It's no secret that one of the most mundane tasks on the planet is tracking and reporting business-travel expenses. Flights, hotels, cars and other costs incurred while on location add up, as do the stacks of paper and receipts. The Wall Street Journal recently spoke to Gina Hamadey, editor of 'Every Day With Rachael Ray' magazine's travel section, for some tips to spice up expense reporting and make it less of a hassle.

WSJ: What is one thing the business traveler can do upfront to keep everything in order when it comes to expenses?

Ms. Hamadey: To get a head start, everything that you have already bought on your credit card -- usually hotel, air and car receipts -- just print them out. This is probably common sense but if you are a first-time traveler or if you don't travel for business very often, it's an amateur mistake to not put everything in one place. Sometimes if I'm running off for a quick weekend, I designate a compartment of my wallet, and throw my receipts in.

At the very least you should do that, but ideally it's great if you have an envelope in your purse or briefcase and start with your air, hotel and car receipts. . . . Jot notes on the back of a receipt, [like] who was at the dinner, the purpose. If you're really organized, you could separate them [with] paper clips. If you're really super organized, you can spend time on the plane home taping down receipts.

WSJ: What is often overlooked in organizing expenses?

Ms. Hamadey: A common error is procrastinating. Not only organizing, but then submitting. . . . [Also] overlooked is the little things, like coffee, water and a newspaper. It's so often that you just grab a coffee, and you forget the receipt. If it's a coffee stand, you don't even know if they have receipts and you'll just think, 'Ah, it's $2 and no big deal,' but that stuff really adds up.

WSJ: Any final tips?

Ms. Hamadey: It's important to take the high road and not take advantage. So if you're invited to a conference and it's frowned upon to bring a spouse and you bring yours anyway, expense for half your dinner. It's never a comfortable conversation to be called in and [hear] you shouldn't have done this. Take the high road. It's a good thing and will leave you open to take trips later.

Alcohol is something to be careful of. Wine with dinner is fine but if a bunch of people are boozing really late, it's something to be careful of. Maybe if everyone splits the bill it's fine, but it's just again not a comfortable conversation to have with your boss.