An employee who is obliged to travel to carry out an assignment entrusted to him by his employer, as is the case for sales representatives, is entitled to be reimbursed for the expenses he incurs on behalf of the company. To reduce the impact of these expenses on the employee's personal finances, the human resources department may choose to grant an advance on professional expenses. This is a sum paid into the employee's bank account before each business trip, or every month if the employee travels regularly. The amount paid is intended to cover all the employee's travel expenses. However, this does not exempt the employee from providing expense statements to justify his or her expenditure. If, after checking the expense reports, it turns out that the employee has spent more than expected, the difference will be deducted from his or her salary. On the other hand, if they have spent less, they must reimburse the company. This practice has become somewhat obsolete.
And yet, some HR departments don't seem to want to give up. Here are 3 arguments you can use to persuade and convince your HR department to stop advancing expenses.
Lower costs for the company
Expense management is a tedious and time-consuming task, both for the traveling employee and for the administrative and accounting staff in charge. Invoices and receipts are frequently missing or lost, and errors of all kinds can occur. Correcting these anomalies wastes precious time for both parties, preventing more productive work.
What's more, it's not easy to judge exactly how much is needed for each trip. It still takes time to evaluate expenses, record reimbursement entries or deduct overpayments from pay slips. It's clear, then, that by adopting a system other than the advance of business expenses, the company would indirectly save money.
Less risk of tax reassessment
It is compulsory for companies to reimburse their employees' travel, meal and accommodation expenses. However, some expenses are not considered as expenses, or are subject to a ceiling. Urssaf is very vigilant in this respect. It can reclassify professional expenses as benefits in kind, which are subject to Social Security contributions and CSG-CRDS.
Unscrupulous employees can also defraud expense accounts for personal gain. It's the company that suffers, whether it's a lax accomplice or a victim. The company is obliged to carry out controls to detect non-compliant expenses.
The rules governing expense advances are strict. For example, there must be no difference in treatment between employees occupying the same position, otherwise the company will be accused of discrimination. If the reimbursement rules are changed, there can be no impact on the employment contract. Finally, expenses incurred must never be unreasonably high.
More reassured employees
Some business trips can be more expensive than the budget given by the company in advance. When this happens, employees have to pay the extra out of their own pockets, which is not particularly pleasant.
Employers sometimes take weeks to reimburse expenses. This can create financial problems for the employee who advanced the funds. When receipts are misplaced or do not comply with regulations, and reimbursement is refused as a result, dissatisfaction inevitably grips the employee concerned, often leading to a loss of motivation.
Eliminating business expense advances and paper expense reports is one way for employers to reassure current and future employees.
Solutions to adopt
To save time, money and improve the satisfaction of your mobile workforce, there are a number of easy-to-use, high-performance tools available to managers, including online accounts.
Software is now available to enter expense claims directly from a mobile application. They are automatically forwarded to the accounting department. Data is archived and can be consulted anytime, anywhere. Expense reports are exported and instantly checked by the manager.
Corporate or business cards are even simpler to use. Each member of staff is issued with a nominative card, with or without a limit, and can be credited remotely as many times as required. Spending can be monitored in real time.
So managing advances and expense claims no longer has to be a chore!