Cocktails on the company credit card  - Blair McPherson

I know of an organisation that when it wished to get rid of a manager always looked at their past  expenses claims. 

 

When the boss took the team out for after work drinks it was not always clear if it was his credit card behind the bar or his company credit card. 

As the line between business and leisure becomes blurred out of hours expenses claims become more frequent and  contain more recites for late night Ubers and cocktails !

 

This has prompted some organisations to look at the culture around expenses. In some organisations the extent of controls and compliance might be summed up in a typical response from a manager,”  I’ve got better things to do than go through individuals expenses claims line by line. If it looks about right and it is submitted with receipts I sign it. “

 

Suspecting a rather lax attitude to expenses claims increasingly organisations are introducing management information systems that collect expense data and provide the organisation with the ability to monitor and control compliance.This management  information  prompts questions about differences between teams in the level and type of claims being authorised. 

 

Claims for reimbursement of money spent on cocktails may be at the extreme end but routine mileage claims would also come under closer scrutiny. In the same team one individual doesn’t claim mileage, “I do too little to justify the time and paper work involved “. Their  colleague occupying a similar role puts in a claim every month for  2 or 3 hundred miles. The claim is supported by the required details for each journey and so is signed off by the line manager. Custom and practice is not to challenge claims that are supported by the required evidence and signed off by the line manager but more detailed management information would highlight differences and prompt questions. Throwing light not just on whether some managers are agreeing expenditure that others are not but highlighting the way some people work that involves higher expenses claims.  

 

Better more detailed and easier to access management information on expenses comes with an expectation that managers will monitor claims more closely and challenge more routinely. HR expect this to generate more grievances as employees adjust to a new culture. 

 

Blair McPherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk