Policy handbook
Copy, edit and adopt. Adjust the limits to your own spend history before rollout.
1.0Purpose and scope
This policy explains how the company pays for travel, meals, software and remote work costs incurred while doing company business. It applies to every employee, intern and payroll contractor in every country where we operate. Local addenda for the UK, Germany and India adjust currency caps and VAT or GST invoice rules but never loosen the approval chain. Where this policy is silent, employees must ask Finance before spending.
2.0Roles and approvals
Each report is approved by the employee's direct manager and then reviewed by Accounts Payable. Reports above $2,500, spend charged to another department and any report from a VP or above also go to the controller. No one may approve their own expenses or the expenses of someone they report to. Approvers are expected to open the receipts, not just confirm the total.
3.0Booking channels
Flights, hotels and rail must be booked through the company travel tool so we can locate travelers in an emergency and apply negotiated rates. Direct bookings with an airline or hotel are reimbursed only when the travel tool price was at least $40 higher and the employee attaches screenshots of both prices. Loyalty points belong to the employee but must never drive a more expensive choice.
4.0Lodging
The company will reimburse a standard room at a business-class hotel up to the nightly caps in the limits table, including taxes and resort fees. Employees must submit the itemized hotel folio, not the booking confirmation. Minibar, in-room movies, spa and laundry on trips shorter than five nights are personal. Staying with friends or family is welcome, and a thank-you gift up to $60 per trip is reimbursable.
5.0Meals and team events
While traveling, employees may spend up to the daily meal allowance on their own meals. Offsite dinners, launch celebrations and sales kickoff meals need a budget approved in advance by the department head, with attendee names on the report. Meals during a normal workday in the employee's home city are personal unless a customer or candidate is present. The most senior employee at a shared meal pays and submits it.
6.0Alcohol
Alcohol is reimbursable only alongside a customer or candidate meal, or at a team event where the VP approved alcohol in the event budget. The limit is two drinks per person, and bottle service or rounds of shots are never reimbursable. Alcohol on solo travel, on flights and from hotel minibars is personal. Receipts must itemize alcohol separately so Finance can classify the meal correctly for tax purposes.
7.0Ground transport and mileage
Employees should use transit, standard ride-share or airport shuttles when practical. Premium ride-share tiers are reimbursable late at night, when carrying demo hardware, or when standard cars are unavailable, and the report must say which applied. Rental cars must be mid-size or smaller, and employees should decline counter insurance because the company policy covers it. Personal vehicle use is paid at the IRS standard mileage rate, excluding normal commute miles.
8.0Customer entertainment and gifts
Tickets to games, concerts or similar outings for prospects and customers need sales leadership approval before purchase, because entertainment is nondeductible under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Food and drink at the event must appear on a separate receipt. Business gifts are limited to $25 per recipient per year, with the recipient's name and company recorded. Gift cards and cash equivalents are never permitted.
9.0Software, hardware and personal expenses
Software subscriptions, AI tools, browser extensions and paid APIs must be requested through IT procurement at any price, so security can review data access before anyone signs up. Personal subscriptions, phone upgrades and family travel are never reimbursable. When a trip mixes business and vacation days, the company pays only the costs a business-only trip would have created, and the employee must attach that comparison.
10.0Receipts and substantiation
Employees must submit expenses within 60 days of the date each cost was paid or incurred. Every line must show the amount, date, place and business purpose, and meals with others must list attendees and their business relationship. Itemized receipts are required for all lodging, any expense of $75 or more and any alcohol. A signed missing receipt statement may replace a lost receipt twice per calendar year.
11.0Corporate card and returning excess
The corporate card is for business expenses only. Personal charges made by mistake must be flagged within 10 days and repaid by bank transfer or an employee-authorized payroll deduction. Travel advances for international trips are issued no more than 30 days before departure, and any unspent amount must be returned within 120 days after the expense was paid or incurred. Amounts not returned are reported as taxable wages.
12.0Exceptions
Exceptions are granted in writing by the controller before the expense, except in genuine emergencies such as a cancelled flight, a weather closure or a medical issue. Emergency exceptions must be explained on the report within five business days. An approved exception covers one trip or event only and does not change the policy for later trips. Finance keeps an exceptions log and reviews it with the CFO quarterly.
13.0Audit, pushback and consequences
Accounts Payable reviews every report and every flag raised by audit software, including duplicate charges across cards and split transactions. The software may draft clarification requests that cite the relevant clause, but a finance team member approves each message before it is sent and decides every outcome. Repeated violations lead to a card review by the controller and then disciplinary action. Deliberate falsification is grounds for termination.
