Conference 7.286::digital

    We've always needed receipts for everything here (in GY).

    	I tried to send a calm version of the base note to the address in
    VTX, and got a "no such user" error message.

    		David

.1>    We've always needed receipts for everything here (in GY).

    	How do you get receipts for tips, pay phones, lunch counters, etc.? 
    Or do you just not bother reporting that?

    		David

    tips: 	if not shown on the receipt, add them yourself (usually
    		shown on the receipt; mandatory nowadays).
    
    pay phones: if you're really payning cash (coins), write one yourself
    		(number called, name/company, and date/time required).
    
    lunch counter: I don't think we have these here... anywhere you can get
    		  something to eat, you can get a receipt.
    

      Why not take it a step further and require a receipt and an affidavit
    signed by a notary public, stamped and verified. Travel can be enough
    of a hassle, if an employee gets stiffed for a legitimate expense
    simply because he/she forgot to get a receipt that suits the company's
    requirements it would be ridiculous.
    
      This Quantum sale is looking better and better.
    
    Paul

    The easiest work-around is simply to get an "exception" signature on
    your reimbursement voucher.  (translation - have your manager's manager
    sign and everything will be copacetic without receipts for minor
    hassles.)  this has the added benefit of making this policy a hassle
    for management so that it gets "modified" again...!!
    
    		Jack C. (Finance, but no beancounter...)

    I think the purpose here is to "foil" many of the people who still
    "abuse" expense reimbursements.  Some of the things that still happen
    include unauthorized meetings catered in or done outside and then 
    instruct each employee to contribute $15 or so, and write it off 
    as a customer lunch.
    
    When I was a sect'y here, I was amazed that you *didn't* need to have a
    receipt for everything, except tips.  I remember people who claimed two
    or three lunches every week, all under $25, so no receipt.  Or got the
    Plan A car washed every single week, again with no receipt.  Etc.,
    etc., so on and so forth.  
    
    As bad as we all know things are, this stuff still happens.
    

    Expenses should NOT be submitted without receipts, period. I have seen
    a few cases that if I was to be a manager, I would have not approved.
    (and it was).
    
    It's about time we get numbers straight... even if it is a bit of
    inconvenience, or bother.
    Ana
    

    I've always receipted just about everything.  I might have a few
    dollars per day for tips and insignificant expenses, usually not
    more than $3 or $4 -- I've never had any trouble gathering the
    receipts, and having my expenses approved.
    
    					andrew

    
    
           Having processed thousands of expense vouchers, I saw numerous
    
      examples of employees submitting expense vouchers without receipts,
     
      most of these were paid with an approval from the cost center
      
      manager, I think that it is about time a policy like this is
     
      implemented, even though it is a inconvenience.
    
                                          Regards,
                                          Magnum
    
    

    re: .-1
    
    Having submitted many scores of expense vouchers without receipts for
    meals (because the daily total was under the guideline and no single
    meal cost more than $25 - therefore no receipt was required), I saw
    numerous examples where my actual costs were higher than what I
    expensed. In fact, in almost 20 years of travel for this company, I've
    never taken a trip where I didn't take a loss, in some cases on the
    order of $1000.
    
    The net result of this nonsense will be to increase meal (and other)
    expenses by giving people an incentive to buy only where they easily
    get a receipt: higher priced establishments that take credit cards
    and hotel restaurants that allow you to charge to your room in the
    middle of the breakfast rush.
    
    _I_ think it is about time that whoever comes up with these policies or
    thinks they're a good idea was forced to use them themselves.
    
    -Tom
                                 

          " Receipts are required for reimbursement of all authorized
    |       business expenses.  The receipt must identify the; name of
            the establishment where the expense was incurred, date of
            expense, actual amount incurred, type of expense and
            receipt of payment. "
    
    Frequently when in the downtown part of a city, I use the parking lots
    that may charge $5-8/day rather than the big building lots that charge
    $25-35/day.  These little lots usually scribble with a grease pencil on
    the back of a tag that may or may not have the date, type of expense,
    name of the establishment or where the expense was incurred.  I have
    always included them, but they just don't have all that information.
    
    There needs to be some sanity in the application of the rules.  I have
    always included receipts that were easily obtained even with the $25
    limit making them unneeded.  I have had a continental breakfast in a
    hotel, where the tip was the only cost and no chance for a reciept.  I
    traveled with a leg in a cast and had to have luggage handled, as I did
    another time while on crutches - how do you get a receipt for baggage
    handling - maybe give them $25 so they will accept Visa?  Or how about
    the guy who helped me change a tire while I had the leg cast and gave
    him $5 - should I have called a tow service and paid $30?
    
    Certainly there are abuses - that supposedly is why you have managers
    responsible.  If they are not going to contribute, then let's get rid
    of the managers and the approvals and just submit your receipts direct
    to the bean counter.
    
    "Hotel room service should be minimized, these prices are typically
     50% more costly than restaurant charges."  
    
    Obviously written by one who has never used room service.  Most hotels
    add a room service charge or a gratuity of 15% and you usually do not
    get specials of the day, but it is rare when the additional cost per
    menu item is above 10% above the menu item in the hotel restaurant. 
    They certainly might be 50% above McDonald's, but then I don't eat
    there when I am paying either.
    
    This may be out of the comprehension of the bean counters, but wouldn't
    be nice if the policy said, "...whatever is fair and reasonable..." and
    your manager demanded that you use the same judgement you would use if
    you were paying the expense for yourself?
                                                                    
             

    FWIW, a fully receipted expense report allows judgements to be made
    about your work ethics on the road, the quality of your life, etc.
    
    My previous employer used expense reports to systematically purge
    the ops & training staffs of unsavory individuals. And there's
    not much overhead involved - bigotry and ignorance are cheap and
    work faster than any calculator.
    
    bk

>I've
>    never taken a trip where I didn't take a loss, in some cases on the
>    order of $1000.

Same here (though my loss usually runs an order of magnitude less, thank
goodness) - with one exception.  Training trip where room w/kitchen was prepaid
and I got $35/day for food.  I couldn't spend it all; tried to turn remainder
back in.  Instructed by my manager that paperwork to turn extra back in probably
more trouble than worth - take it instead of pay raise ;-)

Actually, the "always have receipts" has been SOP for some areas of the company
for along time, and I find it to be more of a mindset than a difficulty.
You just get into the habit of saving everything and always asking for one,
even the receipt for a burger from Wendy's.


--Scott

>    My previous employer used expense reports to systematically purge
>    the ops & training staffs of unsavory individuals.

What were they expensing -- drugs and topless bars?

A couple of excerpts from one of my favorite books:

EXPENSE ACCOUNTS: THEORY X DISEASE

Like everything else you do--keep your expense account honest.  Even if 
others are cheating openly.  Not because you might get caught, but because 
honesty has to start somewhere.  The people who are buying clothes or 
having heir shirts laundered on their expense accounts are getting their 
fun that way because they're in a Theory X [one which assumes people hate 
work and are hard to motivate] environment and can't get healthy kicks 
during office hours.

The typical response of a Theory X company to this game is to hire more 
people to write regulations and check the resulting paperwork.  This costs 
more than the cheating, which, of course, doesn't stop--it just gets more 
inventive.

