Creating an Effective and Efficient Travel and Entertainment Expense Reimbursement Policy

Author: Mary Schaeffer

Just as the rest of the business world is evolving, so is business travel. There are services available today (and your travelers are already using them) that weren’t on the landscape five years ago. Does your travel policy address those issues? Do your employees know when and if they can use them? And most importantly, have you updated your policy to reflect what your organization will – and will not – reimburse related to remote work expenses.

Thinking that all your employees have good common sense and therefore you don’t really need a detailed travel and entertainment expense reimbursement policy can get your organization in trouble on two fronts. First, inevitably, there will be a few employees who have a very-skewed idea of what is reasonable when the company is paying. And secondly, if you don’t hold them accountable for their behavior and actions, the company could run afoul of the IRS by endangering the accountable plan status.

In this course, attendees will learn how to create a plan that protects the organization while providing reasonable travel and entertainment accommodations for their employees.

Publication Date: October 2022

Designed For
Accountants, controllers, accounting managers, auditors (internal and external), Treasurers, CFOs, CEOs, accounts payable professionals, expense reimbursement staff, payroll professionals, procure-to-pay professionals, and travel managers.

Topics Covered

• Overview
• Basics of a Strong Policy
• The Policy Framework
• Hotels, Meals, and Travel
• Effecting the Policy
• Behind the Scenes (checking etc.)

Learning Objectives

• Recognize how to create a plan that protects the organization while providing reasonable travel and entertainment accommodations for their employees
• Recognize how to create policies for some of the newer travel issues
• Identify and craft a remote work expense reimbursement policy
• Identify and craft a strong travel and entertainment policy
• Identify issues missing from your current policy
• Identify the percentage of respondents that are not sure if their T&E policy meets IRS guidelines based on the referenced AP Now Survey
• Identify the part of a policy that is partially shared and relates to monitoring
• Identify, as a general guideline, within how many days expense reports should be submitted
• Identify the percentage of companies that have not updated the policy to reflect use of Uber, Lyft, and other ride-sharing services
• Identify the first line of defense with respect to uniform enforcement

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Accounting (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None