3Q US GBS Employee Payables

Transcription

1 3Q US GBS Employee Payables Newsletter t GBS NA Payables o GBS NA - Bramante US 0074 : Sent by: Linda Retzer Please respond to GBS NA Payables Default custom expiration date: 09/01/ /01/ :37 PM 3Q US GBS Employee Payables NEWSLETTER In recent internal audits of our employee payables (i.e., travel expense account reimbursement), GBS globally has continued to receive disappointing unsatisfactory ratings, with the primary issues surrounding lack of evidence of management review & approval, failure to document management rationale for approving exceptions to policy and improper expense category usage. Failure to comply with our IBM Expense Reimbursement Policies is considered a violation of Business Conduct Guidelines and should be treated with appropriate gravity. Our core values and integrity should be reflected in all our actions, including our submission of and approval of expense reimbursements. Compliance with Business Conduct Guidelines Managers are responsible for reviewing all expense reports to ensure expenses are actual, reasonable, and for necessary business purposes. This would involve managers obtaining some level of validation of supporting documentation (periodic review of receipts, for example). Further information/ links on Manager Review of Expense Reports, including HR Management Reports to assist you in this review, can be found in this mail communication Manager Responsibilities: IBM travelers (Employees) are responsible for adhering to travel policy, explaining and documenting deviations from policy, submitting their expense reports in a timely manner, ensuring proper account coding (financial analysts can assist) and keeping their corporate card accounts current. The WWERS reimbursement application - which provides built-in expense audits, pre-population of expenses, exception approvals, the ability to direct payments to the corporate card which simplifies and streamlines the reimbursement process, but does not relieve travelers of their responsibilities. Employees are to submit to IBM any refund (air, car rental, hotel, conference fee, etc.) or rebate which is received with respect to travel already reimbursed by IBM. ref: Responsibilities of ALL IBM Employees Obtain and Retain Written approval for Exceptions to IBM Travel / Reimbursement Policies ================= 1Q 2009 Spending Guidelines (January 16, 2009 Mark McConville Memo) 3Q 2009 Key Spending Guideline - Expense Reimbursement/Travel (July 23, 2009 George Metz C... GBS Global Employee Expense Policies & Exception Approval Guidelines - from Bill Rainsberge

2 ================= IBM Travel & Reimbursement Policy Guidance (with Q&A) Misclass of Exp Misclassifications of Expenses in WWER Classifications drive the expense questions Example: Class of car is only asked in the car rental category Attendee list is only requested under group or third party meals Tax exposures may be generated by use of the wrong category Misclassifications are often the first step in fraud therefore considered to be serious errors A definition of each category is available in WWERs. Please review prior to selecting a category. Focus Categories None of the above is to be used only when no other category applies. Note : All expenses categorized as ''None of the above'' get routed to audit team for review. Rental Car Hire vs Rental Car Gas Please ensure that rental car fees are charged to hire and gas expenses during rental are charged to gas Upgrades or neverlost charges require management approval Air Travel Advance Used when air travel will not occur in the near future It is Important to use this category to avoid late fees Business Meal 3rd Party vs Group Meal A group meal is to be used when all attendees are IBMers. Business meals 3rd party is used when there is at least one customer Business Meals 3rd Party (not to be coded as Group Meals ) - Client dinner / lunch meetings should be coded as Business Meals - 3rd Party. This would be any meeting where IBM and non-ibm parties (i.e., clients) are present for business purposes Recording employee meals as group meals to avoid daily allowance exceptions These actions are potentially a violation of BCG guidelines Entrance Fee vs Business Entertainment Business entertainment is used when you are watching an event such as a ball game. Entrance fee is the fee charged for participating in an event such as bowling. WWER US expense table listing (expense categories): Expense Splitting Expense Splitting Employees are not to record transactions as $74.99 to avoid submitting receipts. If expenses are capped at $74.99, but expenses are above, the total amount must be submitted with the delta recorded as non-reimbursable and the receipt must be submitted. Receipts are required to be submited with TEA transmittal if the expense item is over $75 and not prefilled card data, however all receipts should be retained for future reference d ?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,receipts Sponsorships Sponsorships including charity golf outings require Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs (CCCA)

