Money leaves the company when a supplier charges more than you agreed. Travel & Expense finds it. Every expense claim and card charge by your people checked against your expense policy, with what is over the limit shown in dollars.
What it checks
- Duplicate claim. The same amount, merchant and date does not appear on two claims, or on a claim and a company card.
- Within policy limit. Each line is within your policy's limit for its category, such as meals, lodging or mileage, unless an exemption applies.
- Allowed category. No claim is in a category your policy does not allow, such as personal items, fines, or alcohol where you exclude it.
- Supported. Every line above your receipt threshold has a receipt in the Data Room that matches it.
- Threshold pattern. Repeated claims just under your receipt or approval threshold are flagged as a pattern.
- Claimant is not approver. No claim is approved by the person who made it.
- Arithmetic. Lines, mileage rate times distance, and totals are added up again, so the arithmetic is right.
- Timeliness. A claim submitted later than your policy allows after the date of the expense is flagged.
A finding, in its own words
Claim 331 has a dinner for $118.00 on 4 March. Your policy sets $75.00 a day for meals and exempts client entertainment; the claim is not marked as client entertainment. That is $43.00 over.
Claim 340 for $62.00 at Delta on 12 March matches a Ramp card charge for $62.00 at Delta on 12 March. One of them is a duplicate.
What it may ask you
- What is the most a person can spend on meals in a day? Unless you say otherwise: 75.
- What is the most a person can spend on a hotel for a night? Unless you say otherwise: 250.
- Anything never allowed, or always allowed? For example 'no alcohol; client entertainment is exempt from the meal limit'. Unless you say otherwise: alcohol, fines and personal items not allowed.
- How many days after spending does someone have to submit a claim? Unless you say otherwise: 60.
- What do you pay per mile for driving? Leave blank for the IRS rate. Unless you say otherwise: the IRS standard rate for the year.
What it draws on
- No transaction is recorded or paid twice. COSO Control Activities, principle 10; SOX: Duplicate payment prevention.
- Claims are within limits and allowed categories. COSO Control Activities, principle 10; SOX: Expense policy enforcement.
- Claims are supported, submitted on time, and add up. COSO Information and Communication, principle 13; SOX: Expense substantiation.
- Transactions are supported by documents. COSO Information and Communication, principle 13; SOX: Audit trail and supporting evidence.
- Review above a threshold, and patterns just below it. COSO Monitoring Activities, principle 16; SOX: Management review controls.
- Segregation of duties. COSO Control Activities, principle 10; SOX: Control activities over initiation, authorisation, recording and reporting.
- Accuracy of recorded amounts. COSO Information and Communication, principle 13; SOX: Accuracy of transaction processing.
What it needs
- expense claims, from your expense tool or as a spreadsheet
- receipts, so a claim has support
- card transactions, so a claim can be checked against the card
- your expense policy, asked for a line at a time and only when a check needs it
- Connections, optional: Ramp, Brex or Mercury for card charges, and your expense tool where it is one we connect to. A claims export and the receipts are enough to start.