Employee Reimbursements - May 2015
Employee Reimbursements
Released May 2015 Download the Full Report here Download the Highlights Page here We undertook this audit because we were aware of errors in employee reimbursements. Although the city has partially automated requests for reimbursements through Oracle’s Internet Expenses (iExpense) module, matching expense reports to cash advance payments is still a manual process. About 1,800 employees received advances or reimbursements totaling $3.5 million in fiscal year 2014. We analyzed all cash advances outstanding as of October 10, 2014, and analyzed expense reports and reimbursements from fiscal years 2012 to 2014. |
We found:
- Weak controls over employee reimbursements create risk of non-compliance with IRS reporting and withholding requirements.
- As of October 2014, $3.6 million in cash advances to 1,828 past and present employees had not been reconciled with the city.
- Errors found in a random sample of expense reports included missing receipts, receipts that did not match the amount claimed for reimbursement, and claims for excessive per diems and mileage.
- About 16% of the $2.5 million reimbursed to employees in 2014 was for items unrelated to travel.