The real solution: repeal the regulations, fire the checkers, and start to 
build a Theory Y [opposite of X] company.

POLICY MANUALS

Don't bother.  If they're general, they're useless. If they're specific, 
they're how-to manuals--expensive to prepare and revise.

The only people who read policy manuals are goldbricks and martinets.  The 
goldbricks memorize them so they can say: (a) "That's not in this 
department" or (2) [sic] "It's against company policy."  The martinets use 
policy manuals to confine, frustrate, punish, and eventually drive out of 
the organization every imaginative, creative, adventuresome woman and man.

If you *have* to have a policy manual, publish the Ten Commandments.

	both excerpts from _Further_Up_the_Organization_, by Robert
	Townsend, 1984

        I have been in the habit of writing a receipt myself in those
        cases where the expense is small and the vendor doesn't
        provide one.

        Bob

re .17

a "receipt" acknowledges something "received" - and i
suppose that DEC wants a receipt for the money spent.  

since you're not (i hope) paying money to yourself, whatever 
you might write, it ain't a receipt for the money you spent.
it's only a note which says you spent some money.

    My two cents.....\
    If we are going to run a professional sales organization, then we need
    to pay for expenses of the sales force just like everyone else.  If
    these means micro managing down to the individual dollar and cents
    level, you have defeated the purpose of business expenses.  
    If you're out representing your company in a professional manner, you
    have a right to have your travel & entertainment expenses covered by
    your employer.  In the same manner, you have the right to entertain the
    client in a resonable manner, just like every other professional
    organization.  I have friends at HP, IBM, SGI, Sun etc  etc and I can
    practically GUARANTEE that these companies do not unnecessarily
    burden their sales professionals with tedious, picky, stupid, petty,
    ridiculous trivia such as dollar receipts for tips.
    	Then again, I'm assuming that digital still wants to field a
    professional sales organization.  Perhaps this is an erroneous
    assumption.
    
    

    I just returned from 8 weeks in a foreign company. This was my sixth
    trip in a year delivering consulting (US$1000/day and training $US1400
    a day. At no time did my meal or hotel or any other expense go above,
    or even near the limits for where I was. Note further in the ppp's and
    you will see that each expense receipt must have a currency conversion
    worksheet written on it. 
    
    I have three weeks in the states and during that time I have 5 projects
    that need to be finished before I'm off again. I do not have time to
    get scraps of paper to be ignored by everyone once they see that they
    exist. If I have to fly coach all around the world, let someone younger
    and smaller do it. Let these multi-million dollar deals be nickel and
    dimed to death. This is, I guess what is meant be empowerment.
    
    I've been doing expenses in this company for 19 years now. I never felt
    that padding my expenses was worth the pain to my conscience or the
    risk of being "caught". 
    
    I wonder how many of the "task force" who put these onerus rules in
    place brought dime one into the company in their careers.
    
    

definition:

Criminal == someone in Digital who incurs expenses.

definition:

someone in Digital who incurs expenses == everyone in Digital.

definition:

Bean Counter == someone who doesnt understand the difference between
a cost an an investment.

definition:

Bean Counter == someone who doesnt understand that the cost of control can 
be greater than the cost incurred.

God, even the phone company here doesnt bill you till the bill reaches 
about $10. The cost of collection is just too great otherwise.

I'm getting mighty tired of this nonsense.

    My employer before Digital had a daily per diem rate for meals and
    hotels -- $25-$35/day for meals and $60-$100/day for hotel, depending
    upon the location of the travel.  Employees were welcome to exceed
    these rates and simply pay the difference, or pocket the difference if
    they preferred less expensive restaurants and hotels.
    
    This system has several advantages.  First, the expenses are known
    exactly before the travel even takes place, eliminating the need
    for excess bean counters.  Second, it simplifies the burden of reporting
    trip expenses for the traveler.  Third, it is fair because everyone is
    treated the same.  Finally, there is no "grey area" when it comes to
    reporting the expenses.  By definition, there is no cheating that takes
    place and no "guilt" on the part of the traveler.
    
    I am sure that there is something that I am missing, but I believe that
    this would be a cost-effective approach that most employees of Digital
    would accept quite eagerly.
    
    caw

    I thought though that there was some sort of tax issue with the
    expenses.  DEC gets to write these trips off (so to speak) and needs to
    make sure that it can provide the receipts in case of an audit.  So I
    have always assumed that $25 per meal (or whatever) is some sort of
    government limit for needing a receipt.

    re .22, .23: Fixed per diems are the rule in Europe (except with some
    American companies, like us). Hotels are usually reimbursed according
    to real cost (but in hotels you normally get a receipt anyway).
    
    I'd much prefer it (depends on how much, of course...). It would save a
    lot of administrative overhead. In most countries (in Europe, at least)
    there's a fixed limit that the company can charge against their taxes
    and that's usually the amount they pay per diem.

re.0:

In the UK we submit receipts, preferably with a VAT (Value Added Tax) 
number, so that the tax portion can be reclaimed. This has always been the 
case. The minimum amount allowed without a receipt is �3. 

Dave.

    anyone yet found a way to get a receipt from the automatic exact change
    toll machines on the highways 8^)
    
    Mark
    

>The minimum amount allowed without a receipt is �3. 
     ^
     maximum :-)
    
    Peter 

    re .26: Buy some machines in France - you just press a button, and get
    a receipt...

         In the U.K. a per diem rate is usually frowned upon by the 
         taxman and could well be treated as a taxable benefit rather 
         than repayment of incurred expenses.
         
         Ian

    	This is because in France you need a receipt for everything.
    
    	If I submit an expense without a receipt, then, sure enough, a
    sufficiently high level manager can sign it off. However:
    
    1) I lose 30% of what I claim since without a submitted receipt the tax
    man assumes DEC is paying me salary rather than expenses, and
    
    2) As already mentioned, with a receipt DEC can claim back the VAT from
    the the tax man. If I don't have a receipt they can't.
    
    	In other words, it costs both DEC and myself personaly to submit an
    expense without a receipt, even without the hassle of getting some
    suitable manager to sign it.
    
    	The autoroute tolls are no problem, but I still have difficulty
    persuading a parking meter to give a receipt. And then there was the
    restaurant in the U.S. that told me (after the meal) that they couldn't
    give me a receipt because they were a "paperless restaurant" - in the
    end the manager scribbled something on the back of one of his business
    cards.
    
    	Is there a market here, with so many payments being electronic, to
    have some facility where when you paid a bill that would be expensible,
    the machine registering the payment could also send X.400 mail to the
    DEC payroll department directly so that we could really move to
    paperless expenses?

    I guess I won't be giving Digital any more inexpensive meals.  I will
    frequently get a Coke, a candy bar, and a bag of chips from a vending
    machine in order to stay on the job.  Since vending machines don't give
    receipts, I'll be going out, spending more and being away from the job.
    
    Bull puckyyyyyy.

    re: Note 3284.31 by ODIXIE::DWYERR 

>    I guess I won't be giving Digital any more inexpensive meals.  I will
>    frequently get a Coke, a candy bar, and a bag of chips from a vending
>    machine in order to stay on the job.  Since vending machines don't give
>    receipts, I'll be going out, spending more and being away from the job.

