Companies are cracking down on T&E spending by their business travellers, a new survey by American Express has found.
In the 2005 American Express Survey of International Business Traveller Expense Practices, 45% of those questioned said their employers' policy on reclaiming T&E expenses had become either “somewhat” or “a lot” tougher over the past two or three years.
According to the poll, this is more likely to happen in Europe than in America. Nearly half (48%) of French respondents said their firms were confronting them more on specific charges submitted on expense reports than two or three years ago, followed by 15% of British and 12% of German travellers. In contrast, only 7% of U.S. respondents report more challenges on specific expense items.
More than a third (37%) said employers were now “somewhat” or “much more careful” in reviewing travellers' expense claims to check for non-allowable items.
In response to the new climate, nearly a quarter of travellers (23%) said they were being either “somewhat” or “much” more careful in adhering to their firms' T&E spending rules compared with two or three years ago.
But despite the new attitudes, many travellers thought there was still a lot of fiddling. More than one-third (37%) felt it was “somewhat” or “quite” common for business travellers to submit an expense report with “one or more completely false or bogus charge.”
It was in this area that national differences started to emerge. While 71% of all respondents felt that their companies should take a harsher line, the Americans were keenest with 77% advocating this course followed by 72% of British respondents, 70% of Germans and 64% of French travellers surveyed.
The restaurant category was cited as the most-abused T&E expense by 70% of French, 59% of German, 53% of American and 48% of British, respondents. Tips, taxi and telephone costs were also cited. .
Commenting on the survey, James Crotty, svp American Express corporate services said: “Increasingly, corporations are stepping up efforts to track and halt out-of-policy spending and tighten their grip on T&E.
“Many of our corporate clients are mandating use of the corporate card as a way to track travel expenses because companies want a more complete picture of employee spending - enabling them to analyse expense patterns, monitor travel policy compliance and negotiate better rates with suppliers.”
* The survey questioned 500 travellers from the USA, Britain, France and Germany.