Uber adds business expensing features

Uber has updated its Uber for Business program with new expensing, billing and reporting features for corporate users of the ride-hailing app.

Companies are now able to set up rules for employees, customers and clients around parameters such as the type of car that they can use, how much they can spend, the time of day when the trip must occur, and the location from which a trip needs to begin or end.

New tools enable managers to set up automated programs for commuting, office-to-office travel, last-mile rides to public transit and endless other use cases. Managers can create and implement a "late night rides" policy that only functions for trips taken between the workplace and home and after a certain hour. The company can choose how much to fund per trip, and if employees need to take longer trips, any amount over the spend allowance will be charged to their payment method of choice.

Businesses can provide customized levels of Uber access depending on each employee’s needs. For example, regular employees can be given a specified amount for their daily commute, while recruiters can get special access to call rides for job candidates via Uber Central. Businesses can segment the organization by team, level, or location. Uber for Business tripled its revenue in the first half of 2017, according to a spokesperson.

Uber’s rival Lyft also offers a Lyft Business service for company accounts. Businesses can use Lyft Business to manage ride and expense permissions for team members and set up direct billing to send expensing to a single account. Reporting features enable managers to view their employees’ travel habits and expenses. They can export the details on the rides to budget their companies’ projected ground transportation costs. Business and personal ride receipts are sent to employees’ email inboxes, and they can set up auto-expensing with various expense software programs, such as Concur, Expensify, Chrome River, Certify, Nexonia, Zoho Expense, Abacus and Xpenditure.