Reimbursement of Business Expenses

If you (the business owner) or your employees need to use a personal credit or charge card (or even cash) for legitimate business-related expenses, complete a business expense report with an itemized list of the transactions. Be sure to identify any client billable expenses and include/attach the corresponding receipts and related backup with each business expense report.

Business expense reports should be reviewed, approved and paid in accordance with the company’s standard policy for reimbursement of approved legitimate business expenses. If you don’t have an existing policy for reimbursement of business expenses, you should consider incorporating one into your company’s standard policy.

All business expense reports should be entered and paid through the company’s accounting / finance system so the expenses are properly documented, recorded and there’s an audit trail.

Generally speaking, expense reports for legitimate business expenses should be submitted with the appropriate receipts/backup within thirty days of the expenses being incurred. In turn, the company should reimburse approved expenses within two weeks but no later than thirty days of receipt of the business expense report with the appropriate receipts/backup. Employees should not have to endure a long wait before being reimbursed for legitimate out-of-pocket business expenses incurred on behalf of the company.