Policy handbook
Copy, edit and adopt. Adjust the limits to your own spend history before rollout.
1.0Purpose and scope
This policy covers travel, client meals, entertainment, production and other business expenses for all employees and freelancers paid through payroll. It sets clear rules for the costs that make agency life different, including shoots, talent meals and client hospitality, and separates costs that can be rebilled to clients from agency overhead. It is written to meet IRS accountable plan rules and TCJA meal and entertainment classification.
2.0Roles and approvals
Account directors approve client meals, entertainment and travel for their accounts. Executive producers approve production spend against the approved estimate, and the production controller reconciles every shoot. Accounts Payable reviews every report, and the CFO approves reports above $6,000 and any spend over an approved estimate. No one may approve their own expenses or approve spend that only benefits their own team.
3.0Booking and lodging
Flights, hotels and rental cars must be booked through the agency travel tool, or through the production coordinator for shoots. The agency will reimburse a standard room up to the nightly cap, including taxes, with the itemized folio attached. Shoot crews stay where the production budget says, often near the location. Upgrades and late checkouts are personal unless the shoot schedule requires them.
4.0Client meals
Meals with clients are reimbursable up to $135 per attendee when there is a business discussion, with the client's name, brand and project listed. Business meals are generally 50% deductible under IRC § 274(n), so they must be recorded separately from entertainment. Client meals are agency overhead unless the statement of work allows rebilling. The most senior agency person present pays and submits.
5.0Client entertainment
Tickets, concerts, sporting events, festivals and similar outings for clients need account director approval before purchase. Entertainment is nondeductible under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, so it is coded separately from meals in every case. Food and drink bought at the event must be on a separate receipt or invoice line, because separately stated food can still be treated as a meal.
6.0Shoots and production spend
Production spend must follow the approved estimate and is managed by the producer, with each purchase tagged to the job number. Petty cash floats are issued to the production coordinator, reconciled within five business days after wrap, with a receipt for every purchase. Props, wardrobe and set dressing bought for a shoot are agency or client property and must be returned, resold or logged.
7.0Talent and crew meals
Talent and crew meals on shoot days are budgeted in the production estimate, through catering, craft services or walkaway lunches up to $28 per person. Union meal-break rules for covered talent and crew override this policy, and any meal penalties are charged to the job. Meals provided for crew convenience on set are recorded separately from client meals so the tax treatment is correct.
8.0Alcohol
Alcohol is reimbursable with client meals up to two drinks per person, itemized on the receipt, and at wrap parties within an approved budget. Alcohol is never reimbursable on a shoot day before wrap or on solo travel. Alcohol is not rebilled to clients unless the statement of work allows it in writing. Hosts are expected to keep client events professional.
9.0Ground transport, gifts and personal expenses
Standard ride-share and transit are reimbursable, and late-night rides after 10 pm from edits or shoots are covered. Personal vehicle use is paid at the IRS standard mileage rate. Client gifts are limited to $25 per recipient per year and logged. Personal expenses, including companion travel, festival passes for guests and personal items bought during a shoot, are not reimbursable.
10.0Receipts, timing and returning excess
Expenses must be submitted within 60 days after they are paid or incurred, and production expenses within 10 business days after wrap so the job can close. Each line needs amount, date, place, business purpose and job number. Itemized receipts are required for all lodging, any expense of $75 or more and any rebillable item of $25 or more. Unspent petty cash must be returned within 120 days.
11.0Corporate card and exceptions
Corporate cards are for business expenses only, and personal charges must be flagged within 10 days and repaid. Exceptions, such as a hotel above the cap during a festival week, need account director or executive producer approval before the expense and a note on the report. Emergency changes during a shoot must be explained within five business days of wrap.
12.0Audit, pushback and consequences
Accounts Payable reviews every report, and every flag raised by audit software is reviewed by a person, including entertainment coded as meals and alcohol on rebillable lines. The software may draft clarification requests citing this policy, but finance approves each message before it is sent. Rebilling costs a client did not agree to pay damages the relationship and may lead to discipline up to termination.
