You think you have your bases covered for the next audit. But chances are your boss doesn’t have the same faith in you. That’s the learning from a recent survey by Deloitte. The company asked executives to rate their organizations based on how ready they are for audits or other “regulatory investigations.” Only 20% said they thought their troops were “very ready.”

Worse news for Accounting pros: 24% of execs said their companies are at a much greater risk for such an investigation than they were just a year ago. Given the economic climate — and people’s feelings about it — it seems certain that some companies are bound to get more scrutiny in the near future. And coming up short of good answers could lead to not only financial or legal action — it could leave your company with the proverbial egg on its  face.

How to get ready

One bright spot from the survey: 60% of company execs agreed that self-reporting results of internal audits could help identify problems while they’re still fixable and/or mitigate the damage from other investigations.

If you don’t already have self-audits scheduled, now’s the time to get the ball rolling. Even if you’re already sure your procedures and books are as tight as a drum, a successful self-audit can give you two other important benefits:

• proving to upper management that you are ready for the “real” audit, and
• finding errors, cash-drains and other ways to potentially save money down the road.

Tell us: Do you think your company’s ready for an audit or investigation? Is upper management’s skepticism warranted? Sound off in the comments.

From a commerce standpoint, it’s a win-win: If your company can get some free goods or services by supplying your own excess inventory to another company, who could complain?

But to get the most benefit, there are a few things to consider before you start a bartering initiative:

1. Pick and choose your targets. It’s tough to go wrong bartering for something your company needs: You get what you need for no money. However, bartering for something your company could use isn’t such a clear-cut benefit.
   If the product or service the vendor wants to exchange isn’t something you normally buy, weigh whether the benefits are really worth whatever you’ll have to hand over. For example, it might be worth it if it allows you to test out a new supplier or product for free.
2. Know the tax rules. Don’t forget IRS always wants a piece of the pie. Trades and barters are treated just like any other sale, so make sure you’ve confirmed whether or not the barter you’re considering would be taxable/reportable. For example, let’s say you arrange to have an independent contractor do some work for you and get paid with products instead of cash. If the value of the goods is over $600, IRS expects that to be reported on a 1099, just like a cash payment would be.

Still interested? Check out Barter News or the National Association of Trade Exchanges for more info or to find brokers and partners.

It’s easier to catch T&E swindlers if you know why — and how — they do what they do. A recent survey by T&E Magazine got the real scoop from people who freely admit to having fudged their travel expenses in one way or another. Some of the findings may surprise you.

For starters, employees appear to be getting more honest. 83% said they were always totally honest on their expense reports. That’s up from just 70% in 2004.

Of those who admit to cheating, the amount they wrongfully claimed is down: 8% said they padded their expenses $100 or more — that figure was 34% in 2004. Another 32% said they padded expenses by $50 to $99.

Most travelers who admitted to cheating (66%) said they did so because being on the road cost them in ways that don’t fit on any expense report category. Another 30% said they routinely have to use personal money for business costs when traveling. Padding is their way of “righting” the books.

And 26% say taking a little extra cash is their way of being compensated for the hassles of being on the road. Only 4% said they cheat because they can. [Note: Respondents could pick more than one reason.]

While no one wants to have cheaters in their office, those “reasons” for padding expenses give you a good opportunity to make sure you don’t see any of it in the future. It indicates that people are less likely to inflate their expenses if they feel the company appreciates the hassles — and out-of-pocket expenses — of being on the road.

It’s a good reminder to periodically review your company’s T&E policies and guidelines. Making sure they’re still fair to your road warriors could end up saving you time and money, as well as improving employee morale.

What do you think: Do most traveling employees pad their expenses to right a perceived wrong? Or is that simply an attempt to justify stealing from the company?

And what’s the most egregious attempt at expense report padding you’ve seen? Share your stories in the comments.

Here’s a three-step plan to “self-audit” your company’s own wireless charges to make sure you aren’t cutting checks for a penny more than you should be.

