What "fraud" do you commit on expense reports to avoid questions?
 

Another thread on the American Airlines board made me think of this.

I'm not talking about actual fraud where you are stealing from your employer / client. I talking about things you do so that legitimate business expenses slide through without having to answer a bunch of questions about them?

I'm not required to use a corporate travel agent, so I get a little more flexibility that some, but here are some of the things I do:

• If only first class is available on a given flight (or if its cheaper than full fare coach), I'll modify the HTML code on the electronic receipt to make it look like a full-fare coach ticket. Just so I don't have to deal with HR questioning my booking in first.
• 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.

I'm probably doing myself a disservice since I'll be faced with even more questions if these "fraudulent" activities are ever identified. But, I always feel like I know that my expenses are legitimate and I really don't want to be dealing with having to justify them to some office-bound HR staffer.

My rule of thumb is: How much is my job worth?

Cheating on your expense report by $5 or $10 doesn't seem like much by itself, but is it worth $5 or $10 to you to keep your job? Falsifying your expense report is one of those black-and-white things that can cause your boss to *have* to fire you if HR or your auditors catch it.

That said, it's not a black-and-white world, and we all have to live by what I think of as our internal ledger books. For instance, I make the occasional personal long-distance call from my office phone - but I don't charge my company mileage for my occasional in-town travel. I figure it about evens out.

Changing HTML code feels like crossing a line to me. Have you thought about having the conversation with your HR person ahead of time? If the two of you agree that 1st is ok if it's less than full-fare coach or coach is not available, then all you have to do is scribble a short note of explanation on the receipt each time and you're covered.

I'll fake a hotel receipt when I'm doing a mattrss run on business.

They wouldn't understand why I'm turning in five different reciepts for five different nights at five different dollar amounts (even if I was only asking for the lowest amount back) so I'll download the rate I'm asking for off the website, open it in photoshop, and make it for five nights at that amount. It's probably technicailly not fraud, because the amount is the actual rate (actually it saves them money, because I always choose the least expensive rate), but it's entirely done to aviod questions.

At a previous job we would always collect blank restaurant receipts no matter where we were, we had a little fish bowl of them, and when you needed a restaurant receipt, you dug through the bowl until you found one from where you were visiting. That really wasn't fraud either, they knew we were doing it but still required a receipt for each meal.

That's a good one. I've actually turned in 5 receipts for 5 nights and expected questions that never came. I always figure my response would be that whatever hotel was booked solid for whatever night so I moved around a little. My "mattress runs" tend to be back-and-forth between 2 or 3 hotels trying to accumulate "stays" rather than "nights".

At a previous job in the early 90s, when UA domestic upgrades were $25 for 1000 miles, I would put down $24.95 for dinner on my outbound evening flights to a research sponsor's site (we needed a receipt at $25). My logic was that UA fed me a meal I would actually eat in F as opposed to some stupid snack in Y (heh, those were the days), so I wasn't paying for the bigger seat, I was paying for dinner. If I was flying to/from SFO, I'd still only put down $24.95, since every little bit helps.

I very rarely do obvious mattress runs on a business trip, it's just not worth the hassle. What I do about six times a year, however, is a night at the airport hotel at my destination on arrival and then two nights at the hotel "closer" to my client's office. I've never been questioned about that, but I have a reputation in my smallish (230 employee, about 60 travel heavily) company about being very good about saving the company money while maintaining good travel standards.

I'll often increase an exchange rate to cover bank charges for foreign currency withdrawal, rather than have to turn in copies of bank statements that turn up much later.

Not to be a paranoid fool.....

But you all might want to think twice about posting this kind of stuff here. I was fired from a job of 3.5 yrs. where I had been promoted several times for simply using Instant Messenger at work.

Don't think companies can't read every message you post, basically every keystroke you make on a keyboard on company property.

So, basically, I wouldn't go posting about the kind of "fraud" I perpetuated against my company.....especially if you are making that post from work...