3 approval prior to making the commitment to attend. Any time a cheque is made out to a charity, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs (CCCA) needs to approve it even though funds are not coming from CCCA. r Citizenship+and+Corporate+Affairs Charge Card Use of Corporate Charge Card All travelers must obtain a corporate charge card and use it for Hotels, Airlines, Car Rentals. Employees must use credit cards when the vendor accepts (for example meals, parking, etc.) and should use the credit card record to record meals in WWERs when used. Personal use of the card is forbidden and violation of Business Conduct Guidelines United+States Usage of personal credit cards When an employee has a valid corporate card, usage of the card is required for all business related air travel, hotel and car rental expenses; a personal credit card may not be used. The only exception to this policy is when an establishment does not accept the card. If the manager has counseled the employee concerning this policy and the employee continues to utilize a personal card, the manager should contact the HR partner to seek assistance in handling appropriate disciplinary measures. If an employee's corporate card has been revoked or canceled, a personal credit card may be used for air travel, hotel or rental car charges that are business related. 96?OpenDocument Corporate Charge Card Credits Charge Card Credits - must be cleared through WWER on an expense report within 90 days of the credit appearing on your charge card data in WWER or you will not be able to submit any more expenses until credits are cleared. Very frequently there are credits issued for billing errors, refunds on airline tickets or other charges. New rules this year require that employees clear their Amex credits. You will receive reminders in WWER to clear your credits but if your credit is older than 90 days you will not be able to submit any claim in WWER and you will face a hard stop until you take action to clear these credits. Credit entries can be located in your Card Data tab in WWER as negative amounts. There are simple, step-by-step instructions on how to clear charge card credits in WWER on the following IBM website: Corporate Charge Card Late Fees Corporate charge card late fees are not reimbursable. Late fees do not kick in until 60 days past due which is ample time to submit TEAs for payment. cument#corporate%20card%20late%20fees

4 +fee+policy+change ================================================= QUESTION: I had always heard that you only have to use Corp AMEX for airlines and travel. That was the information that we received at our onboarding training upon acquisition. It seemed to now change to include meals. Is that true? Can I still just spend cash or use my own card? Answer: IBM travelers are to use the corporate charge card for any business travel expense where the service provider accepts this form of payment. In addition, all air, hotel, and car rental expenses are to be charged to the corporate card and paid directly to the charge card company through the direct pay feature of the expense reimbursement application. Reference Corp Charge Card n&country=united+states ================================================= QUESTION: What is the proper way to get money from AmEx Corporate charge card company when there is a credit balance on the AmEx card account? ANSWER: If the employee made a personal payment which resulted in a credit balance, the employee should be contacting AmEx charge card company directly regarding how to handle and should not use the cash advance feature. If the credit balance relates to a WWERs credit entry which needs to be processed (refund is due to IBM), refer to the WWER US User References which provides detailed instructions: ============================= QUESTION: I have a credit on my WWERs card data. ANSWER: If the credit balance relates to a WWER Credit entry which needs to be processed (refund is due to IBM), refer to the WWER US User References which provides detailed instructions: Air Travel Air Travel policy remains in effect as was published in October 2008: Air Travel will be at the lowest logical airfare in Coach class. This applies to all IBM Employees and Executives for any air travel regardless of trip length/same day meetings. o Exceptions: o Travel is billable to a customer (and approved by Project Partner/Manager in writing and approval retained for submission with TEA documentation). o Other exceptions are expected to be extremely limited and must be approved in writing by GBS Sr. VP, Frank Kern only. Retain documentation of the approval and submit along with TEA receipts for audit purposes. Employees are required to purchase non-refundable coach tickets for any necessary air travel unless a fully refundable ticket is available within $100 of the non-refundable fare Air Ticket purchases must be made at least 7 days in advance, but preferably 21 days. Unavoidable short-notice Customer related travel is exempt from this advance notice requirement.

5 Air Travel - Southwest and Jet Blue (Policy update notice in the OTR application): Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines are both available through OTR. You no longer have to book direct on either of these carrier's websites. Ref: n&country=united+states Extra baggage claims: IBM will reimburse for a maximum of two bags. Please ensure you use the corporate charge card when incurring these costs. Charges are to be submitted in the category "none of the above" Ref: or+checked+baggage ================================================== QUESTION: In my territory I have been flying Southwest Airlines since most of my travel is in Texas or in locations that Southwest Airlines has direct flights. All the flights I take on Southwest are over $200 for the round trip. Do I stop flying Southwest Airlines and book a preferred airline with IBM Travel if the flight is over $200? ANSWER: JetBlue and Southwest updates: We are pleased to advise both Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines are both available through OTR. You no longer have to book direct on either of these carrier's websites. n&country=united+states Any IBM employee who will incur business travel expenses must obtain a corporate charge card. IBM travelers are to use the corporate charge card for any business travel expense where the service provider accepts this form of payment. &Country=United+States Car Rental Car Rental Vendors (ref. July 2008 Policy update notice in the OTR application): Effective July 25, 2008 in addition to Hertz, National Car Rental, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Avis have been added as an IBM preferred rental car supplier in North America for all locations. Hertz continues to have exclusive status outside of North America. To learn more on the benefits that Avis provides to IBM employees, please visit the Car Rental Page of the IBM Travel Website. ref: ry=united+states Car Rental: When claiming gasoline charges for a rental car, please submit the claim on the same TEA that is used for the rental car expense whenever possible. This will provide management with an improved view of expenses and eliminate the need for inquiries to line management by Business Controls (for

