Table of Contents
- Purpose
- References
- Applicability
- Expense Report Form BN-US-401
- Cash Payment Form BN-US-702-1
- Cash Returned Form BN-US-702-2
- Statement of Personal Account Form PA-0050 8
1. Purpose
This procedure describes the rules under which:
1.1 The employee reports his business expenses and accounts for cash advances and cash returns by means of an expense report form BN-US-401.
1.2 The employee requests a cash advance for business expenses by means of a cash payment form BN-US-702-1.
1.3 The employee returns excess cash by means of a cash returned form BN-US-702-2.
1.4 The Personal Account Section of the Accounting Department will inform the employee on the status of his business expense account by means of statement of personal account, form PA-0050.
Note: The term "cash" as used herein includes currency and travellers checks.
2. References
This procedure shall be read in conjunction with:
CM-MA-806 - "Business Travel Policy"
CM-MA-827 - "Authorization for Travel"
3. Applicability
3.1 This procedure applies to all employees of Company and to employees of Company affiliates assigned to Company
3.2 Expenditures paid by the company and covered by a PAN form BN-UF-5 for seminars and courses shall not be declared on an expense report.
4. Expense Report Form BN-US-401
4.1 General
4.1.1 Expense reports consist of a set comprising the original and two copies.
The original and first copy (white) are Accounting Department copies. The third sheet (yellow) shall be retained by the employee for personal records.
4.1.2 Expense reports are subject to auditing and may have to be submitted to a Client. Clear writing is therefore required. Use a black ballpoint pen or a typewriter. If a special note is required by the instructions which follow, be sure such notation is clearly and distinctly marked.
4.1.3 Expenses paid by the employee by using cash money or travellers checks are "expenses paid by employee".
4.1.4 Expenses which are billed to the company, including those expenses paid by the employee with a company-supplied credit card, are "expenses paid by company".
4.1.5 It is not allowed to use a company-supplied credit card for private expenses except in an emergency situation. If the employee uses the credit card for private expenses, he must immediately inform the Personal Account Section and provide funds to the company to cover this charge.
4.1.6 The Manager Accounting is responsible for determining the Company internal rates to be used to convert foreign currencies into Dutch guilders. Such internal rates can be obtained from the Personal Account Section, upon request.
4.1.7 Expenses in foreign currencies will be converted into guilders for accounting purposes at the internal rate prevailing at the time the cash advance was given and/or the foreign currency was bought, irrespective of the expense report submission date.
The counter value in guilders will be charged to the employees personal account.
4.2 Submission
4.2.1 Expense reports shall be submitted to the Personal Account Section within one week after the expenses have been incurred or after a trip has been completed. During an extended trip, expense reports shall be submitted on a weekly basis.
4.2.2 Submission shall not be delayed due to missing back-up or information for part of the expenses incurred. A second expense report for the same week shall be submitted containing the late expenses with a notation that it is a "supplemental report".
4.2.3 Separate expense reports shall be submitted for each currency in which the expenses have been incurred.
4.2.4 Originals of bills and/or receipts shall be attached for all expenses. If a receipt for expenditures exceeding NLG 25,-- is not available or has been lost, a note to that effect shall be entered on the report.
The amounts declared shall include VAT (Value Added Tax).
In case of "paid by company" expenses, for which the employee will receive a xerox copy of the invoice from the Personal Account Section, only the highlighted amounts shall be declared, whether or not VAT is included.
4.2.5 If the employee has to purchase a foreign currency himself, the employee shall keep the receipt of the conversion of that foreign currency exchange. The receipt shall be attached to the expense report or forwarded to the Personal Account Section.
Any loss resulting from the difference between the conversion rates and the Company internal rates will be reimbursed by means of an entry on the employee's personal account, and not via an expense report. In case the employee is not in the personal account system a cash voucher for the difference will be handed to the employee.
Irrespective the way in which the reimbursement is handled, the difference should be charged to ledger 920S the calculation of the loss is the responsibility of the Personal Account Section and is not negotiable.
4.3 Preparation
4.3.1 Expenses billed directly to Company shall be indicated by an asterisk (*) and the total of these expenses shall be entered on the appropriate line of section V.
