Travel & Entertainment Best Practices: Prevent Fraud and Comply with IRS Regs (Currently Unavailable)

Author: Mary Schaeffer

CPE Credit:  2 hours for CPAs

Expense reimbursement has never been trickier. The recently enacted Tax Act changed the deductibility of some items, employees and gotten better at sneaking through items on their expense reports that shouldn’t be there and there’s a raft of new technology impacting the function. Companies everywhere are eyeing the bottom line and a growing number are insisting on rigid travel & entertainment policy compliance. Compliance must now not only be to the company policies but also with IRS rules. Otherwise, you could end up answering not only to the CFO but also the IRS–and both are truly ugly.

And there’s another good reason for insisting strict adherence to the rules. In 75.6% of expense reimbursement schemes, the perpetrator was also undertaking at least one other form of occupational fraud. This startling fact comes from the Report to the Nations, one of the most respected fraud surveys conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

This session will start with a review of IRS requirements and show how you can incorporate them into your policy. The session will then delineate the different games some employees play when attempting to get reimbursed for more than they actually spent along with tactics you can use to stop this problematic behavior.

Publication Date: November 2018

Designed For
Accountants, controllers, accounting managers, auditors (internal and external), Treasurers, CFOs, CEOs, accounts payable professionals, expense reimbursement staff, payroll professionals, procure-to-pay professionals, and travel managers.

Topics Covered

  • Overview
  • Implications of New Tax law
  • Guidelines for Accountable Plan
  • Evaluate your policies to ensure they are compliant with the IRS guidelines
  • Best practices T&E policy that meets IRS regulations
  • T&E Fraud Overview
  • Fraud Problems Solved by the Detailed Receipt
  • Other T&E Game Playing
  • Best Practices to Address Fraud Issues
  • Roundup of Best Practices & Closing Thoughts

Learning Objectives

  • Recognize the guidelines you need to adhere to if your company's T&E expenses are to be deductible on the tax return
  • Identify the new rules regarding deductibility of meals and entertainment under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act
  • Describe how to integrate IRS requirements into your organization's T&E policy
  • Identify common games some employees play with their expense reimbursement requests
  • Recognize how your organization's expense reimbursement practices stack up against others in the business world
  • Identify how to deal with the new T&E issues—technology has made some old best practices obsolete
  • Evaluate best practices to create an effective T&E policy & procedures
  • Identify common expense reimbursement frauds some employees employ
  • Recognize how to implement strong controls to deter expense reimbursement fraud
  • Recognize best practices regarding cash advances
  • Identify how corporate culture is likely to influence issues
  • Describe how many days an employee has to account for their expenses in order for them not to be considered taxable income, per IRS guidelines
  • Recognize best practices regarding reimbursing for the employee's use of their own personal vehicle
  • Identify who sets per diems and daily reimbursement rates
  • Describe the dollar amount the IRS requires receipts for all items deducted on a tax return

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Accounting (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None

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