Expense claims and work

tigerstyle · 9 Mar 2011 at 07:54

Similar to the how much do you like your boss thread: How much do you like expenses at work?

I don't mean perks of the trade, but more about spending your own money and waiting sometimes long periods to get the amount refunded to you?
How much do you spend for work before you think you're being taken for a ride, would you fill a van with diesel out of your own pocket before it's refunded, fund a week business trip before putting in a claim at the end? etc, where do you draw the line?

I just added what I need paying to me for 2 months work and 5X what my car costs, but then I drive a complete banger anyway

Mr^B · 9 Mar 2011 at 08:26

It's just something you have to do.

Largest claim I've had was only a few thousand pounds, as I get flights paid for so I only have to pay for hotels and subsistence.

I've never had to wait longer than a month to get it reimbursed.

LuciferCalling · 9 Mar 2011 at 08:33

I got a credit card esspecially for this, it gives me 30 days to pay and by then, i've usually received the reimbursement from my company

Craig1981 · 9 Mar 2011 at 08:34

I dont get any expenses. Have to pay for everything myself

unclelonghair · 9 Mar 2011 at 08:36

Corporate Amex card - everything goes on that, submit an expenses claim and Amex get paid directly. Much simpler.

alx · 9 Mar 2011 at 08:46

The firm I work for uses a 3rd party company to book flights/hotels for employees so I only pay for things like food, petrol (if I'm travelling on business etc) so it's never a huge amount.

Greebo · 9 Mar 2011 at 08:56

My expenses is pretty small but I have the benefit of company credit card so that takes care of most.

My gf would regularly run up over £3000 per month from her own pocket but would be reimbursed within a week of the month end.

So she just uses one credit card and pays it off in full when she gets reimbursed. Two advantages, she builds up a very nice credit history and she gets about £50 worth of Tesco's vouchers every month.

meghatronic · 9 Mar 2011 at 08:58

We used to have to wait 4-8 weeks for expenses reimbursements, turn around is now supposed to be 2 weeks. But we're using more centralised booking now, so expenses are never large.

stoofa · 9 Mar 2011 at 10:01

Thankfully I've got a company credit card which I use for 99% of my purchases.
If I need to buy anything from EBay I use my personal account - I'm refunded within 30 days and so far never been "taken for a ride".

Haze · 9 Mar 2011 at 10:46

ill get travelling expenses, normally get it back the day after

Morba · 9 Mar 2011 at 10:52

If its an expense then i claim it all back.

Street · 9 Mar 2011 at 11:08

LuciferCalling said:
I got a credit card esspecially for this, it gives me 30 days to pay and by then, i've usually received the reimbursement from my company

This is what I do, put everything on my credit card then by the time its up to be paid, my company have paid me back.

Haven't had too many expenses to put in lately, only fuel and car park tickets. I've paid for hotels on my card in the past. I generally do my expenses once a month and get them paid back to me within a couple weeks at the most.

daver · 9 Mar 2011 at 11:23

When I can be bothered putting my claim in I get paid within a week or so. Will have to start getting a bit more regular and fill them in every month when I buy my flat as money will be more important. Should be about £250 a month but at the moment I just end up getting 750-1000 every few months which is just a nice bonus to my savings. Mostly just mileage but occasionaly I buy computer equipment for one of the sites and reclaim exam fees etc

Datamonkey · 9 Mar 2011 at 11:46

I clock up a fair amount of expenses monthly, but ours are good at paying them back.

I normally have my expenses in my account within a week of submitting them.

Like some of the others i generally use a credit card for this.

Pestilence · 9 Mar 2011 at 12:22

Company takes care of flights and hotels etc. I just keep receipts for food, drink, taxis and whatnot.

Don't have a problem waiting for the reimbursement... never takes more than a few weeks.

Freefaller · 9 Mar 2011 at 14:10

unclelonghair said:
Corporate Amex card - everything goes on that, submit an expenses claim and Amex get paid directly. Much simpler.

Same here.

I used to use a credit card, and if they paid late, I'd pay the minimum amount of my CC bill, and charge the interest back to the company. Worked out well, and ensured payroll did the expenses in a timely manner!

If you submit your expenses on time, you get them on time - never had issues with that.

semi-pro waster · 9 Mar 2011 at 18:23

I've not had any huge expenses yet and I'm fairly unlikely to at the moment but the claims are usually paid very quickly (perhaps in contrast to what you might expect) so no real complaints here. It's just one of those things that you live with, I look on it as enforced saving as the money goes into an account that I don't use very often so it enables me to keep it apart from the rest.

Westyfield2 · 9 Mar 2011 at 18:30

If it really bothers you so much just ask to use the corporate card?

Otherwise get yourself a decent credit card (Amex with BA miles) and then you can reap the benefits! Work pay you back for the expenses but you earn the points.

WHAT!!! · 9 Mar 2011 at 18:35

so what kinda of jobs do all you guys have out of interest ?

Only time i have had to claim expenses was for putting fuel in a car once in my old job, just asked for a reciept from the petrol station and got my £5 back same day lol

Phreaky · 9 Mar 2011 at 18:42

When I travel abroad, everything gets paid for in advance (flights, hotels etc). I get an allowance per day depending on where I go, also paid in advance. Anything else just goes through as claims and comes out a week later - I have to pay in my own money at the time though.