4.3.2 A copy of the invoice to Company shall be sent to the employee. Refer to 4.2.4.
4.3.3 Week ending is the week in which the expenditures have been incurred.
4.3.4 Name, initials, employee number, department, department number and currency shall be clearly noted.
4.3.5 The following instructions apply to individual portions of the expense report:
Section I - Itinerary
General
Enter each day's expenses in the appropriate boxes.
City - from/City - to
Indicate the city of departure and city(ies) visited. To indicate a round trip, place a check mark after the name of the city visited. (Visa versa).
The cost of a round trip shall be shown at the start of the trip.
Air/Rail Travel
The customer copy of all air- and rail tickets substantiating the amount reported as well as the appropriate Wagons-Lits voucher and a copy of the "authorization for travel" shall be attached to the expense report.
In the event a refund is due to the company for a partially unused airline or railway ticket, the total value of the ticket shall still be included under this section. Such a ticket shall be sent to the Personal Account Section and not to the travel agent. The refund will then be secured by the company.
A completely unused ticket shall not be declared, but sent to the Personal Account Section for refund and not to the travel agent.
Rental Car
Enter the amount of the bill and indicate during which days the car has been used. The employee shall obtain a (Hertz) receipt when a rental car is returned. The employee shall check the bill on its correctness and inform the Personal Account Section separately of any errors.
Attach a copy of the "authorization for travel" form to the expense report.
Personal Car
The number of kilometers travelled shall be mentioned on a daily basis to compute the compensation. The kilometer rate allows for gasoline, oil, maintenance, etc. This rate is published by the Manager Personnel Department and is adjusted as required.
If a trip is undertaken outside the Benelux, a travel authorization shall be attached to the expense report.
Taxi/Public Transport
If multiple fares for one day exceed NLG 25,--, the total shall be shown here and be detailed in section II.
Hotel/Daily Rate
Enter the cost of room on a daily basis. Any other charges on the hotel bill shall be reported elsewhere on the appropriate lines.
A per diem allowance, if applicable, shall be inserted under "daily rate".
Meals
This includes the traveller's own meals, plus tips. If breakfast is included in daily hotel rate, state "inclusive" under breakfast.
If the employee is entitled to a fixed allowance per day, as published by the Manager Personnel Department, insert the amount under "dinner".
Meals used with other employees shall be reported under "business conference", see section III.
Telephone/Telegraph
Receipts shall be attached. If no receipt available for automatic telephone connections, name of company, place, country, name of person(s) and duration of call must be mentioned on the expense report. Business calls to be made at home should go via 0010 or 0016. Mention the number "met opgave van kosten" (specification of costs). After the call the operator will ring back and tell what the costs are. Later on, together with the telephone bill, a separate statement concerning this particular call will be sent. This statement shall be attached to the expense report.
Business Conference and Entertainment
Enter the total cost on the appropriate day and give full detail in section III. Names of those paid for shall be stated.
It is not necessary to report the cost of your own meal under business conference and entertainment separately.
Meals during which Company's business is discussed, is considered to be a business conference.
If an employee dines with or entertains a Client, without substantive discussion of Company's business, it is considered business entertainment.
Luncheons or dinners on a special occasion of an employee shall be reported under miscellaneous.
Miscellaneous
Assignment allowances, parking fees, sundries and other expenses, that cannot be identified with any of the expense categories in other sections of the expense report, shall be reported on this line. Receipts should be attached for expenses over NLG. 5,00.
Identify by type of expenses and amount all miscellaneous expenses in section II.
4.3.6 Section IV - Allocation of Expenses
Indicate purpose, job, proposal, overhead project, or departmental overhead number(s) and amount to be charged to each number.
The same numbers shall be used as reported on the time sheet for the time spent by the employee.
The total amount in section I and the "total this report" in section V shall equal the total amount in this section.
