details such as destination, travel dates, purpose of travel, and estimated costs for flights, accommodation, and daily expenses. The request goes through the configured approval workflow. Once approved, the employee has an authorised budget to work within when booking and spending during the trip.
When the employee returns and submits their expense report in Zoho Expense, they can link it to the original travel request. This comparison shows whether actual spend stayed within the approved budget, giving finance teams insight into forecast accuracy and helping refine future travel budgets.
This depends on your organisation’s policy settings in Zoho Expense. Some policies require a pre-approved travel request for all trips above a certain cost or duration, while others make it optional or limit it to international travel only. Admins configure this in the travel policy settings.
Zoho Expense’s travel module allows employees to request specific itinerary details, including estimated flight costs and hotel preferences. If Zoho Expense is integrated with a travel management platform, approved requests can be forwarded directly for booking without a separate process.
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