Employer Travel Reimbursement

[astrid]

If you (or your dh) travel for business at the request of your employer, are you expected to outlay the cash for the entire trip, submit expenses and be reimbursed later?

 

Every year I fly from Hartford, CT to San Diego for a professional conference at the request of my employer, a huge, extremely financially healthy educational organization which runs the magnet schools in CT and has over 1,000 employees. And every year I'm expected to pay for the entire thing, which this year amounted to:

 

Flight: $600

Conf. Registration: $600

Hotel (4 nights): $750

Meals/taxi/luggage/etc.: $250

 

That's approximately $2,200 of my own money I had to cough up for a part-time job. There are years when it's a real stretch to come up with this amount of money on short notice-- the conference is in mid-June and I never know until late May whether or not I've got the green light to go; depends on how much money remains in the budget, etc. Sure, I get reimbursed, but not for a couple of months. I get angry about it ever year, but nothing seems to change. When I ask about it, I'm told "oh, everyone does it this way. It's just easier. You HAVE to pay up front." :001_huh:

The other people from my department who are full-time employees do the same thing, so it's not because I'm part-time or a consultant.

 

Does this seem odd to anyone besides me? My dh works for a very large insurance/financial company (The Hartford) and when he travels, which is rare, he does so with all arrangements made on a company credit card.

 

astrid (still waiting for the check to arrive in the mail!)

[Joker]

My dh uses a company credit card as well. It does seem wrong to me for them to expect an employee to cough up that much of their own money. One place dh worked had him use his own money for food expenses and then reimbursed, but they paid for all travel and hotel arrangements up front.

[Impish]

When we were first married, Wolf had a job that required him on the road more than he was home...and we had to prepay all his expenses.

 

It was insane.

[FairProspects]

Dh has a personal credit card that is to be used only for business travel. He then submits expense reports and gets reimbursed, but they never take that long. So, yes, we do have to upfront the money, but we are always reimbursed before the cc payment comes due. It is the length of reimbursement time rather than the practice itself that seems odd to me.

 

Do you have a dedicated cc for the trip? Maybe you could put it on the card and ask them to reimburse interest fees as well? Then you are not having to upfront your own cash.

[G5052]

When I worked for a university, they made the arrangements. If there was a plane ticket, they bought it for me and also paid any conference feeds. At first they gave me cash for the estimated car, hotel, and meal expenses, but then there was a corporate card later so I never carried any of the expenses.

 

Same when I've worked for federal and state governments as an employee. They make some arrangements, and there's a credit card for the rest.

 

Now when it comes to the work I do as an independent contractor -- frankly that is a mess. It sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't. I always make my own arrangements and bill them. Self-employment is a drag that way.

[Country Mouse]

In my previous life working in an office, one of my responsibilities was arranging travel for the sales people and trainers. It was common practice for the individuals traveling to pay for their airfare and expenses and then submit expense reports for reimbursement. I know the guy who traveled the most actually preferred it that way because he used a credit card for everything and got to take nice vacations with all the miles/points he earned.

[Acorn]

Yes, dh (and formerly I) pay out of pocket and then get reimbursed about 2 months later.

[astrid]

No, I don't have a dedicated cc just for this trip because it's really the only traveling I do for this job, and it's only once per year (though it may end if there is ever a time when there isn't $$ to use up before the end of the fiscal year.) It's a thought, though....

 

astrid

[Dandelion]

No, not all companies operate this way.

 

I traveled extensively for my last job (Fortune 100 company with over 100k employees worldwide).

 

Airfare, hotel, and rental car were booked through the company's travel agency and direct-billed to the company.

 

Employees had the option of getting a company credit card for meals and other expenses. I chose not to get one, because I preferred to get the points/miles on my own credit card.

 

Expenses were always reimbursed within 7 days of filing the expense report. I can't imagine waiting months for reimbursement.

[redsquirrel]

I have seen both. With a part time job or a small company I don't think it is unusual. But, for a company that you are describing I would expect a higher level of management on this issue. My boss at my old job had a part time gig that involved training and she had to pay for everything herself. It was a real pain. She had a separate card that she used just for that.

