Hit and miss T&E policy sees employees out of pocket

Monday 20th August, 2012

New research by Capital One shows that 45% of employees fail to claim back their expenses despite the fact that half of employees use their own cash or credit cards to settle expenses, and spend an average of £367 a year doing so.

The Telegraph reported that only 14% of employees actually use a business credit card, and 7% use a business debit card, when they are spending on behalf of their employer.

Travel across the country was found to be the main business expense, more than half of those surveyed claiming for this, followed by the purchase of office equipments and supplies at 34%. Overnight accommodation came in at 33%

Lack of receipts was the main reason for failing to make a claim, with 42% highlighting this as the case. A situation which could be helped with the implimentation of mobile capture technology. With the collection and streaming of T&E expense into an organisation's ERP system, both employee and employer can leverage greater transparency. A fifth were simply reluctant to claim back certain expenses and one in ten said they had had their expense claims queried and rejected by their employer - making them nervous to do so again.