Britton Price Ltd. Expenses Policy. Release 1010 Ver1.3

Transcription

1 Britton Price Ltd Expenses Policy Release 1010 Ver1.3

2 Contents Introduction... 3 Expense reimbursement procedure... 3 Supporting evidence... 4 Overnight accommodation... 4 Overnight incidental expenses... 4 Breakfast/Lunch/Meal allowance... 4 Business and staff entertainment... 5 Domestic air and rail travel... 5 Training courses... 5 Membership of Professional Bodies... 6 Telephone related costs... 6 Purchases of equipment... 6 Credit card fees... 6 Use of own vehicle... 6 Company Credit Cards Employees... 6 Premier Inn Cards... 7 Mobile Phones... 7 Company Clothing... 7 Tools... 7 Prepared by C Chalcraft Position Finance Director Date of issue October 2010 Page 2 of 7

3 Introduction 1) This policy document is for the guidance of staff of all departments in Britton Price Ltd. The policies have been prepared in the light of the Income Tax regulations and have been prepared by following HMRC guidelines. Provided expense claims have been completed strictly in accordance with the terms of this manual no additional tax or National Insurance contribution liability will arise to either the company and employees need not report details in their tax returns. Failure to comply could give rise to tax and interest penalties for both the company and the individual. 2) If an expense claim is anticipated in respect of any item not included in this manual, or an employee has query relating to the payment of expenses under this policy, the matter must be referred through your departmental manager. It is important that any expense not included in this manual should be approved in advance by the relevant manager. 3) As a general principle an employee should be reimbursed in full for all types of expenses wholly and necessarily incurred in the course of the company's business, and which are in excess of those they would normally incur. Expense reimbursement procedure 4) Business expenses incurred are to be recorded on the Timex Sheet which combines work times, expenses and business mileage. 5) The company will pay all reasonable out of pocket expenses for which it is not possible to obtain receipts such as parking, road and bridge tolls and tube fares providing there is evidence that these expenses were necessary. Claims must be limited to the actual amount of expense and not claimed as a round sum allowance.i.e. "Parking for August". 6) The ing of the form will be taken as being the equivalent of the employees signature. These electronic forms are ed to Head Office for processing. Finance will review the Timex Sheets and will raise any expense queries directly with the individual. 7) For detailed instructions on Completing the Timex Sheet please see Employee Handbook Section 23 - "Timex Sheets" 8) The company will conduct Spot Checks to ensure that the Timex Sheet is being completed correctly. All innocent errors will normally be corrected in the following month's expenses payment. 9) Expense claims must be approved by an authorised person. This will normally be the Finance Manager who will refer, if necessary, any queries to the Departmental Manager. Claims by Directors must be authorised by the Finance Director. Claims by the Finance Director by the Managing Director. 10) Any false claims will be treated as a serious disciplinary offence. Page 3 of 7

4 11) Supporting evidence 12) An expense claim must be supported by original receipts, invoices or similar. Credit card items should be accompanied by an itemised receipt giving full details of VAT numbers and amounts. In order for the Company to claim back VAT, we must have proper original receipts to accompany allowable claims. To meet the HMRC requirement, each receipt or invoice should list: VAT registration number Description of goods/services supplied The total charge, including VAT Name and address of supplier The date of supply Overnight accommodation 13) Where possible, it will be expected that employees use hotels where a group or corporate rate has been negotiated. If this is not possible, then a common sense attitude to expense will be expected when making bookings. 14) Evening meals should be chosen from the fixed price (table d hôte) menu or equivalent when available. The company does not wish to dictate a set limit on evening meals, but claims must be reasonable and managers will not authorise any claims deemed to be extravagant. Overnight incidental expenses 15) When staying away from home overnight on business, it is recognised that employees will be likely to incur some expenses over and above the basic costs of bed and meals. 16) The Company will reimburse costs for drinks, newspapers and/or telephone calls, supported by receipt up to the current Revenue limits, which are: UK 5.00 per night Overseas per night 17) Costs for videos and any other entertainment are considered taxable and therefore the company will not reimburse such expenses. 18) Hotel bills would normally be expected to be paid by the employee and claimed for reimbursement. Breakfast/Lunch/Meal allowance Page 4 of 7

