What Is an Expense Check?

Most employers have some type of employee expense reimbursement policy in place for their business. It would outline the different expenses that an employee can submit a claim for. And it would also outline what those different expenses can include.

But how do you know which expenses are directly related to what your employees need to complete their work? For example, sometimes you might need to use your personal vehicle for business purposes. You should get reimbursed for any expenses that you incur while driving.

An expense transaction can include things like purchasing fuel, maintenance or overall depreciation. But your employee would need to keep any relevant receipts or documentation to prove that the expenses were for business use.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Is an Expense Check?

How Do You Determine if You Will Reimburse an Employee’s Claimed Expense?

Key Takeaways

What Is an Expense Check?

If you are just starting to put together an employee expense policy or are updating an existing one, it can be difficult to know where to start. How do you make a final determination for the expenses that will get included? And when you do, how do you accurately check the claims?

Knowing exactly which expenses an employee can submit a claim for will help speed up the reimbursement process. Depending on the expense type, an employee might be able to submit it right away. Being able to confirm the actual expenses efficiently can streamline the process.

How Do You Do an Expense Check?

One of the first things you should do is make a determination between an employee expense and a business expense. You can use an expense document or an expense form to help outline any relevant information. From there, you can determine if an expense an employee submits a claim for is an allowable expense.

Use the information that is outlined in your employee or company expense policy and check it against the submitted claim. Since you already have a defined list of deductibles, you can quickly make an expense check. Your employees will get reimbursed faster and your entire expense process can become much more efficient.

How Do You Determine if You Will Reimburse an Employee’s Claimed Expense?

There are few things to take into consideration before making a determination. An employee’s right to get reimbursed for a cash payment shouldn’t depend on an employee requesting it. They might have to submit the paperwork and any necessary information. But an employer should know that some employees will have reimbursable expenses.

You should also take into consideration that some employees won’t have the need to submit some of the expenses that other employees do. For example, you could have a sales team that works primarily on the road that uses a vehicle for business. They might submit expense claims for things like fuel or meals.

On the other hand, you could have employees who work from home. They might submit expense claims for things like office supplies or a laptop. It could be from a different payment method, receipts from the cost of client meals or even petty cash expenses.

But, the good news is that it doesn’t matter which type of expense claim an employee submits. Your policy will have any reimbursable expenses outlined. So, when an employee does submit an expense claim, you can easily do an expense check to confirm the information.

Key Takeaways

Each business is going to have different needs when it comes to which expenses an employee can get reimbursed for. Some employees who work from home could claim different expenses than an employee who travels frequently. Either way, having an efficient expense process in place can save your whole business time and effort.

Being able to quickly do an expense check to confirm the details will allow your employees to get reimbursed faster and more efficiently. This can help motivate your employees to keep accurate records of expenses and the information required.

Plus, when you use proper bookkeeping practices to organize, you can uncover insights into your operations. Whether it’s your overall cash flow or if you identify any areas that can get improved. You will have the necessary information to make more informed business decisions in the future.

Did you enjoy reading this guide? Head over to our resource hub for more great content for you to enjoy!

---

RELATED ARTICLES