6 perceived/potential issues). In no instances should gasoline be claimed in addition to mileage since mileage is to compensate for gas and vehicle maintenance. Car Rental (car class): Effective 1 May 2009, employees are to reserve economy or compact class vehicles only. Car class other than economy or compact car class for rentals will require obtaining Exception to Policy approval in advance of travel and retained for future reference. Valid exceptions include car-pooling (sharing car with multiple people), medical reasons, etc. The exception explanation should be clear and be written so that a third party reader would understand it. The explanation must include the documented pre-approval by management. Additional car rental charges for items such as car seats, extra insurance, personal use of car rentals, frequent flyer point fees and electronic toll device service fees are not reimbursable. &Country=United+States Gasoline charge reimbursements are ONLY applicable for rental cars which are used for business purposes and NOT for personal cars used for travel to other than normal work location. Gasoline charges for personal cars used for business purposes are covered in the mileage claimed under "Auto Distance/Mileage" in WWER. n&country=united+states Limo/Car Service Limo / Car Service - should be used only when necessary and should be booked via OTR (Online Travel) website, using the GroundRez tool. Effective Feb. 24th, 2009, reservations for ground transportation (car service and limousine) must be made by using Ground Rez, an on-line booking tool found on the IBM OTR Home page. Please log on to the IBM OTR Home Page and click on Ground Transportation in the top right section. Employees should no longer book reservations by contacting car service providers directly. GBS employees should consider lower cost alternatives in lieu of car service, e.g., one way rental cars to get to local airports. In most cases, this will be rental cars, taxis, or other ground transportation. There are instances where a car service is the most logical choice, and in those cases an explanation of the business rationale for using Limo or car service is required to be entered in WWER and supporting documentation should be retained (conference call / meeting schedule, medical note, etc) for audit documentation evidence. Travel patterns should not show that Limo / Car service is the most frequently used transportation option Examples of cases where Limo / Car service is a valid option: Medical conditions (recent surgery, for example) preclude driving longer than 1 hour Meetings and conference call schedule required attendance on calls during transit to / from destination Cost of taxi to/from airport is higher than (or equal to) cost of car service (must be able to show evidence of rate quote from taxi) Auto Mileage/Tolls Mileage Travel expenses incurred while traveling between the employee's home and other than normal work location (as defined by the employee's Workplace Indicator Code (WPI), will be reimbursed after

7 deducting the normal daily commutation costs (if applicable) on a per trip basis. Travel between your residence and your designated work location is considered normal commutation and is not reimbursable, even on nonscheduled workdays, paid holidays, or other days when the IBM location is closed. Reference: WWER US Expense Table Listing (Auto Distance / Mileage category description) located via: cument#auto%20distance%20mileage EZpass Prepayment of EZpass is not reimbursable. Only actual EZpass charges incurred for IBM business is reimbursable. cument#tolls =================================================== QUESTION: If you are work from home, but need to go to the airport to fly out. Do you expense the miles from doorstep to doorstep or do you take that doorstep to doorstep total and subtract if you would have driven to an IBM office? I was told that it is doorstep to doorstep if you are totally work from home. Answer: For 'H' employees the normal commutation is '0'. Travel expenses incurred traveling between the employee's home and other than normal work location (as defined by the employee's Workplace Indicator Code (WPI)), will be reimbursed after deducting the normal daily commutation costs (if applicable) on a per trip basis. Travel between your residence and your designated work location is considered normal commutation and is not reimbursable, even on nonscheduled workdays, paid holidays, or other days when the IBM location is closed. Reference: WWER US Expense Table Listing (Auto Distance / Mileage category description) located via: cument#auto%20distance%20mileage ============================= QUESTION: In posting mileages, itemize and do the miles for each trip between a client separately even if they all occur on the same day. The WWERS system does not allow you to post more than one personal use of car mileage on the same day. So if I travel and go 200 miles starting from my home, but start at my home and end up there, that becomes the actual TO and FROM location given that you cannot do multiple itemizing on the same day. I am submitting an expense with total miles and the TO / FROM look to not be that far, but I could not get the system to accept the way that we were told to enter it on the webinar. Answer: The WWERs tool does not allow you to enter more than one entry per day for mileage. Therefore, enter the total amount traveled for the day then enter a notation by selecting the notes button to include the to/from information for each location visited for that specific day. ============================= QUESTION: With regard to EZPass charges, I have one remaining charge that I believe has not hit my Corp AMEX. If I itemize by day, then I can still expense that correct? I know going forward that I will have to pay cash. Answer: Reasonable and actual expenses for tolls incurred are to be expensed under the Tolls category in WWERS. Enter the total for all business-related toll charges for each day. Tolls between home and a