    Why not talk to your manager and/or finance rep and ask how they want 
    you to deal with small expenses that you can't get a receipt for. 
    Before changing the way you do things due to a change in the orange
    book. The orange book is a guide not a Bible.  

    -Bruce 
    

    Bruce,
    
    I would disagree that the orange book is a guide not a bible.  It has
    always been the deciding factor in policy disputes.
    
    Charlie

  re: Note 3284.33 by WRAFLC::GILLEY 
    
>    I would disagree that the orange book is a guide not a bible.  It has
>    always been the deciding factor in policy disputes.
    
    I have no idea what your experience is, but if I can show how doing
    something doesn't cost Digital any more and might even save some money,
    I have been allowed to do it even if the orange book says otherwise.       

    -Bruce

    Reminds me of when I was in San Diego in '78.  The F/S tech had spent
    a lot of time at a local college and had itemized his expenses with
    a line of "PT 0.25" every day.  Finally a branch manager happend to
    ask him, "What's PT 25�?"
    
    "Pay Toilet"
    
    ed

    Aha!  Innovation.  You're next on the list buddy.  ;-)
    
    Seriously, you have a point.  However, in a situation where both
    options cost money, the orangebook has always been the tie breaker.
    
    Charlie

re.31:

>    I guess I won't be giving Digital any more inexpensive meals.  I will
>    frequently get a Coke, a candy bar, and a bag of chips from a vending
>    machine in order to stay on the job.  Since vending machines don't give
>    receipts, I'll be going out, spending more and being away from the job.
>    

An interesting difference in culture, I wouldn't claim something like that. 
Because it would (probably) cost no more than if I was in my office and expenses
are for when you are out of pocket. 

Dave.

    Ok, the Houston NorthExpressway is $.75. If you want to get a
    receipt, they add a quarter to the charge. This increases the
    toll to $1.00 ( had to do the math, just to keep the finance 
    folks happy :-) ). It cost a quarter to get a receipt, now the
    real fun begins.

    I think that is the minor cost. How much does it cost for someone
    to sort all their receipts and make sure they have every small
    expense covered and then do expense report.

    How much does it cost for every admin person that checks vouchers
    for their managers to make sure every little receipt is in place.

    How much does it cost for every Finance person to sort through all
    the receipts to make sure they are all there.

    I think were talking several dollars here to track pocket change.


    If people are going to cheat, it wont be nickles and dimes, they only
    need to get extra blank receipts and fill in amounts they want. I'm 
    sure a lot of the cheaters always include receipts for every little
    item. Stringent rules only cost the honest.

    - John

    PS - while working in the Puerto Rico plant we were able to 
         charge the current per diem, Expense reports were done
         in fifteen minutes, now it can take hours.

    
    This may have been proposed before but why not go to per diem?
    
    Cut out the pieces of paper.
    Cut out all of the continuous rules and policies.
    Cut out the people reviewing all of those pieces of paper.
    Cut out the auditors checking the paper reviewers.
    Cut out the paper that all of the policies & procedures are written on.
    etc.
    
    I have seen Anderson Consulting using Per Diem and they seemed to be
    somewhat content with it. No one was getting rich on the expense
    differences between what they spend and what they receive, and no one
    was getting poor either. Automated expenses reporting, automatically
    handled, and payment going to the person direct deposit. 
    
    I am sure it isn't the perfect solution but I thought we were trying to
    save money in the company not continue to come up with rules and bits
    of paper all over the place for people to write up and people to review
    10 times.

re.0:

>    	Are they kidding?  Is this supposed to save money?  Can it possibly

No! We are trying to control the costs, which is something completely different.
Remember, the bean counters just want to know WHERE the money is going. If it
takes 1 mln $'s to implement such a system, so what? The objective is CONTROL.
Not SAVING money. Best proof of that is to look at the SG&A figure of our last
Q3 result. If the objective would be to SAVE money, than somebody would come up
with the obvious idea to check what it COSTS to implement certain controls. (see
my mote 2841.24 on the same subject). 
Putting in more controls and regulations have never decreased abuse of the
system. People that want to take advantage of "the system" always will find ways
and workarounds. The more difficult you make it, the more inventive they become.
That's a given. It doesn't bring costs down. But than, that's not the objective
, isn't it? It's like taxes. They know they people fraud for amount XX. Stricter
controls will not change that. For every hole in the law that they fix,
inventive people will find 10 other ways to abuse the new solution.
So next time when you go to the toilet in the restaurant, don't forget to ask
the cleaning lady for a receipt. We just want to know that you indeed went to
the mens room and not the ladies. (Now is this reimbursable? It's free at home
and at the office...). :):):)

Timo

    NO DESERT???

    Hard to believe, but the travel guidelines I've been working under
    (which I got from VTX) say:
    
    "Meal costs INCLUDE ALL APPLICABLE TAXES AND 15% GRATUITY.  Desserts
    and cocktails are excluded."
    
    Wouldn't have believed it myself should I not have seen it!
    
    							Tex

RE .42

>>    NO DESERT???

Only if you're fond of sand.

    NO DESERTS  backwards is  STRESED ON

    .43
    
    > "Desserts and cocktails are not included."
    
    So tell me...
    
    If you take the hors d'oeuvres, the fish, the meat, 
    the cheese and the coffee then who really _needs_ 
    either the cocktails to start, or the dessert to finish?

Besides which, a 'cocktail' is a 'drink of spirits with bitters,
sugar, etc.' (Concise OED).  Doesn't sound like anything I'd
want to drink -- I'd have a nice gin and tonic instead.

    re.40:
    
    Maybe I just don't get it but if Digital gives you $25.00 a day to eat
    don't they know where the $25.00 is going (ie; it's going for food). I
    would think it would be much harder to determine how much is being
    spent on bean counters checking how much others are spending.
    
    ray j. 
    (who stopped going on company trips when it started costing more
    money and trouble than it was worth.)

I went on a trip about a year ago and I claimed back coffee and a few soft
drinks. It was refused, it was about 350 French francs. I argued that on
2 days I had not eaten but I was told that company policy was that no coffees
or soft drinks were allowed.

The coffees incidently were taken at Prague airport on a day that I go up
at 5 A.M. to travel home and due to delays etc I was stuck at the airport. It
was not my fault that I was stuck there, I was on company business earning
real dollars on a customer project. When this was refused I argues for days
on the principle that I had not eaten but nobody listened to me, I eventually
had to give in so that my expense claim would be paid. I had a 10000 French
franc travel advance and my expenses were over 30000 French francs. This 
project cost ME time away from family and caused my account to be overdrawn.

On subsequent trips I made sure I had a GOOD meal everyday and made sure that
I made the time to eat. I will never forget this incident and the stupidity
of not paying 350 French francs for coffeee and soft drinks but not having
any problems getting a 350 French franc per day meal paid for without any
problem.

Thanks be to God I will be soon out of here, I won't miss it.

