The Expense Policy Template You Need to Be Ready for Change

Setting clear guidelines is important in every aspect of business, particularly with your most valued audience – your employees. Managing business expense and travel is no exception. Improving control and compliance is one way to build agility and resiliency at your business, making it ready for change in a future filled with unknowns. 

A formal expense policy provides employees with knowledge of what they can and cannot submit as reimbursable, while providing management with critical real-time visibility into budgets and the ability to leverage vendor discounts. Having this protocol in writing will cut down on reimbursable expense report fraud, which is often unintentional, but can have big consequences. It’s an area worth watching, as companies reported spending violations rose nearly 10% year to year in the wake of the pandemic.¹

Build your own expense policy 

Get a free template to customize for your business. 

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Where do you start? 

Creating an employee expense reimbursement policy from scratch can be overwhelming but an expense policy template can help get you started. You can use our expense policy builder to create your own customizable expense policy template in just a few clicks. Or use the categories examples of our policy template as a roadmap. 

Consider these six tips for starting work on (or revising) your policy. 

1. Review the policies you have. Ask managers and other key employees what  has been effective, what hasn’t, and what must be updated.  
2. Analyze spending. Scrutinize existing purchases, including ones specific to certain roles. Ask your vendors to share data on your spending history. 
3. Ditch the jargon: Write the policy to cover the basics, but don’t be afraid to revise it later. Make sure it’s easy to read and not bogged down by jargon. The easier a policy is to understand, the easier it is for your employees to follow on their next business trip. 
4. Keep it fair and sensible: Write your policy to guide behavior but be flexible enough to adapt to local and international travel requirements. Be explicit about what is and isn’t an acceptable expense. 
5. Make it easy to find and use: Your expense policy won’t be followed unless people know about it. Put Make sure yours is visible and easy for company employees to find, like on the company intranet. 
6. Make mobile a priority: Employees are accustomed to technology on the go. If it’s easy to snap a photo of a receipt and then submit their expense report from a mobile device, it’s easier for them to stick to the rules. 

What Your Expense Policy Should Contain 

• Which employees covered
• List of allowed expense categories, including what’s allowed and not allowed in each 
• Expense submission, review, and approval procedures, including the dispute process 
• Compliance requirements, including company policy on fraud, bribery, and corruption 

Consider an Automated Expense Solution 

Concur Expense® is an intelligent solution that automatically populates charges from suppliers, credit card companies, common expense categories, and receipts such as business meals, car rentals, dry cleaning, hotel rooms, and airfare. Businesses save time and can focus on core business functions, while mobile tools simplify receipt capture and expense submission for employees. It’s a solution that integrates readily with purchasing cards and other existing business systems, including finance, HR, and payroll . 

Ready to get started? Generate your custom expense policy template now with our expense policy builder or download our expense policy template. 

1. Spend Insights Report: How will last year make 2023 better, SAP Concur