8 location other than the normal work location will be reimbursed after deducting daily tolls fees paid for a normal commute to the work site. All other PERSONAL toll charges are NOT reimbursable. If your "Tolls" charge expense was charged to your corporate charge card, click on the correct transaction in your "Card Data". Reference: WWER US Expense Table Listing (Tolls) available via: cument#tolls Hotels Hotel All employees are to stay at properties in the IBM Hotel directory for business travel where available, and must secure the IBM negotiated rate. Hotel bills must be itemized and all expenses need to be accounted for. Country=United+States cument#room%20rate ==================================================== QUESTION: Is it an acceptable exception to stay at a hotel which is not on IBM's list due to a Customer's request (or Customer owned property)? ANSWER: While employees should stay at IBM negotiated hotels per policy (as this is to IBM's advantage), Customer relations are a valid consideration for management judgement. Procurement should be engaged to negotiate a price at that location if the hotel will be utilized on a regular basis. The hotel directory contact is Shawn Busby sbusby@us.ibm.com to consider having hotels that meet IBM requirements (these include safety and security criteria) added to the IBM Hotel directory. Also refer to the Procurement information posted on US Travel website which speaks to assistance they can provide in securing hotel project opportunities based on the number of employees and length of the project: ies Lost Luggage Lost Luggage during travel Replacement of lost articles are generally not reimbursable (e.g. clothes, etc.). Review situation with your manager to determine how to handle situation. Meals Group Meals Generally, you are not permitted to enter expenses of another employee. If one employee paid the dinner bill, the other employees must submit their own portion of the bill and reimburse the employee that paid the expense. However, when only IBM employees are in attendance (no customers/potential clients are present) and it is impractical for each individual to pay for their own meal, it is the responsibility of the most senior level employee in attendance to pay for and submit the expense for reimbursement under the Group Meal expense category (available under the Recognition / Internal Events grouping). The IBM meal limits apply for each individual in attendance, with any excess being non-reimbursable. Must list Full Name, Title and IBM Serial # of the employees in attendance Any other exceptions should be approved in writing by up-line management prior to incurring the expense and such documentation should be retained for audit support and submitted along with receipts with the expense report. A copy should also be sent to the Approving Manager upon submission in WWER.

9 Group meals (all IBMers) are based on the city limit. Exceptions are not identified via WWERs and must be identified by the manager Recognition / Internal Events - Meals - Group Event - This category should be used for any recognition events where IBMers are present for a group dinner/lunch (such as Quarter Century Club and Retirement events). This is the only exception to Group Meals. cument#group%20meal Employee Meals IBM has established city specific meal limits which represent the maximum reimbursable amount cities. This is NOT a meal per diem but a reimbursement of actual expenses. Limits are set at the city level (see link below for city meal limit table). If the destination city is not listed on the IBM Travel Policies site, travelers will be reimbursed based on reasonable and actual expenses. try=united+states Business needs and/or travel circumstances may warrant deviations from this policy in certain circumstances. In these cases, managers will review these circumstances and provide/document exception approval as necessary. Full daily meal limit should not be claimed when group meals or business meals are provided. Only the actual expense incurred should be claimed so that there is no "double dipping". Meals must be reasonable, actual, and recorded accurately. Meal Limit applies to the sum of Employee Meals, Group Meals (if any), Mini Bar, food taxes and tips for the day. Any excess expense incurred should be itemized as non-reimbursable. cument#employee%20meals Business Meals - 3rd Party Meals where at least one non-ibm attendee (such as client or potential client personnel) is present Meal Limits do not apply, but prudent business judgement should be used Document the reason / business purpose of the meeting in the Comments / Description in WWER Must include Full Name and title of attendees in WWER (include serial # of any IBM resources) cument#business%20meals%20-%203rd%20party Gifts Gifts to IBMers Based on the type and dollar amount, the gift may be taxable to the recipient. When you provide the employee name, serial number, and dollar amount of the award/gift within your expense report, any taxable amounts will be processed to the employee s next pay statement by Travel Disbursements. (NOTE: this is done through the WWER tool using "Recognition/Internal Events - other gifts" WWER expense category) Listed below are the types of gifts along with their tax implications: A gift certificate (including American Express Certificates), gift card, restaurant coupon, mall/store certificate or movie pass is equivalent to giving a cash award; therefore, any amount is considered taxable income to the employee recipient.