El Gringo

    
    
    
    
    Given -.1, I'm going to post this here.  It's an excerpt of a note I 
    sent my management requesting clarification on the policy:
    
    		--------- original message follows ----------
    
    I understand the receipt issue (can't wait to get one from a pay-phone,
    vending machine, skycap, etc.) but am unclear how this translates to
    the spending limits.  If anyone can clarify:
    
    City                    Brkfst          Lunch           Dinner  Total
    
    Boondoggle, OR          $7.00           $12.00          $14.00  $33.00
    
    We're supposed to have a receipt for each item.  Does this mean that,
    given the following outlay:
    
                            $8.00           $11.00          $14.00   $33.00
    
    I wind up losing a dollar since I was over for breakfast?  Also,
    given that I don't eat at all on Monday but have $66.00 worth
    of food on Tuesday, do I wind up out of pocket $33.00?  Do I have
    to write a justification memo in this case?
    

...you spend twice as much time recording your expenses, gathering receipts, 
and writing expense justification memo's, than you do working with your
customers.

Oops!   Wrong note...   8^)

>I was told that company policy was that no coffees or soft drinks were
>allowed.
>
>The coffees incidently were taken at Prague airport on a day that I go up
>at 5 A.M. to travel home and due to delays etc I was stuck at the airport.

You just didn't show appropriate creativity.  If you had purchased a roll
along with the coffee, it would have no longer been just coffee, but a
continental breakfast.

/john

>================================================================================
>Note 3284.52   Travel policy changed: Save those 25-cent receipts!      52 of 52
>COVERT::COVERT "John R. Covert"                      11 lines   5-AUG-1994 16:04
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>>I was told that company policy was that no coffees or soft drinks were
>>allowed.
>>
>>The coffees incidently were taken at Prague airport on a day that I go up
>>at 5 A.M. to travel home and due to delays etc I was stuck at the airport.
>
>You just didn't show appropriate creativity.  If you had purchased a roll
>along with the coffee, it would have no longer been just coffee, but a
>continental breakfast.
>
>/john

I learned after the incident how to cope with the system but it made me mad
to have to find ways of avoiding being personally out of pocket. 

El Gringo

I'm doin' quite a lot of travelling for this company (> 75% of my time) and
doin' this for quite some years. As of the first trip I'm used to have tickets
for almost everything. This is due to, as it is in France, Dutch tax 
regulations.
Digital Holland couldn't care less for the receipts as long as you didn't
claim more than allowed. Of course they like the receipts but they could live
without.

I'm not allowed to claim lunches if I eat in a Digital building, I know
that getting receipts is getting a hassle, especially in the US because of your
$25 rule you had and the 15% tip, which is according to me not a tip but a must.
The 15% is something you guys give anyway no matter what the service and/or
the food. The other thing is that a bill in a restaurant in the US contains
a part which you can tear off with hardly any information only some space
for the date and amount. In Europe you can easy eat with 15 or more persons and 
ask the waiter to divide by the number of people, accept different credit
cards and cash all mixed up, and the person will happily sit down and write
as many receipts as you need. What you have to think of that if
the bill for example $20 and you give $2 tip that the bill written should
be $22. Thisis also with larger groups add the tip to the bill and divide that.

But this is something which the US has to get used to but the way restaurants
work will make this quite difficult. 

Personaly I should say you shouldn't lose on your trips but since many others
tried to make money out of it, the receipts might be very necessary.
It's just that you have to get used to ask receipts and tell how much it should
contain. I don't lose money on my trips I also don't make a profit out of it
I whish that certain people should understand that the ones on the road do
their work and are not on the road to earn money for themselves, only this
sometimes just might not be true.

I didn't read the new travel policy yet but I was already told it changed
quite a lot.

Instead of using coin-phones, use credit card phones and use one particular
credit card for business calls, than claim the credit card bill.

It's easy for me to say maybe, since I'm used to ask for a receipt, if you're
not used to it you might forget to ask. Not asking than means not allowed
to claim. Personally I feel that most of the rules are invented by people
who hardly travel. Lot of people still see travel as something extra, a sort 
of a vacation or something. Ofcourse if I hated it I wouldn't do it, but it's
not a vacation.

It sounds strange that we save money by making these rules, but they are 
probably necessary.

Ciao,

Michiel

    Actually the "No Dessert" Rule is only meant for those
    individuals who are "horizontally challenged"...

    .54:
    
�                Lot of people still see travel as something extra, a sort 
�  of a vacation or something. 
    
    Yeah, that's true -- mostly of what sailors used to call "supercargo",
    I'd say (which might be why most of them don't travel much).
    
    I still recall spending seven weeks doing SW support for a set of trade
    shows, and pulling two all-nighters during those seven weeks.  As I'd
    managed to get a bachelor's without ever doing such a thing, a practice
    run might have been useful.
    
    Dick

    re: .56
    	Ah yes, business trips I remember. Helsinki on the 20th. December,
    with only 4 hours of daylight, and the rain freezing as it hit the
    pavement. DECUS in Copenhagen - in 4 days I had almost no sleep, and
    only got outside the hotel where the convention was being held for 2
    hours. Rome, with its industrial estates - I could tell it wasn't
    Basingstoke because there were more prostitute on the street corners,
    even at 8 a.m..
    
    	The only time I was on per diem was a 2 month trip to the U.S..
    Since it was 2 months I took my family. Unfortunately it seems that New
    England banks don't know how to talk to Old England banks, so although
    I thought I had set up everything required in advance it proved
    impossible to draw from my British bank account in the U.S., and the
    four of us lived for the 2 months on my per diem allowance. I have no
    doubt it makes a luxurious holiday when you are single, but...

    Apparently the limits apply to individual meals.  Thus, if the limits
    are $7/brkfst, $8/lunch and you eat an $8/brkfst, and $7/lunch, you'll
    be reimbursed $14/both.  Per my manager...

>    Basingstoke because there were more prostitute on the street corners,
>    even at 8 a.m..

Does that qualify as entertainment on the expense report ?

Scott :)

    I've been told to address our gripes to Joyce Flinn @MSO about this
    absurd new requirement.  I did launch her a 2-pager myself and request
    that those who really do the traveling and revenue-generating in this
    company do the same.
    
    For those who've responded "...our unit has always required
    receipts...", I'd venture a guess that no one person travels more than
    a few times per year.  For those of us that do it 40 to 50 weeks per
    year, this new requirement is a make-work policy.
    
    And ditto on the fact that it costs us travelers already when we go
    beyond the DEC city guidelines because we refuse to fly a lower-priced,
    sometimes unsafe airline, or stay at a fleabag hotel (e.g. Seattle's
    guideline is $60--try staying anywhere near your customer
    downtown--more like $125).
    
    I think someone else already mentioned it--maybe the corporate shirts
    are trying to get us all to just quit.  That way the $$ put aside for
    TFSO could later be placed back into the pot for the bonuses for those
    same shirts for a job well done.
    
    Sign me, disgusted

	Getting all these receipts is a hassle I won't like but I can live with
it.  One serious concern I have is the wasted time of whoever it is that's going
to be checking up on me.  Especially given how much the company has cut back on
resources in the administrative area I am going to be watching to see how long
it takes to process expense reports.  I very rarely take an advance because most
of my significant expenses are on a credit card and the company normally processes
the expense report and reimburses me before I have to write a check to the card
company.  If that changes I will simply routinely request an advance.  This will
cost the company money both in additional processing and in lending me money for
free.

