Most companies these days put the onus on employees to pay for business-related expenses upfront and then submit an expense report for reimbursement. The system ensures that companies are never stuck having to pay for inappropriate or unauthorized expenses.
Unfortunately, this straightforward approach penalizes those who are a bit disorganized when it comes to wrangling receipts, directly affecting personal bottom lines.
When Alicia and I were working in corporate jobs, we were both occasionally guilty of losing receipts (easy to do when you travel four days a week), which meant that we paid for a company expense with money from our own pockets. The same holds true if you miss a deadline for filing your expense report or don't fully understand what is reimbursable.
The good news: Even if you are a disaster at organizing your receipts and filing expense reports now, you can change your bad habits.
Step 1: Review your company's reimbursement policies. It is your responsibility to know what kinds of expenses your company will and won't allow, what requirements it has for preapprovals, daily limits on things like meals, cash advances, requirement for submitting receipts, tracking mileage, filing deadlines and so on. Ask for a copy of your company's expense reimbursement policy upfront and get clear on the guidelines before you spend another dime.
Step 2: Adopt a simple paper-receipt filing system. The best way to organize anything is to put in place a system and do it on autopilot. Although there are some nifty gadgets out there for scanning receipts, we recommend going low-tech; you're likely to stick with it for the long haul.
-- Get an envelope or small accordion folder that you can keep in your wallet or at least in your possession at all times.
-- Print a free mileage tracking log, like one found at www.samplewords.com/vehicle-mileage-expense-log. Put it in the envelope, and fill it in right away any time you drive your car for business purposes.
-- Whenever you incur an expense, write a brief description on the back of the receipt and immediately put it in the envelope.
-- If you incur an expense for which you don't receive a receipt, like the $5 tip you left for housekeeping, make a note of it on a slip of paper and put it in the envelope.
Once a week, every week, at exactly the same time (I do mine on Fridays at 4 p.m.), go through all the receipts you collected that week and fill in your expense report. Be sure to create a recurring 15-minute appointment for yourself, with an alarm to remind you, so you never forget to do it. If you don't have an expense report to file, give yourself a free 10 minutes to relax.