1. Consolidate. Allowing employees to use multiple carriers, giving phones to everyone in a given department, adding data plans to all phones regardless of whether the users need them — these are nice benefits for workers. But it makes your billing charges more complicated. And that makes it easier for overcharges and other errors to sneak through. Ask managers to look at who in their department needs these devices, and exactly what services they need. That move alone could slash your total wireless spending.
2. Set clear policies on usage. If a phone is for work use, it should technically be only for work use. (IRS considers non-work use of an employer-provided phone a taxable benefit.) It’s a rule a lot of employees — and employers — ignore. But it can have costly consequences. Not only will you be paying for more minutes in total. If auditors catch personal use being essentially subsidized by your company, it could become a major tax headache too.
3. Centralize. If multiple managers can sign off on phone and PDA expenses within their departments, you may not have a real idea of how much your company is spending. It also means you’re probably not getting the kind of volume discounts you’re entitled to. Having one central person go over all the bills also gives you a chance to see if there are any duplicate charges or unused services that your company is being invoiced for.

How do you manage payments for your company’s phone and wireless charges? Share your best practices in the comments.

Setting limits is a good idea because it reduces the chances of employees “accidentally” overspending or submitting receipts for expenses that shouldn’t be reimbursed. Without a policy in place, employees tend to rely on the excuse: “If it doesn’t say I can’t, I guess that means I can.”

And there’s no better time than now to take a second look at T&E expenses. With most companies looking to tighten their belts during the economic downturn, travel expenses are a ripe target for cost-cutting.

Assuming no changes are made, that’ll give your company a chance to write off 50% of the cost of new assets that it buys and puts into service in 2009. (The other half can be written off under the standard rules for depreciation.)

Making the change in your Accounting procedures could be a little bit of extra work — but it has the potential to save your company a ton of cash.

The answer: Airline miles — and hotel points, cash back offers, or any number of other perks offered by the employees’ personal credit card issuers.

With the average business trip costing somewhere in the $1,500 range, even a modest rebate can be an attractive “bonus” to employees who are feeling the pinch of this economy. In fact, 74% of employees admitted they don’t always use their company’s preferred method of payment because of the perks they get from their personal cards.

Another 21% said they either never received a card, or the card isn’t accepted in some of the places they travel. That’s according to a recent survey by T&E magazine.

To get road warriors to use company-issued cards, you have two options: The carrot or the stick:

1. If possible, incentivize travelers to use the cards. For example, you might get upper management to agree to kick a percentage of the cards’ rebates back to employees as profit sharing, or as a bump in their departmental budgets. If that’s not an option, an internal competition to see which department can set the highest bar for card compliance might help.
2. If incentives don’t work, penalties might. Even a mild step, like flagging a department for non-compliance can send the message that the practice have to end. Key: Upper management has to demonstrate they’re behind your efforts, so make sure they’re on board first.

What have you tried to get more travelers to use company-issued credit and travel cards? Let us know in the comments what has — or hasn’t — worked for you.

Not for most companies, according to new research from the Association of Corporate Travel Executives.

In a recent survey, only one-third of companies said they planned to to cut back on business travel in the coming year.  For those who are spending less, they plan to trim:

• internal meetings (cited by 39%)
• international travel (16%), and
• training trips (9%).

Of course, some business travel is considered so essential (sales calls, industry conferences, etc.) that companies may feel they can’t afford not to send employees on the road. If that’s the case at your company, consider taking a second look at spending guidelines and related policies. Outling what is and isn’t reimbursable is the best way to rein in road warriors’ spending.

Do you expect your company to tighten the travel budget this year?

Inefficient procedures, lack of company-wide usage, etc., can curb the value of any card program you put in place.

Fortunately, VISA has released an updated and expanded best practices study to help you make the most of whatever system you’re using. And if your company is just getting ready to dip a toe in the waters, it’s a great resource for figuring out what features you need — and what you can safely steer clear of.

Key points

The study looked at the entire procure-to-pay (P2P) process and found that the most important best practices were:

• Automating from start to finish
• Integrating the card program into company-wide initiatives
• Getting active support from upper management
• Developing integrated controls, and
• Using the full extent of reporting and spend analysis tools.

To get more ideas for how to make your own company’s card program more valuable and efficient, check out the full report.

Many companies do reimburse that (knowingly or otherwise) as part of the traveler’s room charges. But if you do reimburse those fees, it’s taxable as income to the employee. 

IRS’ reasoning: Using the gym is a personal expense and the gym isn’t on the employer’s property.

If your company is willing to foot the bill anyway, you’ll need to either:

• warn the employee about the tax complications, or
• encourage managers to have traveling employees book hotels where the use of the gym is covered by the standard room rate.