Accepting Amex Upload in lieu of Receips

[mproler]

Looking to see if anyone is accepting just the Amex upload in lieu of additional receipts for expense reimbrusement.  I am looking to change our policy to state that if the corporate Amex is used no receipt is required provided they upload the charge into a report.  We would still require Hotel and Car Rental.  Wondering if anyone else does the same?

[KevinD]

@mproler you pose a great question. 

We will have to see what our customers reply with, but if I may play devil's advocate for a moment. It sounds like no matter what the amount of the expense is, as long as it was paid for on the corporate AMEX, you want to allow it without a receipt, with the exception of Hotel and Car. What if the charge is a large amount, for example $1000? Will that be allowed since it was paid for on the AMEX card? Also, what if the expense was not business related, but was something personal? If you don't require a receipt showing what was purchased, you could be opening yourself up to approving non-business related expenses. Lastly, what if an audit occurs? You potentially might have to justify large purchase amounts, but not have any documentation of the purchase in the form of a receipt that would show what was purchased. 

These are things I've come across since working at SAP Concur, so I wanted to pose some questions to you that I think other people may have replied with and given you some "what ifs" while thinking about a policy change. 

I've seen pretty much all of our customers require a receipt for most expenses no matter how it was purchased. I know the current IRS standard for Corporate Card charges to require a receipt is anything greater than $75 and for out of pocket, anything greater than $25. Most people feel that if it is good enough for the IRS it is good enough for them. 🙂

I hope this provides some insight/help while you think about your policy.