Business Expenses With No Credit Card

outtadebt

Hi,

I've just been offered a brilliant new job which involves travelling abroad and claiming back business expenses like hotels and travel.

I am in £23k worth of debt and can no longer get another credit card even if I wanted to. I cannot afford to pay for my business expenses out of my own pocket and then wait a month to get them back. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do or how I should approach this with my new employer? I'm a bit worried about telling them about my financial position and also worried about having to pay expenses out of my own pocket!

Any comments would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

HO87

If foreign travel is going to form a significant part of your work and your employer expects you to fund this on a reimbursement basis then it would not be unreasonable for them to offer you a "float". In two previous companies my expenses were repaid on the same basis and I was supplied with a float which was increased twice to enable me to cover payments without being substantially out of pocket. Although you do not have a credit card to use you could explore the possibility of using a prepaid debit card (choose one with a low sign-up fee and easy top-up facilities - preferably online so you can manage it whilst you are away). Speak to your manager and see if this is possible.

outtadebt

Great idea thanks a lot.

Savvy_Sue

You could ask your employer if they could set you up with a company credit card, although they might be reluctant to do this immediately. An alternative might be a prepayment card, get a sub (if you can) to take it out in your name, then ask the company to top it up. As foreign travel is involved, have a look at Martin's article.

Judas

You can ask but if the company has this as a term of employment they may well tell you where to go; especially once they find out your reasons for needing this.

No one is going to want to give an employee with 20K plus of debt advances or credit cards.

outtadebt

I see your point but I'm sure there must be others out there that for what ever reason have debt or are unable to get a credit card to pay business expenses? Is it not a little unreasonable anyway to expect people to pay for frequent business travel and accomodation and be reimbursed a month later? Not everyone can get a credit card with a big enough limit anyway??? Especially not nowadays