	I also don't at all like the feeling that the company is so sure I will
cheat them out of a few dollars that they will expend significant personnel
resources checking up on me.  After all, I am not to be trusted, right?

Brian Schimpf

    I agree that this is nothng more than a MAKE-WORK policy.   You want to
    save the company money?  Get rid of the bean counters and 2/3 of th
    middle managers in this company.
    
    I have personallly been stiffed almost $1000  because of "limits".  I 
    do not try to pad my expenses, so I expect that the company to pay for
    actual expenses.  I have a seperate account for personal and busniness
    expenses and I should NEVER have to take money from personal and put
    it in business.
    
    One of the stupidest, idiotic "rules" is "if you are at a Digital
    facility that has a cafe, you pay, not Digital".
    
    This policy makes sense if you travel from ZKO to MKO.  It does not
    make sense when you are in training 2000 miles from home.  If I am
    in training it would be expected to for the company to pay ALL my
    meals.  I don't drink, so if I turn in a meal expense, it is for food!
    The limits they set per city are also very stupid. After a lot of
    traveling, it is obvious that the idiots that came up with these
    policies have never been where we in the field go!
    
    I don't go to the most expensive restaurants, but I also don't go to
    McDonald's or BK!!  A person can only take so much of that junk!
    
    Bean counter and policy making middle managers will be the death of
    Digital.  They already killed DEC.
    
    m...
    

When I travel, it almost always entails me doing so on a weekend, or getting
up at 4AM (or both!)  Digital doesn't pay me anything extra for this
extra time I put in and then makes it difficult for me to get reimbursed
for legitimate and modest expenses?  At least I could plausibly say "no"
if asked to travel in the future; those in other positions don't necessarily
have that option.

					Steve

    Steve,
    
     This is my biggest beef with management, and it is sure to raise its
    head shortly.  Try getting the 'lowest reasonable fare' from Tom Cook. 
    I've seen prives vary 50% on medium distance flights - all have the
    'lowest reasonable fare' stamped on them.  I see the Catch-22 on the
    way.  Now I'm just waiting for the time they tell me to leave Atlanta
    on Sunday morning, 9AM to catch the supersaver.
    
      By the way, did you see the suggestion in the orange book encouraging
    employees to use their frequent flyer points to reduce future business
    costs?  Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahha.
    
    Charlie

    >>> Now I'm just waiting for the time they tell me to leave Atlanta on
    >>> Sunday morning, 9AM to catch the supersaver.
    
    What, you mean they don't?
    
    Four years ago, when I was still a regular Digital employee and
    travelled once in a while, the corp. travel agent (don't remember who
    it was then, Crimson maybe?) tried to book me out of Bradley
    International [Hartford Conn] at 5:30 a.m.  I live in New Hampshire,
    about 110 miles away.   I reminded the agent that I had requested
    either Manchester NH or Boston.  The agent  said, and I quote, "But
    Bradley is only an hour farther to drive, and you only have to change
    planes once."  
    
    The flight out of Manchester was nonstop, and turned out to be
    cheaper...
    
    --bonnie
    

Travel "consultants" are sales people, and are paid a percentage of the revenue
that they generate.

As such, they are incented to get you to buy the MOST EXPENSIVE ticket they can
get away with, corporate ramblings aside.

I've *NEVER* gotten a better price from *ANY* Digital Corporate travel agency.

Your mileage may vary...

Bob

    Having friends in the travel business, I usually check the price our
    inhouse travel agent (a business unit of Phillips) charges against what
    they can offer.
    My friends could never get me a better deal, although this may have
    something to do European price policies.
    The Philips people even managed to get us a deal on the Amsterdam-Nice
    route were we could fly business class for half the economy rate.
    And with respect to travel policies, I think I've been lucky with my
    managers so far.
    Quite a while ago it was decided that internal technical classes would
    start on Monday afternoon, so that deccies could fly in on Monay
    morningm thus saving a night in a hotel.
    Since I don't own a car, there's no way I can get to the airport in
    time to catch an early Monday morning flight, so I fly on Sunday.
    This ofcourse means I loose a day of my weekend, but I don't really
    care because I like to be fit on the Monday.
    Why this rambling on? Just to show that even with Digital it's
    possible to live by the spirit of the law rather than by the letter.
    
    Charles

    Well I've just come across a situation where I needed to go into New
    York City to a customer site (Billable Project).  I needed to take a
    train into Penn Station, got a receipt for that, but I also needed to
    take a subway uptown.  The Token clerk told me they do not issue
    receipts for tokens.  Do I eat the 2.50 because I don't have a receipt.
    I Think Not!  What do I do under these circumstances?  Inquiring minds
    want to know!
    
    - Mike

    Create your own receipts.  I have.  Never had them questioned.

    
    re .69
    
    Take a cab! That way you will have recipt!

    re .-1
    
>>    Take a cab! That way you will have recipt!

And probably pay double or triple the cost of the subway.

> And probably pay double or triple the cost of the subway.

	Yes, but obviously the new policy dictates that receipts are more
important than cost.

					--Doug

re.64:

When company travel requires me to travel outside normal working hours, I 
just take time of in lieu. Same applies for all extra hours worked. I would 
only put in extra time at my expense when I've made a mistake that requires 
extra work to correct.

Dave.

>================================================================================
>Note 3284.72   Travel policy changed: Save those 25-cent receipts!      72 of 73
>RCOCER::MICKOL "Member of Team Xerox"                 6 lines  10-AUG-1994 21:05
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>    re .-1
>    
>>>    Take a cab! That way you will have recipt!
>
>And probably pay double or triple the cost of the subway.
>

	Many people here including myself used to claim mileage from our homes
	to the airport. Most of the time the travel was done on Sundays or very
	early Monday morning. I was told that mileage was only paid from the
	office to the airport. It made me so mad this nit picking that I gave
	up using my own car and took a taxi, it was 5 times the price of the
	mileage from my home but I didn't have to inconvience anybody in my
	family to get me there. Bureaucrats are running Digital.  

>================================================================================
>Note 3284.74   Travel policy changed: Save those 25-cent receipts!      74 of 74
>VANGA::KERRELL "Hakuna matata!"                       8 lines  11-AUG-1994 03:31
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>re.64:
>
>When company travel requires me to travel outside normal working hours, I 
>just take time of in lieu. Same applies for all extra hours worked. I would 
>only put in extra time at my expense when I've made a mistake that requires 
>extra work to correct.
>
>Dave.

Once upon a time I never claimed time in lieu etc. Once Digital started 
implementing IMHO silly rules and regulations, I just played by the rules
and travelled in Digital's time or arranged to take time off in lieu.

    re .75
    
>	early Monday morning. I was told that mileage was only paid from the
>	office to the airport. It made me so mad this nit picking that I gave
    
    
    And that 'rule' becomes even more farcical when you know that the
    Office is as good as next door to the airport, and that most people
    would have to go within spitting distance of the office to get to the
    airport.
      
