Are you a fastidious accountant leaving no stone unturned when it comes to reviewing travel expenses, now that your company has already deployed an advanced travel & expense (T & E) management suite? Out–of–policy travel expenses, when taken together, can be challenging for any company, small or large, in the larger picture of operational losses. Next is reimbursement: this should fall in line with the company’s policies too. Hence it is important that all expenses claims are thoroughly reviewed to keep your head above water. So here is how you can review the travel expense reports:
- Organize the receipts in the order laid out in the expense reports. Separate the wheat from the chaff: set aside the expense items without any receipts.
- Check if the first receipt is legitimate and is not open to doubt. Any reimbursement claimed should be backed by valid receipts enclosed with bills.
- Review if the receipts fall within the expense claims defined by the policy guidelines of the company.
- Check if the receipt has all the line items mentioned in the expense report to make sure the general specifics such as date, amount and descriptions are properly entered.
- It is important to check whether the expenses are approved by the company’s management or not.
- If the travel expenses fall within the travel policy of the company, then it becomes payable by the accounts department.
- Iterate the same process for each expense line item that appears in the travel expense report.
- Check for out–of–policy expenses or expenses minus required documentation in the case of reimbursement.
- Check if all the travel expenses add up to the anticipated expenses; find out the areas which have cost you more and how you can reduce them within the already defined travel policy.
- If need persists, check with your employees if there is any legitimate need to travel to a client location.
Sajit Chacko, Founder, Tripeur, says, “Adopting some of the methods mentioned above can be invaluable in improving travel compliance among your employees, thereby tightening the screws when it comes to expense reimbursement and management. Tripeur, as a state–of–the–art T & E management suite, is aimed at facilitating travel expense review and tracking down areas where expenses can be dramatically reduced and easily managed.