Filing expense reports ranks right up there with root canals on my fun scale. Despite the fact that my company legitimately owes me a good deal of money, I almost always dread having to file those reports.
This probably has its roots in my first job out of college, when I asked my boss for some guidance on what expenses were appropriate for an upcoming business trip. She simply said, “Use your best judgment.”
Um, thanks. Given that I’d never been on a business trip, I had a feeling that my best judgment probably differed from hers.
But, I think that was the point. When I became a manager and my employees asked me the same question, I found myself giving the same vague response. I wanted to test my staff to see how they handled themselves without supervision—if they went hog-wild and blew hundreds of dollars on booze one night, I might question their decision-making skills (and yes, I might also pass them over for a promotion in place of the person who handled the challenge sensibly).
The moral of the story? When your boss says “Use your best judgment” when spending the company dime, she means it. How you handle your expenses will say a lot about you as an employee, and it can also impact your reputation with your boss.
Fortunately, I’ve developed a few tricks over the years—and these come in handy to help keep myself in check when I’m raking up receipts.
The best way to gauge how much you should be spending is to watch your more seasoned colleagues. Chances are, you’ll be eating, drinking, and staying in the same places, so you’ll have plenty of chances to stall and see what they do first.
Here’s an example: When you and your colleagues head out to dinner, let everyone else order first, and pay attention to the cost of each person’s order. When it’s your turn, make sure your pick is the least expensive, or in the same range as the lesser-priced orders in the group. No, just because your boss orders filet mignon, doesn’t necessarily mean you should follow suit. But when the veteran travelers all order Cobb salads, follow their lead, and your boss will never question the cost of your meal.
And what if there won’t be anyone else on your trip? Try to do some research beforehand. Ask other colleagues things like “I’m headed to Chicago—can you suggest a few places to eat?” Find out where the rest of the team usually frequents, and you’ll have a few spots you know are safe to expense.
This probably seems obvious, but I can tell you from experience, it’s easy to feel like you can live a little when your office is flying you around, paying for your hotel, and sending you to fancy dinners with clients. And, while you may see your other people living it up because they know someone else will be picking up the tab, it’s a better bet to keep your spending to a minimum whenever possible.
Rule of thumb: If you wouldn’t buy it with your own money, don’t expense it. A glass of wine with dinner? Fine. A glass of wine, plus three cocktails, a couple apps, and dessert? The “need” for that isn’t going to be easy to justify.
It seems reasonable you shouldn’t overspend on the company dime—but what about the less expensive items? Can you expense your morning latte and bagel when traveling for work? Technically, sure, you can ask your company to reimburse you that $4.67 you paid for a small coffee and bagel, but I guarantee you won’t be winning any points when your boss sees this on your itemized report.
For example, I had one employee submit an expense report for a $1 parking fee from a client meeting. Are you kidding me? I gave her back her dollar, but ever since then I always felt like she was trying to fleece the company for all she could.
Yes, your company should pay for reasonable expenses when you’re out and about representing the company, but nickel-and-diming your expenses will make you look unprofessional and immature, not to mention miserly. Here’s a good trial: If it’s something you typically buy yourself on a regular day of work, don’t expense it (but do keep your receipts, in the off chance your boss offers to pay for the little things as well).
On that note, next to keeping your spending within reasonable limits, keeping your receipts is the most important thing to remember when you’re on assignment outside the office. I can’t even count how many times I’ve had employees submit expense reports without any evidence of the expenditures. No matter how much you think your boss trusts you, she can’t just take your word for it you spent $256 on your last business trip.
When I asked one employee why she didn’t include her receipts for a relatively small expense—one I totally would have approved—she admitted she was worried I might not approve the item, so she just “forgot” to ask for a receipt. She was right: I didn’t approve it. But not because I objected to the purchase—because I had no evidence it actually happened.
Quick tip: Swipe the hotel stationary envelope from your room and keep it in your purse or briefcase. Wrap a big rubber band around your wallet to remind you to ask for the receipt—then drop that receipt in the envelope as soon as you receive it. And if there’s anything unusual about the expense, write it on the back before you file it away.
Every company and every boss has a different approach to handling expenses, which means there’s no hard and fast rule that’ll apply to every situation. But, stick to these guidelines, and your boss will never have a reason to question your best judgment.
Jennifer Winter is a freelance writer, editor and career consultant. She translates her 14-years of corporate combat experience to help others navigate their own careers, and become advocates for their own success. Need help negotiating that raise or writing the perfect email to your boss? Jennifer’s your girl. Find out more about her services on her blog, FearLessJenn or follow her on Twitter @fearlessjenn.
Doing expenses by hand is like making your own clothes - cool, but not practical. Use an ap. I like Expensify (www.expensify.com). Makes the whole process much easier. Hopefully your company will also switch over to something automated, so you just take photos of your receipts and push a button at the end of the trip.
This article is full of misinformation. As a Project Admin who audits invoices all the time - including expense reports, I can say in most cases, follow GSA guidelines and per diem rules. Alcohol can NEVER be expensed (at least if you're dealing with the public sector... private companies may have other guidelines). As for that comment about the bagel and coffee? If I'm on a work assignment, away from my primary work location (which is the only time you can expense anything anyway), ALL OF MY MEALS shall be paid by work! That's what a PER DIEM is for... it pays for your meals and incidentals up to a certain amount (every zip code has a different rate... SF is $71 a day, $53.25 on first/last day) It doesn't seem like this Jennifer Winter chick knows ANYTHING about expense reports.