    Nigel

    In NYC, I buy the 10 pack of Tokens or a Fare card. Turn in the bag or
    a used card. Always reimbursed.
    
    In the CT Turnpike toll days, I'd buy the coupon book and submit the
    receipt with the book.
    
    New Hampshire toll token roll wrpper was also a receipt.
    
    Buy seldom, turn in receipt, travel often.
    
    Howard 

      I know of one person who had a relative drive him to Logan Airport
    with his own car and pick him up several days later. He put in an
    expense report that showed two round trips to the airport with his 
    personal car, it was denied. Only one trip was allowed. Had he driven
    in alone and left the car at the airport it would have cost far more
    for the company but it would have been reimbursed. Nitpicking nonsense
    in my estimation. Hope Quantum has a more enlightened approach to travel
    than Digital. Nickel/diming the employees is ridiculous. Example,
    according to Digital policy I understand that the price of drinks 
    (alcohol) are not to be included in the expense report. So, if you
    have a beer and sandwich that comes to $5.00 for lunch, don't report
    the beer. $8.50 for a hot meal and coke is O.K., makes no sense to me.
    
    Paul

re .61

Thanks for the pointer.  I sent a note in disgust at how Travel is making
policies that makes it harder to travel.  Joyce Flinn called me and left 
a voicemail.  According to her secretary they have been getting a lot of
complaints from the Field.  They are responding to these complaints via 
phone (which I missed, I'd like to bend-their-ear) and email.  I haven't 
gotten my email yet, they use ALL-IN-1.  Has anyone?  If so and if it's 
not too personal can you share with us what Travel is saying.

Maybe I should write my Congressman regarding the state of the economy
and health care.



	Regards,

	 kam

>>>    Take a cab! That way you will have recipt!
>
>And probably pay double or triple the cost of the subway.

So what? Reread my reply a couple back. This is an exercise in getting receipts
for what you spend. NOT in saving costs. So instead of buying that hot-dog for
lunch for which you cannot get a receipt, go to a decent restaurant. Costs you
an hour and probably 5x more, BUT AT LEAST YOU HAVE A RECEIPT. Get it? :):):)
I had a similar experience as described with claiming mileage. I did this (lot
of hassle, arrangements with my wife etc.) to save some money. So now I just
take a cab to get to the airport, costs about double, but no complaints anymore,
since we have the receipt! So forget the quick breakfasts, the pay-phones etc.
Call from your hotel . Costs 10x more, but at least you HAVE A RECEIPT. And
that's what this exercise is all about. Isn't it :):):):)

    
    
    
    Here's a SUMMARY of the response I got back from Corporate Travel
    when I asked for an interpretation and clarification of the rules
    (Thanks, Joyce!).  This is NOT what the majority of us were lead to
    believe:
    
        - The meal spending limits by city are per day amounts.
    
        - Items that are non-receiptable (vending machines, tolls, pay
          phones, etc.) are to be recorded on the expense voucher under
          Miscellaneous.
    
        - Receipts that travellers receive for air, car, taxis, hotels,
          meals, etc., are to be included with the approved voucher.
    
    								Tex

    
    
    
>    Here's a SUMMARY of the response I got back from Corporate Travel
>    when I asked for an interpretation and clarification of the rules
>    (Thanks, Joyce!).  This is NOT what the majority of us were lead to
>    believe:
    

but that's corporate travel.  Remember this is in the orange book.  Subject
to interpretation by any manager who wants to interpret it.  I think you need
to verify this with the people signing the voucher before trusting it.

Al

    The Visa credit card?  Don't get me started....
    
    			Steve

>>>    The Visa credit card?  Don't get me started....
    
Whats wrong with a Visa in your toolbox ?  I've used mine as a combination 
ice scraper, locked door opener and slotted screwdriver.  I bet McGyver
has dozens.

    re .86
    
    VISA is ok, but really a bit too stiff for real lock picking work.  I
    think the Harvard Coop card is still THE tool of choice for this
    particular application, though I agree with the choice of VISA for
    scraping and screwdriver work.
    
    /Butch

    re: .87
    
    A DeMoulas/MarketBasket check cashing card is pretty good, too.  But
    you're right about VISA working best for scraping.  Their cards have a
    sharp edge the other cards lack. 
    
    --bonnie

My objection is to the so-called "corporate Visa card".  See the earlier
discussion (somewhere in this conference) for all the reasons NOT to have
one.

					Steve

Re: last several about edicts from "Corporate"

Maybe this will open up a can of worms but here goes:  What exactly is
"Corporate" or "Corporate Travel" and what purpose do they serve?  In my 5+
years with both DEC and Digital, we've had two (maybe three) approved travel
agencies, none of which EVER were capable of getting a "best" rate on ANYTHING.
Having spent all my time in Digital or customer "field" offices, administrative
assistance for booking travel has been limited to non-existent.  I've never
received any kind of direction from any manager higher than a first level
technical manager or anyone representing themselves as "Corporate" or
"Corporate Travel" as to what is required in terms of receipts or what is
reimbursable, etc.  Occasionally I'll get a message from my
manager-of-the-week, letting me know when discretionary travel is "frozen" or
"thawed", or the like, but that is it.

People in my organizations have always used common sense, used the orange book
as guideline (not law), and provided receipts where it made sense.  I've never
had problems with usual travel expenses.  Anything unusual, I've always tried
to get pre-approval up the chain, but that always takes weeks or even months.

My unofficial guidelines are:

        1) Book my own travel
        2) Get a hotel that's clean and safe and worry about the rate later
(I've never found a safe room within Digital's so-called approved rates at
any of my destinations, ever.)
        3) Turn in receipts for everything possible
        4) If something on my expense report does not get approved, I will
simply not travel again under those same circumstances.  Digital will have to
provide me a travel advance if they want me to ever do the same thing again.
(It has never come to that, by the way.  I've always made these intentions
clear to the signing managers.)

    Jim F.

    	Just curious, but European Security, U.S. Security and GIA Security
    (and indirectly French Security) report to Corporate Security (as 
    I understand it), and corporate security directives apply to all 
    subsidiaries. Can we assume that these "Corporate Travel" directives 
    apply to all subsidiaries too?

I'm frustrated with both Corporate Travel and Corporate Finance.

I sent in 4 weeks of expenses as I was continuously on the road.  
My managers signs the expenses and changes jobs.  When the expenses 
gets to finance the signature is no longer valid for the cost center,
therefore, Finance rejects the expenses and returns the expenses 
via inter-office mail (to Southern California which is NOT around the 
corner).  Included with my expenses is a list of the individuals 
authorized to sign for that cost center.

Question:  why didn't Finance just forward them to the lowest person
on the list and send an email?

I got my expenses back, resolved where they should be sent, and
mailed them back.  I get my VISA bill for some of these expenses
and have no money so I can't pay the bill.  VISA dings me and sends
a report to TRW that I was deliquent in paying my bill.

If I had a credit card, like my personal card, I could pay part of
the bill.  This has happened more than once in 10 years at DEC.  I
say 4 to be exact.

    Which is why I was offended by Digital placing the onus on the
    employee.  Pure unmitigated crap.
    
