What "fraud" do you commit on expense reports to avoid questions?
Nov 26, 2005 | 1:39 pm
#61
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Originally Posted by UAL_Rulez
Just a couple of points to add to everything above. I've been on both sides of this issue much of my career - i.e. as a manager setting policies and reviewing/ approving T&E expenses, and as a frequent business traveller submitting my own expenses.
1. To the OP - as several others have pointed out, the only good policy is NEVER to falsify ANYTHING - creating fake/doctored receipts, intentionally "burying" or misclassifying expenses, etc. Bottom line if this is found out - which it likely will be eventually - it's virtually certain you'll lose your job. Dishonesty and creating false corporate books and records should be, and are, a terminable offense in any company or country I'm aware of.
At my last firm, my response to out-of-policy expenses was just to haircut the reimbursement amount by whatever ineligible sums were claimed, and put a note on the expense report for the employee to see what wasn't kosher.
2. Totally agree that individuals who are not themselves frequent travellers should not be setting micro-managing policies for those that are. In any job that entails moderate to heavy travel, the travel and expense policies are a major determinant of quality-of-work-life; they should be reasonable under the company's circumstances, not designed to eke out minor budget improvements at the expense of major discomfort / inconvenience to those actually doing the road work. techgirl I can't believe the picayune-ness of some of your firm's policieis, especially if it's billable to clients!
3. Per diem meal reimbursements are the way to go IMHO. Who cares if the person orders a latte, pastry, Taco Bell, room service, six beers, or whatever with the money? (Obviously if the organization has values-based rules against paying for alcohol - e.g., say you work for the State Alcoholic Beverage Commission or the Mormon Church - that's different.) But I don't think any normal company has any business trying to dictate everything you eat and drink while travelling, provided you stay within the spend guidelines and don't violate other salient policies such as getting plastered on company business or driving while drunk.
1. To the OP - as several others have pointed out, the only good policy is NEVER to falsify ANYTHING - creating fake/doctored receipts, intentionally "burying" or misclassifying expenses, etc. Bottom line if this is found out - which it likely will be eventually - it's virtually certain you'll lose your job. Dishonesty and creating false corporate books and records should be, and are, a terminable offense in any company or country I'm aware of.
At my last firm, my response to out-of-policy expenses was just to haircut the reimbursement amount by whatever ineligible sums were claimed, and put a note on the expense report for the employee to see what wasn't kosher.
2. Totally agree that individuals who are not themselves frequent travellers should not be setting micro-managing policies for those that are. In any job that entails moderate to heavy travel, the travel and expense policies are a major determinant of quality-of-work-life; they should be reasonable under the company's circumstances, not designed to eke out minor budget improvements at the expense of major discomfort / inconvenience to those actually doing the road work. techgirl I can't believe the picayune-ness of some of your firm's policieis, especially if it's billable to clients!
3. Per diem meal reimbursements are the way to go IMHO. Who cares if the person orders a latte, pastry, Taco Bell, room service, six beers, or whatever with the money? (Obviously if the organization has values-based rules against paying for alcohol - e.g., say you work for the State Alcoholic Beverage Commission or the Mormon Church - that's different.) But I don't think any normal company has any business trying to dictate everything you eat and drink while travelling, provided you stay within the spend guidelines and don't violate other salient policies such as getting plastered on company business or driving while drunk.
I hope they are a damn good company to work for in other areas. Otherwise, I would tell them to fly a kite.
Nov 26, 2005 | 1:43 pm
#62
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Originally Posted by Athena53
I worked for a consulting firm with a "no-receipt, no-reimbursement" policy (which essentially meant no cash tips to hotel maids, curbside baggage guys, etc. were reimbursed). It was a royal pain. Once I didn't submit receipts for highway tolls and my boss and one of the beancounters called me and asked why! I think they did reimburse me but after that I made sure I had receipts for everything- even the 35 cent tolls on the friggin' Garden State Parkway.
A waste of good billable time and it always made me feel the company didn't trust me.
A waste of good billable time and it always made me feel the company didn't trust me.
Nov 26, 2005 | 3:59 pm
#63
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Originally Posted by Athena53
I worked for a consulting firm with a "no-receipt, no-reimbursement" policy (which essentially meant no cash tips to hotel maids, curbside baggage guys, etc. were reimbursed). It was a royal pain. Once I didn't submit receipts for highway tolls and my boss and one of the beancounters called me and asked why! I think they did reimburse me but after that I made sure I had receipts for everything- even the 35 cent tolls on the friggin' Garden State Parkway.
A waste of good billable time and it always made me feel the company didn't trust me.
A waste of good billable time and it always made me feel the company didn't trust me.