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I'm begin told the expense world is changing and 28 cents per mile and food cost to not include the lunch (as you'd have to pay for lunch home or on travel) is the new norm? Anyone else experiencing this or are the powers at be giving misinformation
@tim 123 No idea about mileage. For lunch, though, lots of people bring in their own, so not paying for it isn't realistic.
@phonebanshee that doesn't make sense. You just said lots of people bring their own, then you said Bringing your lunch (ie: not paying for it) isn't realistic.
@tim 123 That's incorrect. Mileage right now is reimbursed at $0.565 per mile or $0.24 for moving/medical mileage or $0.14 in service of charitable organizations. Meal Per diems are a total PER DAY - not per meal, the breakdown on the GSA site is a suggestion.
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Sorry, but if it is an expense for doing my job, then work is paying for it, even if it is only a dollar.
Hi Tim, thanks for the feedback! I'm with you on filling out those dreaded reports, and my employers have always been generous with the expense policy as well—but I too, just felt more comfortable being conservative with what I've submitted. It's always worked out to my advantage anyway, as eventually I'll get to leave early on a Friday, or take a long lunch—which I'm pretty sure costs the company a lot more more than my morning bagel. Seems like a fair trade :)
Hi Rhea, thanks for the feedback! I agree that how you approach the smaller expenses will definitely vary based on your usual routine, and your boss or employer's views on reimbursement. Also, great point on the newspapers—unless it's something necessary for work I probably wouldn't submit that for reimbursement either.
Great article! I travel 4-5 weeks a year. Even with that, I hate filling out the expense report. My company is fairly liberal with travel expenses but I still make every effort to be conservative with my decisions. I treat their money like I do my own. I also never expense casual items like snacks and beverages from convenient stores. I feel that I would consume such things even if I wasn't on a business trip. I usually have a drink or two with my dinner but if I'm interested in more drinks, I buy them or stop and grab a six pack and head back to the hotel on my dime. Expensing is murky waters at best, so take Jennifer's advice on this one. Especially if you will want a promotion some day.
Thanks for the great insight Kathleen, and I agree, when traveling extensively for business, you'll definitely have more expenses to submit—shelling out for breakfast for 223 days as you said, really adds up and obviously should be submitted for reimbursement.
For a road warrior like yourself, these tips might not be as applicable, given you're already a seasoned pro with your expenses :)
i agree with most of the points, but I concur with Kathleen on the small expenses -- if you are spending $4.67 for a coffee and bagel-- that is a breakfast I wouldn't pay for if I were at home. So of course I would expense it. Also, the low price is better than wasting $50 on a fancy mimosa brunch. There ARE small items I do not expense: newspapers, a mid-afternoon cup of coffee (not a meal and something I would normally pay for).
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As a Road Warrior and sales trainer, my experiences are different than yours on expensing.
If you are on the road working for a company, breakfast should be expensed. Let's imagine you are working 223 days on the road -- and yes, many people do travel like that -- you are now spending $1,041.41 of your money. If you are not taking all the holidays available because you love to work, you are now spending $1214.20.
Parking is another reimbursable expense. Just like your breakfast example, $1.00 seems simple, but if you work in a large city and you are driving in and parking to make calls, that will add up quickly. When traveling for work, if you need to park to do your job, the company should pay -- even if it is $1.00. This is part of the cost of doing business, and if the $1.00 is a breaking point, the business may have issues beyond parking reimbursement.
A work around for some of these expenses is to offer a daily per-diem for travel. If you do that, talk to someone like me that actually travels and follows the costs and trends out there. One company I consulted for that had a hotel daily allowable rate of $38 -- that is fairly unrealistic in most locations and it made their employees unhappy which made them less productive.
An employee has not nickel-and-dimed or fleeced a company when they have receipts and are out working the job the company has hired them to do.
Happy to expand on this topic if you would like to explore better expensing options and controls for future use and articles.
Two very important and often overlooked tips that I hope others grab from this article:
1) "Don't Be Greedy - If you wouldn’t buy it with your own money, don’t expense it."
2) "Don't Be Cheap - Technically, sure, you can ask your company to reimburse you that $4.67 you paid for a small coffee and bagel, but I guarantee you won’t be winning any points when your boss sees this on your itemized report."
I couldn't agree more on both accounts. Breaking either of those rules makes you look like you are taking advantage of the company that is already giving you a salary.
If you feel the need to do either of the above, it is most-likely due to the fact that you already don't appreciate where you work. And it would be in your best interest to move on to something else you would enjoy.
Thanks Ashley! I can definitely relate to being both the youngest (cough, cough...a few years ago) and the only woman. My trick is to immediately ask the server to take everyone else's order first, as I'm still deciding - so far that's always worked, and no one feels awkward about me ordering last.
I can see how the in-town events would be tricky, but sounds like you've handled it well!
Glad you liked it, thanks again!
Great post, Jennifer! As the youngest person and usually the only female in my office, sometimes it's hard to "let others order first", as all the men want to be polite by letting the "lady" order first! It's also awkward to expense things like mileage for an in-town tradeshow. But, when the tradeshow is a 30 minute drive each way, plus parking and meals since I'm out of the office, I treat it just like an out-of-town show. Expense reports can definitely be a minefield!
