How to create an effective expenses policy (with template)

A practical guide to building, launching and maintaining a policy your people actually follow, plus a 16-section UK template you can adapt line by line.

15 pages · Guide and 16-section template · No sign-up needed

At a glance

Fair, short, current, enforced and reviewed

01Fairness is a control, not a nicety. 43% of employees said an unfair policy justified a fraudulent claim (survey commissioned by Webexpenses).
02Short and current beats long and thorough. If people can’t read it in ten minutes, or the limits are out of date, they’ll stop following it.
03Enforce it where the claim is made. Limits and approvals built into the claim stop problems before the money is spent.

Contents

1. Why your policy matters
2. Five ways to make a policy work
3. Before you publish: a five-point check
4. The template: 16 sections

1. Why your policy matters

An expenses policy sets out how your organisation handles business expenses: what employees can and can’t claim, how to make a claim, and what happens when there’s a dispute. Its job is to reimburse people fairly for money they spend on the business, while keeping costs, fraud risk and compliance under control.

Get it right and everyone knows where they stand. People may not like every rule, but they know how it works, what they can expect from the company and what the company expects of them.

43% of employees said an unfair expenses policy justified making a fraudulent claim.

Source: survey commissioned by Webexpenses

2. Five ways to make a policy work

Strive for fairness. Involve employees when you write or revamp the policy, so it feels like a shared agreement rather than rules imposed from above.
Keep it simple. Cut the jargon, include only what people need and match the tone to your culture. Many companies publish theirs as a searchable intranet wiki.
Keep it updated. Review it every few months for inflation, legislation and new technology. It isn’t a box you tick once.
Choose the right tools. Build spending limits, flags, mileage tracking and compliance prompts into the claim itself, so the policy is applied as people spend.
Monitor and maintain. Use real-time expense data to spot overspend, trends and possible breaches, and to see the effect of any policy change.

“Some discontent with an expense policy is inevitable. But that perception of unfairness is exactly what people use to justify expense fraud.”
Joe Sanchez, CEO, Webexpenses

3. Before you publish: a five-point check

Could an employee read the whole policy in ten minutes and know what they can claim?
Have the people it applies to had a chance to comment on it?
Are the limits current, checked against inflation and this year’s HMRC rates?
Is it enforced where the claim is made, not weeks later at approval?
Is there a named owner and a date for the next review?

4. The template: 16 sections

The download includes a full sample policy written for the UK, ready to adapt line by line. Replace every limit, rate and blank with your own, and check mileage against the current HMRC approved rates.

Overview and objectives
Supporting evidence
Overnight accommodation
Overnight incidental expenses
Breakfast, lunch and meal allowance
Business and staff entertainment
Domestic air and rail travel
Overseas air and rail travel
Foreign currency
Other travel-related costs
Company car policy
Training courses
Membership of professional bodies
Telephone-related costs
Purchases of equipment
Credit card fees

The template is a guide only and doesn’t constitute legal or tax advice. Check limits and treatment against current legislation.

A policy only works where it's enforced. Webexpenses puts your limits and approvals inside the claim itself.

Written for the people who sign it off and the people who make it work

For the decision-maker

CFO, Finance Director, Head of Finance

A policy that controls spend, reduces the risk of fraud and keeps you compliant with HMRC, without becoming a document nobody reads.

For the team doing the work

Finance managers, HR and office managers

Sixteen ready-written sections to adapt, guidance on rolling the policy out, and a five-point check to run before you publish.

See a policy that enforces itself

Webexpenses puts your limits, approvals and compliance checks at the point the claim is made, so the policy in the document is the policy in practice.