Nov 26, 2005 | 4:00 pm
#64
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After reading all this I feel rather fortunate. I work for a 400+ person company that has about a dozen people that travel frequently. We have no official policy, but do have an unofficial travel agent that I no longer use. I book all my own flights, hotels, and cars. Would a travel agent ever book Southwest, Ryan Air, or Easyjet? Hell no, because they wouldn't get a commission!
A travel agent is alway going to book you on whatever he gets the best commission on. Our agent always uses Hertz. On my own I use Avis, National, and even Budget sometimes to save the company $.
I travel all over the world and $35/day food expense is not the same in Indiana, Tokyo, Taipei, Beijing, London,...
I often spend $50+ on a dinner for myself only. If I'm with a customer I always spend more.
If I tip a dollar or two I expense it with no questions asked.
I save parking garage coupons to save a few bucks/day.
I'm always trying to save the company money when it comes to travel. After booking a hotel I will often check the rates again before the arrival date to see if fares have lowered. It happens all the time and I cancel my original reservation and book again at the lower rate. Would a travel agent ever do this?
The company only pays for economy class air, but when there is a Biz fare sale, and I combine some of my trip with a LCC, I can persuade my boss to let me take the long hauls up front!
I agree that it is a pain to try and remember expenses paid in cash weeks (even days) after the fact. I alway bring blank expense forms with me and fill them out day by day.
A travel agent is alway going to book you on whatever he gets the best commission on. Our agent always uses Hertz. On my own I use Avis, National, and even Budget sometimes to save the company $.
I travel all over the world and $35/day food expense is not the same in Indiana, Tokyo, Taipei, Beijing, London,...
I often spend $50+ on a dinner for myself only. If I'm with a customer I always spend more.
If I tip a dollar or two I expense it with no questions asked.
I save parking garage coupons to save a few bucks/day.
I'm always trying to save the company money when it comes to travel. After booking a hotel I will often check the rates again before the arrival date to see if fares have lowered. It happens all the time and I cancel my original reservation and book again at the lower rate. Would a travel agent ever do this?
The company only pays for economy class air, but when there is a Biz fare sale, and I combine some of my trip with a LCC, I can persuade my boss to let me take the long hauls up front!
I agree that it is a pain to try and remember expenses paid in cash weeks (even days) after the fact. I alway bring blank expense forms with me and fill them out day by day.
Last edited by NWA-PLAT; Oct 21, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Nov 26, 2005 | 5:06 pm
#65
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Originally Posted by indufan
What do you do when you go through a toll that doesn't offer receipts?
The firm is now down to about 3 people (from a high of 50) after the owner bet the future of the firm on some software developed by a European company that we were installing for a client. He hadn't done enough due diligence and it turned out to have a pretty interface and no guts. The client panicked and pulled the plug.
I guess there's a happy medium between letting people get away with expense-account robbery and demanding a receipt for every single expenditure.
Nov 26, 2005 | 6:52 pm
#66
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Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
All they ended up dinging him on was a big check deducted in the wrong year. (IIRC he deducted it in the year he wrote it, not in the year the recipient received it. Something like 12/31 vs 1/2.)
Nov 26, 2005 | 8:36 pm
#68
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I used to volunteer for a small office that required a lot of traveling to conferences and such. Since the office was extremely small (about 10 people), our financial officer was able to review all the expenses. The travel policy was pretty simple- find the cheapest flights possible and include reciepts for anything you want to be reimbursed for. Limits were set for meals, so if you went over that, it came out of your own pocket.
Overall, the policy worked really well, but mainly because the office was so small.
Overall, the policy worked really well, but mainly because the office was so small.
Nov 26, 2005 | 9:45 pm
#70
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Originally Posted by DevilBucsFlyer
Receipts aren't required for meals under $25. I seldom spend more than $10-$15 on my dinners (personal preference), so if I have some "unusual" expense such as paying for internet access someplace, I'll just tack it on to a cheap meal one day rather than separately identifying it on my expense report.
Nov 26, 2005 | 9:55 pm
#71
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I tend to agree with most of the people on this thread. One should take the extra time and be extra cautious to report everything correctly as per standards of the company. If someone wants to get rid of you they can easily go back and show falsified records... and think of how it would sound when you go to apply for another job and they ask you why you left your previous employer and you tell them you were caught submitting false expense reports.
Nov 26, 2005 | 11:13 pm
#73
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Originally Posted by NWA-PLAT
Would a travel agent ever book Southwest, Ryan Air, or Easyjet? Hell no, because they wouldn't get a commission!
Nov 27, 2005 | 12:11 am
#74
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Originally Posted by indufan
They don't get a commission on any of it anymore, and haven't for a while.
Nov 27, 2005 | 9:26 am
#75
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Originally Posted by gleff
IIRC the rule is the postmark date, not date of receipt... unless you send it Fedex or similar in which case it's the date of receipt (since you could in theory call back a Fedex package to be returned).