RichMSN

The right answer for expenses like this is for the salesman to pay the expense and then play "find the umbrella" in the report.

bergamini

I'm not saying there's not a likelihood of it being effective and I also think it still happens. But I do know at my company it would not be allowed. I also think it opens a company up to a lot of liability. What if the sales rep had two clients, one a man and one a woman, and only took the man out to a strip club? Or, two male clients, one gay and one straight? And he only takes the straight one out to a strip club. That opens the door to discrimination laws. Bringing those types of "performances" into any company's sales strategy is high risk, IMHO (not saying there aren't instances where it would work).

jrl767

COSPILOT

To be clear with this strip club thing that I apparently added, I never take a client without making a phone call to the boss and asking. I also take a shower when I get back to the hotel, these places are disgusting.

Jaimito Cartero

Kevin AA

Fortunately, when I traveled for business, small amounts with no receipts were fine.

FWIW the Reno city bus always gives you a "receipt", namely the paper pass (even for a one way trip) that you get.

invisible

I asked this question to my wife who is corporate controller with >25 years experience in F50/medium/startup companies. She wrote corporate T/E policy at her current company and as a result, approves/denies expenses as well. Now, her industry is NOT masculine/male dominated where above mentioned things are norm - it a small high-tech firm whole owned by one very well known multinational company. They do not even have such kind of line item in T/E policy because there are no typical sales, all of them are happening online.

So, on this question she said following:

I would personally add that companies might close eyes on such activity, but if you give to customer $300 watch as a present instead of taking him to strip club and spending $300 there, you might get away with latter but former WILL get you fired. In all T/E policies I've seen at medium/large companies there was strict prohibition giving something above like $20 as a gift to a customer.

bergamini

Too late. I'll always think of you as the strip club guy on FlyerTalk

Visconti

LOL...would be incredibly unfair should this moniker stick, but I assume it's all in good fun. By the way, this comment just cracked me up, and almost spit out my morning coffee.

COSPILOT

Another fun strip club expense story, although it wasn't me this time. I worked for a rather large company that had about a dozen of the large 15 passenger vans with the company logo. One of the sales guys took a group out to the local strip club, and by bad luck one of the owners of our company happened to see the company van in the parking lot as he was driving home. The expense was paid, but two of the vans were converted to magnetic signs that could be removed for future visits.

Jaimito Cartero

COSPILOT

We should probably move on. Good friend of mine in a company vehicle had to pay for washer fluid a few weeks ago, not allowed to expense it because it was outside of normal service intervals. Small expense in the grand scheme of things, but that is absurd. I happen to know the owner (also a very good friend) and since I have nothing to lose I continue to give him a hard time for simple things like this not being approved.

Same company won't pay for car washes for the company car...

darthbimmer

The last line in your wife's professional opinion is very much on point: "I personally might not like such activity, but my personal feeling is one and business is another." Many of the dumb things my employers have done with travel expenses involved a misguided staffer in the finance department tutting, "I wouldn't pay for my family to do that!" It's critical to understand that personal morals and thriftiness can be very different from what's suitable for business.

bergamini

OMG, this brought flash backs to when I first was out of college and was working for Progressive Insurance and had to sub in the Chicago area office. They gave us fuel cards for our company cars. I often spent 2 hours in bumper to bumper traffic in Chicago in a f*ing Ford Explorer and got the worst mileage. When we used the fuel card at the gas pumps of approved stations it included requirements that we enter mileage. Apparently my mileage raised red flags and I got investigated by the "SIU" division of the fleet management company because they were concerned I was using the card for personal fuel purchases or selling it to others. What a waste of time and I was young and it made me very nervous.

Annalisa12

so the car is a filthy mess or are staff expected to wash it for free?