Just my 2 cents. (did ya ever notice keyboards don't have a cent sign anymore?)

-A

I'm more worried about the porn. ;)

¢

Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Character Map

Who needs a stinkin' keyboard?

;)

.....

Sorry, guess I'm just in a smart-... mood this morning.

I agree with the poster that said "How much is your job worth?"

I never adjust any receipts or documentation that I provide with my expense reports. I submit exactly what was expensed and I have records for everything. I even keep receipts for meals under $25 and I require taxi drivers to fill out their receipts for me... won't take a blank one.

I do not want anyone to ever have a reason to question my ethics and honesty. If my expenses are legitimate, then I have no shame in providing the correct receipts. Two years ago, I was doing one of those Hilton Gold promotions... and stayed in four hotels over four nights. I provided the actual receipts... and did not get a question.

I probably have some of the most complex expense reports when I travel due to trying to maximize miles without additional cost to the company. Weekend stays, extra segments. Not once have I been questioned because I include detailed backup.

I can tell you that my company would not look kindly on someone who "altered HTML code" or "adjusted" receipts or submissions that did not accurately reflect the actual expense, or even "hiding" expenses (even if valid) in other expenses. We actually have a policy written that indicates that is not acceptable and could result in dismissal. And that has happened.

So, long way to say... I would never do it.

William

Interesting....

Legally, fraud requires an intent to steal. Lying, in and of itself, is not (necessarily) fraud.

That said, I would never do any of this. Not because I'm so squeaky clean, but the idea of having to lie just to get my job done makes me angry. I would try to explain things like mattress runs to my boss in advance. If that failed, I'd probably look for another job, as I wouldn't want to work for someone that I viewed as an adversary or too unwilling to appreciate creative solutions.

Lying for convenience is, IMHO, one aspect of human nature I find most detestable.

Hmmm......

Boss is no problem at all. The trolls in accounting, as Dibert calls them, well, that's a totally different issue.

Be warned the following statemet applies to most employers: To put in a false expense claim will be deemed as gross misconduct will be met with summary dismissal.

However, rules get interpreted, bent or even followed to the letter if this is advantageous......

I always obtain currency exchange receipts for cash (uk), cash (at the hotel) and travellers cheques (at the hotel). I hand over the receipt with the worst exchange rate and I'm applying the letter of my employer's law in doing this (they insist on a receipt but do not specify which receipt). For longer stays, I keep a close eye on exchange rate fluctuations and get another receipt if this is necessary. I don't view this as cheating and I'm prepared to bet that those travellers who don't do this will often end up out of pocket.

In terms of things I would not want to answer questions about, if I have a drink I get the hotel to put it on a separate bill that my employer never sees. I apply a simple rule: If my employer doesn't want to pay for it then its none of their business!

Of course, there's the little things that hotels sometimes do for you without even asking. A couple of bottles of beer orderd to my room after a hard days travel get itemised as "room service breakfast" and time stampted at 06:00 the following day at one place I've stayed at.

Honestly, I've never fudged receipts. I used to bounce from HHonors property to property at a 50k-per-4-night clip, but I always turned in the correct receipts. Since I always did it at or below our corporate guidelines for hotel rates, I never got questioned. I would've told the truth if they had asked me - no policy against changing hotels: what is there to hide?

I frequently carried a stack of blank cab receipts, but I never abused them. I simply used them for specific instances where I either forget to ask for a receipt or where I was paying cash and in a hurry to get out of the cab.

We had fixed food per diems on the road so the $25 meal rule was not an issue.

Everybody I've worked for has been very cool about travel, so I've never felt the need to scam a few bucks here and there. I've always had the liberty to pick my airlines, hotels, and rental cars within the scope of some common-sense guidelines. My employer not only encouraged us to play the FF game, they automatically submitted the sign-up forms for most of the programs I'm still active in today.