Originally Posted by DevilBucsFlyer
If every expense on the report is a 100% legitimate business reimbursable expense, how is it cheating?
Something tells me that most companies won't see it this way. A manager would assume that if someone is going to fudge expense reports here and there, that person is more likely to fudge other things, like financial reports or sales data (Enron?).
Originally Posted by DevilBucsFlyer
That's the problem with companyies: They create some arcane policies that are not based in the realities of the workplace situations; then, when real workplace situations arise that require a "work around" of the policies, those that create the work-around's are chastised (or worse) for "violating company policy" rather than chastising those that created, and enforced, the arcane policies in the first place.
To me, this is no different than having an IT policy that says only the IT department can install new software on a computer. Then, you need some software installed to meet a customer demand by tomorrow. But, "the policy" is for IT to get software installed within 3 days - and they just can't bother to get to your request until the day after tomorrow. So, you check to make sure the company is properly licensed for the software, make sure everything is kosher, and then install the software yourself - Oops, violation of company policy! Grounds for Dismissal!
Whether it is creating efficiencies by installing your own software, or creating efficiencies by avoiding hours of correspondence exchanges with HR dolts, those efficienies help, not hurt, your company!
Perhaps those with views like the quoted poster should consider whether termination of the efficiency-creator is really a better course of action than a re-evaluation of the arcane policies that created the inefficiencies in the first place.
Again, I think most companies would see things differently here. You may be able to install your own software with no problems. But imagine if someone installed software that ended up infecting the company network with a virus, or that was incompatible with other systems and caused data loss or system crashes. Just because you're able to do something without consequences once or several times doesn't mean the policy is a bad one. Likewise, imagine if others fudged expenses in other ways or to a greater degree. While your actions might not result in a net difference in the total expense amount, what about tax consequences? Certain things are tax deductible and others are not. If everyone did this all the time, in a large company it could impact the bottom line. And it could lead to trouble with financial auditors and maybe even the government. The point here is that, although you may not see any serious consequences from your actions alone, lots of little indiscretions often lead to very big problems. The policies are in place to minimize the little indiscretions and thus prevent the big problems.