Work expenses

Andyjflet

I used to do this and the company should give you a "float" to cover out of pocket expenses. IIRC we used to get £250 a month float. Then we moved over to company credit cards for travel and hotels, meals etc

Sharon87

Yes companies should pay for it in advance, whether that's booking the hotel on a company card, give you per diems or an allowance for food. For fuel usually that's done on expense, unless they give you a cash float.

I work in TV and we don't expect our staff on location to cover any expenses themselves, but some like to pay on their AMEX cards to get airmiles and expense them back.

If I were you and had a cashback card or AMEX I would use those to get some benefits of booking the hotels/food yourself (you can use hotels.com/ebookers through Quidco and get cashback yourself as a little perk). If you can afford to pay up front either in cash or a credit card, then you can earn a bit of money from booking work trips! As long as you know the company is reliable at paying expenses at least!

elsien

2e0arr wrote: »

when i started a job out of university i was told id have to reclaim expenses and get paid following month. i checked companies employee handbook and my contract and nothing about expenses.

it was difficult for me because i was on 12 month probation.

i told the truth i had mortgage wife child cats and overdraft maxed out. i asked would they pay me an advance of expenses and they did. Yet second time i asked they gave me a company credit card.

you cannot be disciplined or sacked for not having money to pay for your companies business.

Not strictly accurate. Your employment can be terminated for any reason in the first two years unless one of the protected characteristics apply.

TryingAgain2022

Just to add, good luck and iI agree with previous replies - let your HR know that you are not able to bankroll the firm at this time, and ask for an advance or to borrow the company credit card on this occasion (they will have one).

I used to lash out up to £1500 a month for work expenses and claim it back the following month. The hassle of claiming it back plus the habit of using a credit card for work was a big factor in my buildup of debt - my own fault, for being disorganised and falling into bad habits, but you are being sensible and already know that this is not manageable.

I don't think it hurts to ask the question. There is no shame in having a budget (quite the opposite!) and not wanting to break it.

London_Town

Another vote here for getting a credit card exclusively for this purpose. If you don't go away much, just keep it on standby for when you do.

I travel for my job a few times a month and have to claim back hotel, food and fuel bills. I got myself a cash back card, but you could also get one that gives you points that work for you, John Lewis, Tesco or Sainsburys for instance.

I'd never know where I was, (or even have the money!) if I had to pay expenses out of my current account and then claim them back.

OnlyPariah

I used to have a Cashback credit card that I would earn money on the things bought for expenses. Then pay it off each month. I used to have to buy fuel myself and then claim it back and since I used to spend £300 a month on fuel I used to quickly rack up the points. I had a lot less outgoings then though.

Bizzywizard

I'm a business owner and would not expect my employees to pay for their hotel and food. A lot of companies have an account with say Holiday Inn and get it cheaper rate as a group booking. It is worth asking HR or the boss as you should not be out of pocket, as its cheaper for them to do a group booking. Petrol is a normal expense to be paid the following month (unless you live in London). I used to have a floating amount (from a company when I was a rep years ago). This was when I lived in London as my parking charges alone were £8 an hour! That's £57 a day, £280 per week in total £1120 a month! Do you have a reasonable boss? If so go and chat to him/her, rather than HR (if you even have one). Hope this helps! Bizzy

Takmon

vintagegirl wrote: »

Not sure never askEd. I probably wouldn’t because it would be embarrassing as other people are going with me

Don't be embarrassed, lots of people prefer not to pay for work expenses and claim them back for a variety of reasons. Whenever I go away for work I always pay for the entire groups hotels and food etc and then claim it all back myself. It works well for me because I like to choose the hotel and get cashback on my credit card and they like only having to worry about claiming it back.
So see if anyone in your group wants to do this, if they also use a cashback card they might quite like the idea.