5 19) When a member of staff is away from the office on Company business but not staying away from home, and meets the following criteria, he can claim the reasonable excess over what he would normally spend. The claim must be backed up by a receipt. The employee must be absent from the office for more than half the working day. The meal and the business location must be more than 5 miles from home and the office. For Breakfast the journey must have commenced prior to 7.00am Award Winning Expenses Software 20) Where an employee is on Company business but not staying away from home, the cost of an evening meal may be claimed against receipts if the following HMRC limits are met: There must be more than 5 miles from office to home. The meal must be eaten after 7.30 p.m. The employee must have been working away from home for more than 10 hours. These are the reasonable limits set by the company for expense claims: Breakfast 6.00 with receipt Lunch with receipt Evening meal working late away from the office with receipt Evening meal at hotel Fixed price menu with receipt Business and staff entertainment 21) Every claim for entertaining (Staff and Business) must show the business purpose, where the event took place, plus the name, status and company of every person entertained. Receipts must be provided. Where two or more Company employees are engaged in entertaining which is chargeable to the company, then the most senior person present should settle the bill. The Company will reimburse all reasonable Business Entertainment of customers/suppliers outside the company. 22) Business entertainment includes gifts and hospitality of any type. 23) When customers/suppliers stay at hotels as guests of the Company, their accommodation and meals will be paid for by the Company. Domestic air and rail travel 24) Second Class should be used for all journeys. The directors may travel First Class if using their laptops and the journey is in excess of 3 hours. 25) All bookings for air flights should be booked through the company travel agency. An exception to this rule is bookings made online with so-called low cost airlines. A minimum of three working days notice of airline ticket requirements is desirable. Training courses 26) Accommodation and transport in conjunction with training courses is subject to the same rules as for other business-related travel. Page 5 of 7

6 Membership of Professional Bodies 27) The Company will pay subscriptions to approved professional bodies on behalf of employees where an employee is requested to take up membership by the Company, in the interests of the Company. 28) In some cases, subscriptions paid may be taxable and the employee should be aware that he may bear the additional cost. Telephone related costs 29) When a private telephone is used for business calls, employees may claim the cost of business calls plus VAT quarterly, on submission of the telephone bill. 30) Where significant business is conducted from a private address a separate business line must be installed and the bill addressed directly to the company. The company will in these circumstances pay the rental and all calls plus VAT. Purchases of equipment 31) Subject to the cost centre Managers approval, various pieces of equipment, including IT equipment, may be purchased for employees use at work or home. 32) All such purchases should be made through the Company Administrator using a Capital Expenditure form and purchase order and not by including on an expense claim form. 33) When an employee leaves or changes job, equipment must be returned to the Human Resources department for redeployment. Credit card fees 34) The annual fee for a personal credit card to be used on Company business is not refundable by the company. Use of own vehicle 35) The Company will reimburse mileage at the following rates: Use of Private Car 40p per mile for first 10,000 miles in tax year 25p per mile thereafter 36) To qualify for payment the driver must produce evidence that their insurance policy has been endorsed by their insurance company to allow occasional business use. Company Credit Cards Employees 37) Where considered necessary, employees may be issued with a company credit card. As a general receipts should be obtained for all expenditure. However it is recognised that in certain instances it may not be possible to obtain a receipt. 38) For all employees the Company Credit Card is to be used for business expenditure only. Page 6 of 7

7 Premier Inn Cards 39) Engineering staff who have frequent overnight stays may be issued with a Premier Inn Card. 40) These cards are only to be used for business accommodation. The overnight expenses rules apply to the use of these cards.any excessive expenditure will be deducted from net pay after deduction of tax and national insurance. Mobile Phones 41) You may be issued with a mobile telephone for necessary company calls. 42) Mobile phones are to be switched on and carried at all times except where restricted by a customer and by prior arrangement with the Duty Engineer, Supervisor or Manager. The mobile phone must be returned to the company upon termination by the of their employment, or last day worked if earlier. 43) The mobile telephone is to be kept secure at all times. Care should be taken to avoid theft of the mobile phone. Loss through negligence will result in the assignee being liable for replacement costs. 44) Under no circumstances is the mobile phone to be used to browse the internet. 45) Where excessive mobile phone charges are incurred due to personal calls or internet use the Company will deduct reasonable costs from the individual concerned. Company Clothing Tools 46) All engineers and their supervisors are required to wear company supplied clothing during normal working hours. This clothing will be badged with the Company brand logo. The clothing supplied shall be kept clean and ironed. Black safety shoes must be worn with Company clothing. Trainers/sports shoes are not permitted unless authorised for specific tasks. 47) Engineering staff will be allocated stcok to enable them to carry out their duities. This will be counted and signed for on engagement and termination (excluding defined consumables). Any shortfall must be accounted for. 48) Engineering staff are expected to supply their own hand tools and a fixed allowance of per annum is payable in January of each year providing the expenditure is backed by receipts. Page 7 of 7