Start with an executive travel profile
One shared document saves dozens of questions. It usually covers:
- Preferred airlines, seat and cabin rules, and when an upgrade is acceptable
- Hotel preferences: location relative to meetings, chains you collect points with, room needs
- Ground transport: car service, rental, rideshare, or rail where it makes sense
- Budget rules from your company travel policy, if one exists
- Loyalty program numbers and known traveller details, stored in the password manager, not in the document
- Timing rules, such as no flights before a certain hour and a buffer after landing before the first meeting
Researching and booking business travel
For each trip, the assistant offers a short set of options that fit the profile and books once you approve (or within agreed limits without approval). Everything goes on your calendar, along with a one-page itinerary: flights, confirmation numbers, hotel address, meeting locations, travel times and who to contact if something changes. Payment uses a company card you've authorized for travel, with a clear limit. See executive calendar management for how trips and time zones are handled on the calendar.
Rebooking when travel plans change
Agree what the assistant can change alone. A common rule lets the assistant rebook within the same fare class and a set price difference, and contact you for anything beyond that. Make sure they know which bookings are refundable before you need to cancel.
Receipts and expense reports
Expense admin is mostly matching and filing. A typical routine:
| When | Task |
|---|---|
| As receipts arrive | Forward or save receipts into one folder or your expense tool, named by date and vendor |
| Weekly | Match receipts to card transactions and flag anything missing |
| Month end | Prepare the expense report or export for your bookkeeper, with notes on business purpose |
| Quarterly | List subscriptions and renewals, and flag ones you may not need |
The assistant prepares and organizes, and you or your bookkeeper or accountant review and approve. The assistant shouldn't decide how expenses are categorised for tax purposes.
What you provide
- The travel profile and your company's travel policy, if you have one
- A company card or travel account with limits you're comfortable with
- Access to the expense tool or receipts folder your bookkeeper uses
- Loyalty logins shared through the password manager (see secure access for virtual assistants)
Travel and expense questions
Can the assistant book personal travel too?
If you agree it in the scope. Keep personal bookings on a personal card and in a separate folder so expenses stay clean.
Should the assistant hold my passport details?
Only if bookings need them, and only in the password manager's secure notes, never in email or documents.
Who handles visas or entry requirements?
An assistant can remind you and point you to official government sources, but you should confirm requirements yourself for each trip.
Want this handled for you? Tell us what fills your inbox and calendar, and a service partner will reply with a proposed scope.
Request a proposal