Claiming expenses: here’s how it works in real world

AS a former outbound salesperson, I am familiar with expense claims. At its simplest, when you travel you spend your own money on hotels, meals, petrol, etc, collect every receipt and then at month’s end you fill out an expenses claim form with a receipt to match every line item listed.

There are two basic rules. Firstly, if you don’t have the receipt, you don’t get the money and, secondly, all receipts must relate to your job.

This prevents the salesperson from claiming for driving from home to the office or presenting receipts for lunch on a Saturday for example.