Itemized Receipts

Do

you ever get more information than you want? 

I asked my Grandmother one time, about her grandmother.  I was

curious about how old they might have been and what the circumstances were

regarding their immigration here to the U.S.  What I got was a full data-dump of family

tree information that would have buried and killed me if it were printed in 8pt

font on an endless sheet of paper.  I was

impressed at her knowledge, but honestly… I didn’t care one single bit about

the guy that my third cousin (twice removed, who died 168 years ago) almost

married against the will of her strictly Mennonite parents.  Booooooooring…

How

many receipts do you get when you pay for a meal in a restaurant?  One? 

Three?  Five?  It’s crazy, isn’t it?  If you split the bill, it gets even

crazier.  Does anybody really want that

much information?  Before you know it,

receipts will also contain the nutrition information about the food you ate,

the alcohol percentage of the beer you drank, and some personal history about

your waiter or waitress.  Boring.

The

truth is, restaurants are just giving you options.  If you take a close look at the receipts, one

of them is a simple receipt with just the total.  Another one has an itemized list of

everything you ordered.  This is the bane

of many corporate travelers’ existence. 

Many companies today have begun to require their travelers to include

this itemized receipt along with their expense reports.  I’m afraid I have to agree with them.  Just because your company sets a limit of $25

for dinner (for example), that doesn’t mean you should eat a cheap salad and

expense a t-shirt from the bar.  If I own

or manage the company, I’d like to see that on an itemized list of things you

ate, and I’d prefer not pay for a t-shirt.

Unfortunately,

it only takes a few bad apples to inspire such a policy.  My company will not allow the expense of

alcohol unless customers are being entertained. 

Reasonable travelers will pay cash out other own pocket if they want a

glass of wine with their meal, a “bad apple” would conspire to find a way to

classify a dinner companion as a “customer” so they could skirt the policy.  I know of one colleague who actually

convinced a bartender to ring up his drinks in such a way that they appeared as

“bar food” on the itemized receipt.  I

don’t recommend that…

So,

how do you handle this when you’re the one traveling?  If you and a friend go to dinner, should you

ask for separate checks, and also a third check for your booze?  Why not? 

If the waiter looks at you funny, just tell him/her that you’re on

corporate travel and your company has some bizarre rules.  They’ll understand!  You can also take turns… You buy dinner one

day, your buddy buys dinner the next, and you can split off the booze both

times.  You can always buy a carafe of

wine at the bar, pay in cash, and carry it to your table.  I see that happen fairly often. 

Another

helpful tip is circle or highlight the items that are expensible, as soon as

you get your receipt.  A week later when

you do your expense report, you won’t remember what you ate, drank, didn’t eat,

etc.  I always eat dinner against my

corporate card, and I always make sure there’s one (and only one) of any of the

following: Appetizer, Entr?e, or Dessert.  Anything and everything else goes onto a

personal card or I pay cash for it.  If

it bugs you, think about it this way; If you weren’t on travel, you’d be paying

for food and booze at home out of your pocket, right?  Why does the company owe you a beer?  Free food makes me happy, if I have to buy my

own liquor, then so be it.

EXTRA: If you have

questions for Ken regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc, please send an email!  Your questions

will be recorded and Ken will answer the best ones in his Ask the

Expert podcast show.