    

The thing that really gets me is that we are FORCED to front the
Company for expenses, however, DEC gets some sort of kick-back
because 80K employees are FORCED to have a DEC Credit Card.  
Therefore, we have ensured the Credit Card Company that we WILL
charge N DOLLARS PER YEAR that they can make interest on.

    On your next travel expense form, attach copy of last month's VISA
    bill showing what you are DINGED for and put it under miscellaneous
    expense.  The Corporation, if it does not reinburse on time to pay
    Corporate VISA card, owns the expense.  It's part of doing business
    and part of the travel expense.  

    At least try it!!!

Re: .95

And how do you get the black-mark on your credit history reimbursed?

				Steve

    RE: .92
    
    I had similar experience 1+ years ago, only I was still using Diners
    Club. After seeing the interest/surcharge on my statement due to
    non-payment, I called the 800 customer service # on the statement. I
    would up speaking to the person that managed the Digital account for
    Digital, and after she verified that this was the only time that my
    account was delinquent, she reversed the charge for me. 
    
    I haven't received a Visa statement since it was it issued to me, as I
    haven't had any travel expenses, but I would imagine that there must be
    a customer service # listed on the statement. If your payment record
    with Visa is otherwise clean, they may give you a break. If they say
    no, ask for a letter (receipt?) to substantiate what -1 mentions.
    
    hth,
    
    Kevin
    

    
    RE: dings on credit reports
    
    Have you actually had a credit report done in the past two weeks that
    would show that (1) your Digital credit card is on your credit report
    and (2) that there is a late charge "ding"?
    
    My Digital credit cards have (Visa or AMEX) have never showed up on my
    credit report.  They are corporate cards and are not supposed to impact
    your personal credit.  Check the literature that was sent with the
    Corporate VISA cards.  I think it states as much somewhere...
    
    If for some strange reason there is a "ding", talk to Visa.  They
    should reverse it.  Worse case is that if you ever do have to apply for
    a mortgage/car loan, you explain it to the lender and they're generally
    acceptable of one late charge.  It's when there's three or four that
    you're in trouble.  

I don't have a corporate Visa card - I refused it, because I refuse to
loan Digital money interest-free for its business purposes.

The application clearly states that delinquent payments may indeed be
reported to credit bureaus.

					Steve

    RE: last few.
    
    I went through mortgage financing ~ 6 months ago, and the credit report
    that came back did not reflect any 'ding' from Diners Club. I assume
    that since the charge was reversed, it was never reported to the credit
    bureau.
    
    Kevin

    Steve's right, delinquent payments are YOUR problem, not DIGITAL's!  I
    don't have the corporate card, either.
    
    It was Kam, I believe, who stated that management needs to clarify and
    publish these issues, instead of merely sending E-mail stating that
    "policy changed a week or so ago".  I spent quite some time getting
    clarification.  (The person's name we were to contact on the memo never
    responded to mail, by the way, but I got response from the name posted
    in this file).
    
    The man-hours spent trying to get answers and the ill-will it generates
    could easily be avoided.  I've spent some time talking with road
    warriors at other companies.  Apparently, we have the stingiest policy,
    the worst-defined policy, and the poorest means of communicating
    changes of any company our size.
    
    As a gentleman in the last reorg meeting stated "...sometimes down here
    we wonder if there's anyone up there at the tiller".

    I don't care what they tell you but it lands on you TRW credit reports,
    out of El Segundo, California.  And I should mention that it also lands 
    on another Credit Bureau out of Texas and I can't remember the name.  
    
    Well I spent about one-and-a-half Company days resolving this problem. 
    I spent Company phone charges and Company Time resolving these issues.
    
    Next day I got about 200 calls from our Business Partners wonder why I
    wasn't answering mail or phone calls.  Therefore, it cost the Company
    one-and-a-half business days to the customer.
    
    There is NOTHING on my credit report and I'm POSITIVE because I just
    re-financed my home mortgage here in Southern California twice in the
    past 18 months and it was CLEAN.
    
    I should mention that I spent $24.95 on a book on how to clean up your
    credit.  This listed all the places that you need to call and what to
    do.  Can't remember what I did with the book but it was a great help.
    Did I expense it?  Find the HAT!?
    
    	Regards,
    
    	 kam

Kam,

The company in Texas you are thinking about is probably Chilton, which was
purchased by TRW a few years ago.

Bob

re .101  
>    warriors at other companies.  Apparently, we have the stingiest policy,
>    the worst-defined policy, and the poorest means of communicating
>    changes of any company our size.
    
    The engineers in this Company have NO problems communicating.  It's the
    Managers/Management that has the problems.  The thing that gets me is
    that in my Master of Science Degree in Management, I don't remember how
    many courses, a lot dealt with Effective Communications to reduce
    effective communication and company moral problems.
    
    I wonder how many of our upper-level managers have Master's Degrees?
    And how many slept through the courses?  Maybe they shouldn't award so
    many Honorary Master's Degree as the courses might teach them something.

RE: .84 (official response)
    
    the IRS rationale is bogus, unless the laws have changed in the past
    few mos.
    
    the VAT rationale is also bogus ... at least i'm not aware of any VAT
    taxes in the USofA (yet - i'm sure congress will keep trying).
    
    i just don't get it.

re: a couple back regarding lowest price airfares...

	As far as I am concerned, it is Corporate Travel and their vendor,
   Thomas Cook, responsibility to get me the cheapest airfare.  I should
   not and nor will I verify the airfare as the cheapest.  I just keep 
   checking those boxes.  If the policy makers have a problem with this
   then they can address it to Thomas Cook.  My local management does not
   and supports this attitude.

	T

    The IRS rules apply to the '3 martini' lunches, buying food while
    doing a delivery is a cost of doing business, 100% of which is 
    deducted from gross to arrive at profit (ie taxable).
    
    Brad.

I'm still not sure what CORPORATE means in Digital terms. 
Charles already mentioned the Philips travel agency. Since I'm from the
same subsidiary (Holland) and travel around in Europe I can say that the
Corporate Travel Agency called Thomas Cook is actually a Digital US travel
agency. Every country in Europe has it's own travel agency.

The second CORPORATE is the credit card. Corporate in the US is VISA and in
Europe it's American Express and in at least Holland it's also Euro/Master Card

So far for the CORPORATE understanding.

Secondly:

Since I work a lot for the US I've to claim in the US. If Thomas Cook issues
a pre-paid ticket for me which I can pick up at Amsterdam Airport (this has
nothing to do with TC rates but just with the problems) there are a few things
which I tried to explain to some people and maybe they start to understand

1) If a pre-paid ticket is done from the US and picked up in Amsterdam it's
Dfl 35,-  (appr $19.00) extra.
2) If I buy the ticket my self and claim it I don't pay the $19.00 but if
I do it via authorization the ticket comes on the Digital bill and they
get a KLM and travel agency discount. Since it might happen that Europe won't
sign I might have to buy it myself and claim the real amount without Digital
getting discounted.

The longer it takes before travel is approved the more chance there is that
you've to fly business class, or full economy because the cheap (changeable) 
seats are gone.

