Travel & Expense reports: padding but not stealing.

We too often forget that 'business traveller' is not a profession, but rather the consequence of the profession exercised and for which the associate is paid."

Staines, United Kingdom (prHWY.com) March 14, 2012 - The 2011 expense study conducted by KDS in partnership with http://www.deplacementspros.com/ took a different look at the daily management of expense reports. The survey highlights the means and methods used by business travellers to best manage the operating expenses incurred during their business travel, and where necessary, to cheat the system.
A key finding of the survey is that business travellers do not "cheat" their travel expenses in the most strictly negative sense of the word. They adapt their expense claims to expenses incurred and sometimes they anticipate those to come. The study, which was conducted throughout December 2011, gives a better understanding of why businessexpense can be a major issue for employees who have to advance the money personally. "It must be understood that incurring antravel expense for the company is always a stressful experience for the traveller," comments Alain Joyet, a company sociologist, "This explains why the traveller's need to anticipate businessexpense or optimise them because of a fluctuating exchange rate appears in this study." Of the 133 replies obtained (93 from France), it is apparent that it is in organisations employing more than 5,000 people (representing 36.8% of the people surveyed) that the "most unorthodox" management of expense claims is observed, even though the rules imposed by such large organisations are, in theory, more strict. So, what else do we learn from this survey?
Travellers are honest: 78.6% state that they have never cheated with expense reports. "If we analyse all the replies, we are not however able to say that the other 21.4% are necessarily cheats." explains Alain Joyet. "For them, it is most often a case of requesting reimbursement for a receipt they have lost or the amount of which was too low to merit a request. This is more a question of compensation rather than a calculated intention to cheat." It is true that reading the study is instructive. To the question: "What is the principal reason for you not having declared operating expenses or not having been reimbursed in full?", 56.3% reply that the amounts were too low and insignificant, while 31% reply that they had lost the supporting documents. This kind of "fraud" is easy to understand.
Another interesting point: when asked, "What is the average length of time it takes to obtain reimbursement in your company?" it appears that, with the financial crisis, reimbursement times are becoming shorter. 38.4% of the travellers surveyed are reimbursed within 15 to 30 days, though 2.7% have to wait more than one month to recover the sums they advanced. "Money leads to a very complex relationship between the company and the traveller." emphasises Alain Joyet, "Nobody wants to advance funds for a structure that is theoretically much richer than he or she is. This relationship is complex because it leads to requirements and expense management rules that require a great deal of diplomacy on the part of the financial department and the employee."
Among the other results of the study, it is interesting to note that the average amount of expense reports is down in 2011, though it still remains at a relatively high level. More than a quarter of respondents (25.8%) claimed on average between €150 and €300 per month, with only 16.5% of respondents advancing. less than €150 per month. Surprisingly, 17.5% claimed to advance between 1,000 and 2,000 Euros in an average month!
Another lesson: scanning of expense claims saves everybody a great deal of time. 43.1% of survey respondents take less than 15 minutes to complete an expense claim. At the other end of the scale, 2.8% are more painstaking and take more than two hours. "Once again, we are talking about money," remarks Alain Joyet, "it is serious and suffers no compromise. The slightest mistake represents a possible financial loss for the traveller. It is clear that the tendency to adjust or pad the expense claim is not the work of thieves but rather of travellers who are careful to avoid being out of pocket." There are, of course, other reasons that could lead to cheating: "No less than 37.6% of the people surveyed say that cheating serves to compensate for a badly configured system," observes Alain Joyet. "That considerably reinforces the idea that the traveller is not dishonest but does not wish to subsidise his company with his own money either.
We too often forget that 'business traveller' is not a profession, but rather the consequence of the profession exercised and for which the associate is paid."
Globally speaking, the news is quite reassuring for both companies and travellers. Relationships are healthy and clear but it is obviously necessary to simplify expense reports still more, acquire adapted expense management tools (expense software...) and make reimbursement rules more transparent.

The main figures to retain from the study:

- 68.8% of travellers have their travel expenses approved once a month.
- 31.8% of travellers who lose a supporting document submit a simple affidavit, but 5.5% forge a supporting document.
- 58.9% of the people surveyed have their communication expenses covered by the company but 25.2% state that their company only covers them if supporting documents are submitted.
- 31% of expenses not reimbursed to travellers are due to lost supporting documents.
- 40.5% "no longer remember" the amount of their expenseclaim fraud but 24.3% indicate no more than 5 to 10 Euros.
- 60.5% of the people surveyed know perfectly well how to cheat their travel expenses if they wanted to.
- 68.3% are convinced that it would be easy to cheat on mileage expenses in order to increase their expense account. 65% think that it would be easy to do it with restaurant receipts.
- 41.7% state that producing false supporting documents (with or without the complicity) of a trader is the only way of cheating they can think of.
- 59.3% say that they are annoyed that they have to calculate the VAT on expense reports themselves and 46.3% are tired of systematically having to obtain the approval of a superior.

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Tag Words: travel

Categories: Travel

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