elg26

I am going to travel for business and want to stay at a hotel which I wouldnt dare put the full price on my expenses for reimbursement. I would want to absorb a portion of the cost personally and expense a reasonable amount.

So for example, If I was staying at a $500/ night hotel for 2 nights - $1,000 total:
- Could I get the hotel to give TWO separate bills at $250/night for 2 nights = $500. Overall total would be the same. I would pay them both separately at checkout, but I would expense one and not expense.

Is there anything stopping a hotel from doing that for me? (ie accounting issues, audit issues, etc)

NOTE - i have previously split a bill in 2 putting a room charge on 1 bill....and incidentals on another....but in this case I would be reducing the per night charge...

Thanks in advance.

thelark

jrl767

check out in person at the front desk: pay half on personal card, have the clerk generate an interim bill showing partial payment; pay balance on corporate card or whatever other means, have the clerk generate a final receipt for expense purposes

emma69

I have had a hotel willing to generate a receipt for certain amount, but it did not have a per night rate - it was "$500 paid in full" type thing. If your company would accept that, it might be a way?

(Nothing shady btw - I had a full itemized bill for say, $20,000 but I had pre-payed most of it, I just needed something that said "$500 paid" so I could send it through without causing confusion to accounting (otherwise I may have ended up $19,500 in credit as they misinterpret the receipt!)

emma69

BTW - that sort of thing really messes up hotel loyalty points if you care about such things, just a warning!

MSPeconomist

obscure2k

Why is this different than asking for two checks at a restaurant?

Kevin AA

It's more like asking the restaurant to give you two checks of $25 each instead of one check for a single $50 steak dinner. That would also be tough to do.

CPRich

Because at a restaurant each person orders a set of specific items with specific prices. If this was a case of a bill for two rooms with a request for an individual bill for each room, this analogy would apply.

But this is like two people going to a restaurant, splitting a single $30 entree, then asking for 2 checks each showing that they purchased that one entree for $15.

Way different

Kevin AA

Even worse, it's just one person.

erik123

Stop worrying. You should set standards for yourself (e.g. treat yourself at your own cost) and stick to them. If you are overly concerned just inform your compny beforehand. The US is full of people who care more about the impression they leave vs the quality of work.

Efrem

You might also mess things up for the next person who wants to stay there and is told "elg26 got a rate of $250 per night there, don't pay more than that, if they won't offer it to you, ask elg how he/she did it." This scenario could also get you into trouble (though it shouldn't).

Often1

This is a corporate culture issue. Most people I know who do this, simply pay down the balance with a personal CC and then pay the balance which they intend to submit on a corporate card. The receipt shows two payments and one submits just the second amount,. Others put the whole thing on a personal CC and then submit only what is acceptable for reimburseable. And yet others have a corporate culture where staying at expensive places is frowned on, even when it does not cost the company anything.

It is highly doubtful that a property will generate a false invoice because that creates all manner of internal control problems for metrics purposes. If you are in a situation where you have to ask others to falsify documents in order to comply with a corporate policy, you are making a bad choice at the expensive property (and maybe by working at such a place).

LondonElite

elg26

Agree this is a bit delicate..... and I figured there would be a chance of some internal issues by the hotel to not be able to do this.

The one thing I did not put in my opening post....I do not have a corporate card....either way I put it on my personal card and submit the hotel bill and print out of my CC payment when I submit for reimbursement. So its about matching theses 2 documents but also showing on the hotel bill a 2 night stay at a discounted cost ($500 total vs $1000 total). I cant split the bill into 2 days and submit one because it would look like I stayed 1 night at $500. And if I pay down a balance the hotel bill would still show the $500/night even though Im submitting a smaller amount for reimbursement. And you nailed it when saying there is a corporate culture....so I am trying to stay under the radar by not having to explain the bill..... a $250/night on the bill would accomplish that.

Thanks all for your feedback... big help in understanding my options...