Recommended limits
| Category | Limit | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic hotel (per night) | $289 in tier-1 cities, $219 elsewhere | Tier-1 means San Francisco, New York, Boston, Seattle and Washington DC. Taxes and resort fees count toward the cap. |
| Daily meals (traveling) | $84 per full travel day | Breakfast, lunch and dinner combined. Departure and return days are prorated at 75%. |
| Client meal (per attendee) | $115 including tax and tip | List every attendee, their company and the account or deal discussed. |
| Domestic airfare | Economy; seat selection up to $49 per segment | Book at least 14 days out when the trip date is known. |
| International airfare | Economy; premium economy on segments over 6 hours | Business class needs written CFO approval before booking. |
| Ground transport | Standard ride-share or transit; $68 per airport transfer | Premium ride-share tiers need a stated reason on the report. |
| Alcohol | Two drinks per person with a client or candidate meal | None on solo travel. Team events need VP approval in the event budget. |
| Home office / remote stipend | $62.50 per month through payroll | Paid as taxable wages. Monitors and chairs are bought by IT and stay company property. |
| Conference registration | $1,850 per event; one external conference per person per year | Speakers and booth staff are budgeted by marketing, not the attendee's team. |
| Receipt required at | $75 (IRS threshold); $25 for alcohol; every hotel folio | Itemized receipts only. Card slips and booking confirmations do not count. |
| Pre-approval required at | $2,500 per trip or any new software subscription | Subscriptions route to IT procurement for a security review at any price. |
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 company reimburses only expenses that have a business connection, meaning they were paid or incurred by the employee while performing services for the company, as Treas. Reg. § 1.62-2 requires.
- A2Employees must substantiate each expense with its amount, time, place and business purpose within 60 days after it is paid or incurred, which satisfies the fixed-date safe harbor in Treas. Reg. § 1.62-2(g)(2).
- A3Documentary evidence such as an itemized receipt is required for every lodging expense and for any other expenditure of $75 or more, consistent with Treas. Reg. § 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii).
- A4Advances are issued no more than 30 days before the expected expense, and any amount exceeding substantiated costs must be returned within 120 days after the expense is paid or incurred.
- A5Amounts that are not substantiated or returned on time are treated as paid under a nonaccountable plan and included in the employee's W-2 wages, subject to income tax withholding and FICA.
- A6The monthly remote stipend is paid without substantiation, so it is processed through payroll as taxable wages and is not an accountable plan reimbursement.
Common pitfalls in technology & saas
- Letting engineers expense AI tools and SaaS trials on personal cards. The spend skips security review and often keeps renewing long after the person leaves.
- Running the remote stipend through expense reports. A flat amount paid without receipts is wages, and treating it as a reimbursement understates payroll taxes.
- Bundling stadium suite tickets and catering on one invoice. Unless food and drink are separately stated, the whole amount is entertainment and 0% deductible.
- Booking conferences without pre-approval. Registration, a hotel block and flights for one event can pass $4,000 before anyone checks the conference budget.
- Accepting plain card slips for UK and EU travel. Without a valid VAT invoice the company cannot reclaim VAT on hotel and meal spend in those countries.
Questions
Yes. Points stay with the traveler, but they can never justify a pricier flight or hotel. If an employee picks a $412.60 fare over a $331.80 fare to stay with one airline, the report is reimbursed at the lower fare unless the employee documents a schedule reason, such as the cheaper flight landing after a customer meeting. Finance spot checks fare comparisons in the travel tool each month.
Because the stipend is a flat monthly amount paid without receipts, it does not meet accountable plan rules and is paid as taxable wages through payroll. Equipment such as monitors and chairs is different: IT buys it, the company owns it, and it is not income to the employee. Keep the two separate so payroll reports the stipend correctly on the W-2.
Late items are still reviewed, but the controller decides whether they can be paid under the accountable plan. Expenses that miss the 60-day window without a documented reason are reimbursed as taxable wages through payroll rather than as a tax-free reimbursement. AP sends a reminder at day 30 and day 50, so late submissions are rare once the habit forms.
The most senior employee present pays and submits the receipt with every attendee listed. This keeps approval with someone who is not the beneficiary of their own decision and avoids four people each claiming the same dinner. The per-person total must fit the team event budget or the daily meal allowance, whichever applies to that trip.