4.3.7 Section V - Reconciliation
Enter (A) through (F) in the currency of the expense report.
| Charged to company | (A) | Total of prepaid travel and all other items charged to the ` company (* items). |
| Expenses paid | (B) | Total of all cash expenses. |
| Total this report | (C) | This is total of section I and C = A + B |
| Cash advanced | (D) | Total of cash advanced, if any. |
| Cash returned | (E) | Total of cash returned, if any. |
| Balance due | (F) | Balance due employee if B-(D-E) is positive. |
| Balance due company if B-(D-E) is negative. Write amount between brackets. |
4.4 Approval
All expense reports shall be approved in accordance with the business travel policy (CM-MA-806).
4.5 Distribution
4.5.1 Both the original and the first copy of the expense report shall be sent to the Personal Account Section after all required approvals have been obtained.
4.5.2 Attach supporting documentation by a staple at the back of the original expense report. The documentation shall be readable.
4.5.3 Retain the yellow copy for personal records.
4.6 Control
4.6.1 The Personal Account Section will check the expense report on its correctness and is responsible that the expense report has been completed in accordance with this procedure.
4.6.2. Any failure to comply with this procedure will cause the expense report to be returned to its originator via the Cost Center Manager for correction and reapproval.
4.6.3 Any failure to comply with this procedure, which cannot be corrected, will require special approval by the Managing Director before being processed.
5. Cash Payment Form BN-US-702-1
5.1 Cash advances shall be requested only in anticipation of a specific need.
5.2 Cash payment forms must be completed by the individual requesting the money, and shall be approved by the employee's Department Manager or Cost Center Manager as inidicated by the "approved signatures" list.
5.3 Foreign currency shall be converted into Netherlands guilders at the Company internal rates for reporting purposes. The guilder counter value and the internal rate shall be indicated on the cash payment form and that amount will be charged to the employee's personal account.
5.4 The cash advance shall be for that amount reasonably expected to be required for cash expenditures.
5.5 The Cashier shall require an employee to secure the additional approval of the Manager Accounting of the company if the employee's most recent statement of personal account shows an excessive balance due company.
5.6 The cash payment form shall also be used to pay personal account balances due to the employee. The form shall be completed by the Personal Account Section and shall be approved by the Chief Payroll and Personal Accounting.
6. Cash Returned Form BN-US-702-2
Unused cash advances shall be returned to the Cashier immediately upon return from a trip, unless the money will be used for a forth coming trip expected to take place soon. A copy of the cash returned form will be returned to the employee as a receipt.
Foreign currencies will be credited to the employee's personal account as indicated in 5.3.
7. Statement of Personal Account Form PA-0050
7.1 An employee who travels regularly and or who has drawn an advance or for whom the company has paid expenditures will have a personal account.
7.2 In case an employee has no personal account the expense reports will be paid directly by the Cashier after verification and approval of the Personal Account Section.
7.3 The employee receives monthly a statement of personal account in duplicate. He has the obligation to check this statement carefully and to return a signed copy to the Personal Account Section within two days after the date of issue. Any errors which may appear on the statement or any expense reports not booked shall be reported by the employee on the returned copy of the statement.
The Personal Account Section will inform the Manager Accounting of the names of those employees who do not comply with this requirement, with a copy to the Cashier. The Cashier will refuse to honor further requests for advances, unless approved by the Manager Accounting.
7.4 The statement is divided into seven columns:
| 1 | Entry Date | Date when entry is actually made by the Personal Account Section. |
| Reference Code |
Explanation of the undermentioned reference codes is also printed at the bottom of the statement of personal account: |
|
| 3 | Document Number | This number is issued by the Personal Account Section to identify the source (book number). |
| 4 | Description | Contains brief description of transaction, date of expense report, amount in foreign currency, etc. |
| 5 | Amount due company | This column reflects all cash payments to the employee, expenses paid by the company, and charges from other Company offices. |
| 6 | Amount due Employee | This column reflects all cash refunds, expense reports and credits to employee. |
| 7 | Balance | This column indicates the balance between column 5 and 6. |
7.5 When the statement shows a balance "due company", the employee must settle the outstanding amount immediately unless new travel is forthcoming soon.
7.6 If the balance is "due employee", the latter is entitled to collect the outstanding amount by cash, bank, giro or via the payroll, after verification and approval by the Personal Account Section.