TRAVEL & EXPENSE MANAGEMENT
Is NAVAN the Best Travel Management Platform?
As a business coach who travels frequently for client meetings and speaking engagements, I used to dread expense reporting season. Scattered receipts, manual entry, and hours of reconciliation meant I was losing both time and money. Last year alone, I missed claiming $3,000 worth of legitimate business expenses simply because my old system was too cumbersome to use consistently.
That’s when I discovered Navan (formerly TripActions), and it completely transformed how I manage business travel and expenses. If you’re a coach, consultant, or service provider who travels for business, this comprehensive review will help you decide if Navan is worth the investment.
TLDR:
That’s when I discovered Navan (formerly TripActions), and it completely transformed how I manage business travel and expenses. If you’re a coach, consultant, or service provider who travels for business, this comprehensive review will help you decide if Navan is worth the investment.
Automated Expense Tracking
You pay for the expense with a Visa, Mastercard, or Amex corporate card. Navan Connect captures the data in real time. The transaction is automatically categorized based on merchant type, employee role, and additional categories. This means no more saving receipts or manual data entry. Every business expense is captured and categorized automatically, saving hours each month.
Loyalty Program Integration
Navan syncs with travel loyalty programs, so employees can still earn points and miles while using the platform. You don’t have to sacrifice your hard-earned airline status or hotel points when booking through Navan.
Smart Travel Booking
Navan uses machine learning to find the best deals, ensuring businesses don’t overspend on travel. The system analyzes real-time pricing to find the lowest fares. For coaches who travel frequently, this AI-powered booking can save significant money on flights and hotels.
Real-Time Expense Visibility
The payment is instantly visible to both you and your accounting team, eliminating the month-end scramble to collect and process expense reports.
What Does It Actually Cost?
Free Plan Features: As long as your company has 200 or fewer employees, there is no limit to how many trips you can book with Navan Travel. Navan Expense is free for the first 5 monthly expensing users, and then is $15 per user per month.
Pricing Breakdown:
Travel Management: Free for companies under 200 employees
Expense Management: Free for first 5 users, then $15/month per user
Enterprise: Custom pricing for larger organizations
For most coaches and consultants, this means you can use Navan’s travel booking completely free, and only pay for expense management if you have a team of more than 5 people handling expenses.
The Benefits of Navan
Time Savings: Before Navan, I spent 3-4 hours monthly on expense reports. Now it’s completely automated, saving me 40+ hours per year that I can spend with clients or growing my business.
Cost Savings: The AI-powered booking has saved me an average of 20% on travel costs. For someone who travels 2-3 times monthly, that’s significant annual savings.
Professional Image: Having organized, real-time expense tracking makes me look more professional to corporate clients who require detailed expense reporting.
Tax Preparation: Come tax season, everything is categorized and ready to go. My accountant loves the detailed reporting, and I’ve never missed a deductible expense again.
The Bottom Line: Is Navan Worth It?
Navan makes sense if you:
Travel for business more than 6 times per year
Currently spend 2+ hours monthly on expense reports
Want to eliminate the risk of missing tax-deductible expenses
Need professional expense reporting for corporate clients
Value the convenience of integrated travel booking and expense management
Navan makes sense if you:
Travel for business more than 6 times per year
Currently spend 2+ hours monthly on expense reports
Want to eliminate the risk of missing tax-deductible expenses
Need professional expense reporting for corporate clients
Value the convenience of integrated travel booking and expense management
My Recommendation
For coaches and consultants who travel regularly, Navan delivers exceptional value. The time savings alone justify the cost, and the professional expense reporting capabilities can help you look more credible to corporate clients.
The free travel booking for businesses under 200 employees makes it an easy decision to try. You can test the platform with your next business trip without any upfront investment.
Ready to streamline your business travel and expense management? Start with Navan’s free travel booking platform and see how much time and money you can save on your next business trip.