Recommended limits
| Category | Limit | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic hotel (per night) | $312 in New York and Los Angeles; $229 elsewhere | Shoot crews follow the production budget's lodging line. |
| International hotel (per night) | $338 in London and Paris; $246 elsewhere | Festival and awards travel follows the approved event budget. |
| Daily meals (traveling) | $86 per full travel day | Shoot days with catered craft services do not get the full allowance. |
| Client meal (per attendee) | $135 including tax and tip | List the client, brand and project. Not rebilled unless the SOW allows it. |
| Talent and crew meals | Per the production budget; $28 per person for walkaway lunch | Union meal-break rules for covered talent override this row. |
| Domestic airfare | Economy; premium economy for red-eyes before a shoot | Change fees from client schedule shifts are rebillable with the client email. |
| Ground transport | Standard ride-share; production vans for crew moves | Late-night rides after 10 pm from edits or shoots are reimbursable. |
| Alcohol | Two drinks with client meals; wrap parties per approved budget | Never on shoot days before wrap. |
| Business gifts | $25 per recipient per year (IRC § 274(b)) | Client holiday gifts are logged with the recipient's name and brand. |
| Receipt required at | $75 (IRS threshold); $25 for anything rebilled to a client | Production petty cash needs a receipt for every purchase. |
| Pre-approval required at | Any client entertainment ticket or event over $750 | Account director approval through the expense tool. |
IRS Accountable Plan clauses
Keep these in the handbook so reimbursements stay excluded from wages under IRC § 62(c) and Treas. Reg. § 1.62-2.
- A1The agency reimburses only expenses with a business connection to services performed for the agency or its clients, including production spend tied to a job number, as Treas. Reg. § 1.62-2 requires.
- A2Each expense must be substantiated with amount, time, place and business purpose within 60 days after it is paid or incurred, meeting the fixed-date safe harbor in Treas. Reg. § 1.62-2(g)(2).
- A3For client meals and entertainment, the record must also show the names and business relationship of the people present, which Treas. Reg. § 1.274-5 requires along with the receipt.
- A4Itemized receipts are required for every lodging expense and any other expenditure of $75 or more, as Treas. Reg. § 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii) provides.
- A5Petty cash floats and advances exceeding substantiated costs must be returned within 120 days after the expense is paid or incurred, or they are included in W-2 wages subject to withholding and FICA.
Common pitfalls in media & advertising
- Coding a client dinner at a concert venue as a meal when the receipt bundles tickets and food. Without separately stated food, the whole amount is entertainment and 0% deductible.
- Leaving production petty cash unreconciled after wrap. A float of $2,480 with $1,862.19 in receipts and no return of the rest becomes a taxable advance to the coordinator.
- Rebilling alcohol from a client dinner without SOW language allowing it. Clients with audit rights find it and question the rest of the invoice.
- Recording crew meals on set as client meals. They have different tax treatment, and mixing them makes the meal and entertainment split unreliable.
- Letting props and wardrobe bought for shoots go home with crew. Those items belong to the agency or the client and need to be returned or logged.
Questions
Submit them as two lines. The dinner is a client meal, generally 50% deductible, with attendees and business discussion recorded. The theater tickets are entertainment and 0% deductible under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. If food and drink are bought at the theater, keep that receipt separate so it can be treated as a meal rather than part of the ticket cost.
Meals provided to crew on a shoot are generally a business expense of the production, recorded as crew meals on the job. A walkaway lunch allowance paid in cash should be supported by a sign-off sheet showing who received it on which shoot day. The production controller reconciles these sheets with petty cash after wrap.
Only when the statement of work says the client will reimburse that type of cost, and usually only at cost. Many clients do not reimburse meals with their own staff. Code client meals as agency overhead by default and let the account director change the code when the SOW supports it, with the clause referenced on the report.
Extend lodging and crew meals as needed and note the reason on the report, such as weather or a client-requested reshoot. The executive producer approves the overage against the estimate within five business days of wrap. If the client caused the extra day, the producer should attach the client's email so the cost can be billed under the change order process.