Expenses don’t stand up to scrutiny, says Deloitte

A quarter of companies surveyed by the accountancy firm Deloitte said they would not be confident about their employees’ expenses standing up to scrutiny from the tax man.

The firm quizzed 40 companies between May and June and found 37% had experienced cases of fraud or expenses manipulation in the past year. 

According to the survey 53% of companies inspected less than 2% of expense claims, highlighting the potential for inappropriate claims to go unnoticed.

A fifth of respondents did not have a policy that claims should be approved by a senior member of staff while half of the companies did not have limits on what could be spent.

A spokesperson for Deloitte said: “In tougher economic times cost control is more important than ever for employers. Employee expenses are one of the largest controllable costs a company has, yet they are often overlooked.

“By implementing the appropriate controls and monitoring procedures, management will not only get assurance that fraud or error is limited, but may also achieve significant cost reductions.”