How Are Small Businesses Spending Their Travel Dollars?

As more small to mid-sized businesses increase their travel and entertainment expenses in the midst of the United States economic revival, there's greater need for budget control. Those company travel expenses can quickly add up.

According Concur travel expense management company's Expense IQ Report, last year, small-business travelers filed significantly more transactions than enterprise employees in all expense categories: airplane flights (37 percent), meals (29 percent), local transportation (65 percent), and entertainment (67 percent).

Concur notes that the exorbitant T&E cost -- totaling $50 billion for small businesses in 2012 -- is explained in part by their greater corporate traveling needs. Smaller business must work harder to cover more territory with a limited number of people. Yet the hefty amounts spent on non-travel related items are also to blame.

Take a complete look, below, at what small businesses spend on travel and entertainment throughout the fiscal year. You might be surprised by how much money can be saved by some carefully scrutinized travel spending.