 

My dh works for a large university and has a card issued to him via the uni, but it is actually his card. He can use it as a regular credit card for anything he wants. It is his responsibility to make sure there is room on the card for any travel/work needs. He doesn't use it for anything except work things. It is his job to submit all receipts and if he is late in making a payment then he gets a phone call from the bank. The school takes its time in getting those reimbursements back, and we can't afford to make payments on his trips so we often get phone calls about late payments. My personal fave is that he is expected to book all his travel well ahead of time to save money. But, the school won't reimburse until the trip has occurred. So, sometimes the credit card company just has to wait for their money.

 

The university used to have several offices that made travel arraignments, but they got rid of that as a cost saving measure.

[5of5]

My experience is a company owned credit card in the employee's name. Like others said, you are responsible for it, but typically the reimbursement is processed before the bill is due. Also, often, the bigger companies pay the credit card company directly, so you aren't out any of your own money unless you paid cash for things.

[Roadrunner]

Usually our travel department pays for flight and hotel. I pay the rest out of my pocket (mostly food) and then submit for reimbursement. It used to be different. We used to put everything on our credit card and then ask for refund, but people complained understandably.

[KatieJ]

When DH travels for work, and it's rare, but does happen, he would have to pay up front and then get reimbursed, but reimbursement was pretty fast..maybe a few days. Now he has a company credit card, so it's a tad easier.

[Wendi]

Dh pays up front, and is reimbursed promptly. Sorry that's not the case for you. I do wish they'd give him a company credit card; we don't use credit personally anymore, but dh kept one credit card open to use on business trips. Then when the reimbursement comes, we pay off the card.

 

Wendi

[Tap]

We have seen it both ways. We both worked for national/international companies.

 

For him:

Some expenses were reimbursed. His credit card was an AmX so not every business accepted it.

Some were paid for on his company cc, or arranged by the secretary and he never even saw the bills.

Dh got reimbursed for fuel based on mileage.

 

For me:

I pay for fuel and get reimbursed bases on mileage (after the first 50 miles).

My company pays for hotels ahead of time, but that means I have no control over where I stay.

Meals are reimbursed.

[KRG]

At dh's last job he had to pay his own travel expenses. He rarely traveled and was reimbursed the day after he submitted his expenses. The job he has now he has a corporate card. That is really nice because he travels about 2 weeks out of every month. If he didn't have the corporate card I don't know what we would do.

[AlmiraGulch]

I travel extensively for work, and I have a corporate card.

 

When I first started, I had to use my own card and be reimbursed. I actually liked getting the point on my my own card before they made is switch.

 

In a prior life they didn't issue corporate credit cards, but rather P-cards that were pre-loaded with estimated expenses for a trip.

 

I don't think it's uncommon for companies to NOT have corporate credit cards, especially for people whose primary job does not include regular travel.

[Candid]

Hmmmm, while you can suggest to them to pay at least some parts up front for you (travel, room, and registration) the truth is they've done this for a while and they probably will continue to do it.

 

So why not, take the reimbursement check and save it for next year's trip? At some point you'll not go and that save money will be yours, but if you keep it set aside you can maybe make some interest and not have it hanging over your head. If you'd rather spend it, can you save half the money? That would cover the airfare and registration which are the two you'll have to pay in advance.

[TheReader]

DH uses his own credit card, not company issue, and submits receipts at the end of each month, which then usually take one full pay period before showing up. So, if he has a trip in the 1st week of the month, he doesn't turn in those receipts until the last day of that month, which means he gets reimbursed somewhere around middle of the month, roughly 6 wks after his travel.

 

If he needs cash (for taxis, etc.), yes, he pulls from the ATM, etc. He has to get full receipts for everything, taxis, meals, etc.

 

We do have friends who can use a company credit card, but that is not how it's done where DH works. I never thought about it being fair or not, it just is what it is. We do pay off our credit card each month, but I guess since so many people use credit for everything, companies don't really see it as you needing to actually have that much cash on hand, ya know? Right or wrong, that's just how it is.