Per person it might be a small amount, for everybody travelling it might
be a lot of money for the company.
But since we don't seem to look this way, this will always happen.

From experience I can tell you that claims signed by my manager were refused
by the finance department. They check every receipt because of problems
they had with auditors.

Ciao,

Michiel

    re: .94
    ABSOLUTELY!
    
    Same thing happened to me... I got dinged for $130++ dollars and
    submitted THAT as an expense item ... got fully re-imbursed.
    
    However, that does NOT remove the problem... of EMPLOYEES financing the
    corporation, and of any credit problems resulting.
    
    The Corporate VISA sucks, big time!
    
    tony

This was forwarded to me back in Oct-1992.  Author unknown.

                                  NOTICE

Due to budget constraints, the following corporate policies are announced
regarding employees traveling on official business.  The policies are effective
immediately.



TRANSPORTATION

Hitchhiking in lieu of commercial transportation is strictly encouraged.
Luminescent safety vests will be issued to all employees prior to their
departure on company business trips.  Bus transportation will be used wherever
possible.  Airline tickets will only be authorized for purchase in extreme
circumstances and the lowest fares will be used.  If, for example, a meeting is
scheduled in Seattle, but a lower fare can be obtained by traveling to Detroit,
then travel to Detroit will be substituted for travel to Seattle. You 
may then call Seattle collect and teleconference.

LODGING

All employees are encouraged to stay with relatives or friends while on company
business.  If weather permits, public areas such as parks and parking lots
should be used as temporary lodging.  Bridges may provide shelter in periods of
inclement weather. Employees are cautioned not to discuss company 
business with strangers in these accomodations.

MEALS

Expenditures for meals will be limited to an absolute minimum.  It should be
noted that certain grocery chains, such as General Nutrition Centers and Piggly
Wiggly stores often provide free samples of promotional items.  Entire meals 
may often be obtained in this manner.  Travelers should also become familiar 
with indigenous roots, berries and other protein sources available at their
destination.  If a restaurant must be utilized, travelers should seek
establishments offering "all you can eat" salad bars.  this will be especially
cost effective for employees traveling together, as a single plate can be used
to feed an entire group.  Employees are also encouraged to bring their own food
while on company business.  Cans of tuna fish, spam, pork-n-beans and
beef-a-roni can be conveniently consumed at your leisure without the 
unnecessary bother of heating or other costly preparation. Many 
communities also provide services known as "food banks", but these are
suitable only for extended stays as preregistration is often required. 
Using one's handgun to hunt small rodents is not to be encouraged, 
especially at or near airports.

ENTERTAINMENT

Entertainment while on travel is strictly discouraged.  If such extravagances
are required on customer contacts, the customer should be encouraged to "pick 
up the tab".  Such action will save the company money and convince the customer
that we are concerned about spending money on providing a good product, not on
useless frivolities.  The hospitality provided to customers who visit our
faciliis should also be tasteful, yet cost effective.  In lieu of extravagant
dinners, a picnic bench will be placed in the parking lot next to the dumpster
and garden hose will be made available so that liquid refreshment can be
provided for our quests.

MISCELLANEOUS

All employees are encouraged to employ innovative techniques in our team effort
to save corporate dollars.  One enterprising individual has already suggested
that money could be raised during airport layover periods which could be used 
to defray travel costs.  In support of this idea, "red caps" will be issued 
to all employees prior to departure so that they may earn tips for helping 
other travelers with their luggage during such periods.  Small plastic roses 
will also be made available to employees so that sales may be made as time 
permits. Posing as religious zealots is not encouraged, unless all 
references to the company can be safely concealed, ie. Logos, product 
brochures etc.

    
    		THAT was HILARIOUS!!!! :^]]]]]]]  
    
    						Thanks!

    Just saw a memo saying that a modified version of this 'receipts
    required for everything' policy will be published shortly.  

    Heard that American Express has agreed to purchase the US Offices &
    International operations of Thomas Cook.  Wonder if the travel
    process/cards will be changed back to AMEX if this goes through.
    
    Mark
    

	I just took my first trip since this new policy went into effect, 
and my opinion is that the time wasted on handling insignificant receipts 
and finding places that take credit cards is definitely not worth whatever
savings are being realized.  Also, it projects a negative image when you 
are getting lunch in a customer's cafeteria and you have to badger the
cashier for a receipt.  ("What kind of a cheap outfit does *he* work 
for???")

		David

    It's added quite a bit of time to my expense reporting, to say the
    least.  Ordering all those damn little receipts, and entering 'em.  I
    talked to my counterpart from Tandem at the airport...he couldn't
    believe it.

    You don't get it, do you?  The idea id you'll get so frustrated,
    embarassed, annoyed, etc. at collecting those stupid receipts that you
    won't bother expensing the item.  How's that for cost control?
    
    \dave :^)

    Thank God!  I thought I was just PARANOID!  Thanks to Dave, now I know
    even PARANOIDS have real enemies!  :^]
    
    On the bright side, thank God we're not the bean counters going "$1.28
    for coffee and pastry, .50c for a soda, ..."

    i couldn't find the string associated with the Avis brou-ha-ha, so ...
    
    just got an itinerary for next week.  says very clearly on the bottom
    that:
    
    	THIS AVIS BOOKING WILL NOT ACCRUE FREQUENT FLIER CREDITS
    		DIGITAL HAS OPTED FOR A CASH DISCOUNT.
    
    so, just to see if my account had been "altered" again, i called Avis. 
    sure, enough, my frequent flier number that i added TWO WEEKS AGO had
    been deleted.
    
    you wouldn't believe the hoops i had to jump thru to get Digital
    removed from my profile - especially when i don't remember ever putting
    it there in the first place.
    
    this is the second time now.  is it legal for corporate travel to mess
    with my personal stuff?

    The general theory is that any travel agent with whom you're registered
    can change your profile at AVIS.  I had AVIS add a line to my profile
    that says:
    
    PERSONAL ACCOUNT - DO NOT CHANGE EXCEPT AT OWNER'S REQUEST.
    
    Avis *said* this would do it, but I'm gonna check next week anyway.
    
    							Tex

    I just fought (and lost) a round with AVIS on this, myself.  
    
    Called two or three weeks ago... had ALL references to DIGITAL removed
     from my profile.  
    
    Then tried to reserve a car... boy, was that a bummer.  The best rate I
    could get was something like 54 dollars a day.  
    
    Had the agent put DIgital account number back onto my profile...
    without the F/F number.  
    
    Now, I merely charge the car to my "corporate" card, as usual... get
    done with the trip and have them change to my personal credit card and
    give them my F/F number.
    
    Seems to work (last statement had some F/F miles on it from AVIS.)
    
    
    tony

    Good work!  There's a way around everything!

    actually, it's not as conspiratory as it might seem.  most folks that
    have Wiz numbers got them thru Digital way back when (naturally, there
    are exceptions ...) or happened to fill in DEC for a company name when
    applying for the card.
    
    point is that if your profile references DEC, *AVIS* (not DEC or a
    travel agent) has a flag in their system to remove FF references
    because of the rate that was negotiated with DEC.  in other words, Avis
    is the "guilty party" (if there is one).