10 Gifts to IBM employees or Merchandise Awards of $25.00 or less which are not personalized are considered nontaxable to the recipient. The $25.00 is based on the Total Merchandise Award Value.* Note: Tickets to a sporting event or theater performance for a specific date and specific time are considered merchandise (non-cash) and would be taxable to the IBM employee recipient if the value is greater than $25.00 of the Total Merchandise Award Value*. Personalized Awards (engraved merchandise with employee's name, team name, or team slogan other than the IBM logo) are not taxable unless the cost exceeds $ of the Total Merchandise Award Value* If an employee received more than three merchandise awards per calendar year (including Thanks! Program awards), the awards are considered taxable beginning with the fourth award regardless of the amount of the award It is the manager's responsibility to track the number of merchandise awards given to their employees and to update the recipient's earnings by submitting an awards form to payroll (click on informal award; then click on noncash award) for any taxable merchandise award.) *The Merchandise Award Value is based on the price of the item given and excludes sales tax, shipping and handling charges. OpenDocument#Gifts%20-%20Group%20Event Gifts to Non- IBMers Gifts to non-ibmers parties are limited to $25, excluding sales tax, shipping and handling, and/or engraving so long as these costs do not add significantly to the cost of the gift. IBM Business Conduct Guidelines provide broad guidance on the giving (4.8.4) and receiving (4.8.2) of gifts. The IBM Corporate Instruction - FIN 168 Business Amenities and Gifts defines the "nominal" value for gifts as $25. Gifts to non-ibmers greater than $25 each are not reimbursable. Exceptions to this policy require Division Controller approval prior to their reimbursement, and the approval must be provided upon submission of the Expense Report. This is claimed through the WWER tool using "entertainment and other third party expenses - gifts - 3rd party" WWER expense category) ndocument#gifts LINK to FIN 168: Remote Access Elimination of Home Internet Expenses - Policy Update Effective May 1, 2009, IBM updated its policy and is eliminating payment of home internet expenses. This includes elimination of employee expense reimbursement and direct-pay corporate managed and contracted home internet services. The following changes will go into effect on May 1, 2009: You are now responsible for providing your own internet access service if you choose to use such a service to conduct business from a home office. This includes all types of internet access - high speed DSL, broadband, cable, satellite or dial-up. IBM will reimburse expenses associated with service termination fees incurred as part of your transition to this new policy. Employees using an IBM corporate managed plan, where IBM pays the vendor directly for your home internet service, will remain on those services until notified. IBM intends to terminate these services and will notify you via when a termination date is established with the vendor.

11 All IBMers affected by this announcement may select to return to work at an IBM office or mobility center. IBM, however, will continue to reimburse home internet expenses in the following cases: When management determines that space is not available to an employee who desires to return to an IBM location. When otherwise required by local law and/or individual employee or labor relations agreement. IBM will continue to provide employees the appropriate work-related tools to help serve clients based on how they perform their jobs and where they work (eg. mobile, customer location, home office, traditional office). These tools include, but are not limited to laptop computers, mobile devices such as cell phones and BlackberriesTM, pagers, wireless cards, business-only credit cards, long distance calling cards, IBM voice mail and phone numbers, and other tools to enable IBMers to support clients and work effectively with colleagues. Expenses for internet home services rendered after April 30, 2009 will not be accepted in expense reporting transactions. The deadline for submitting bills for these home services in the expense reporting applications such as WWERS and NEDS is May 15, Billing expenses for April that arrive after May 15, 2009, will still be reimbursed by IBM with management approval. Review the list of FAQs BOND Use of BonD (Buy on Demand tool) Procurement of ALL supplies are to be made through the IBM on-line procurement system, Buy on Demand (BOND) cts+and+services Misc Funeral flowers Funeral flowers for active employees or family members of active employees can be expensed and should not exceed $100 cument#funeral%20flowers Human Relations Human Relations WWER expense category is used when sending an employee a gift for a serious illness, hospitalization, adoption, or birth of a child. Expenditures are not to exceed $50 cument#human%20relations ================================================ QUESTION: When an employee has to take a confidential call while traveling and is in a public airport, how should we handle expenses associated with meeting rooms that might be associated with ensuring confidential work space while in the airport? We have people on 2-4 hour stop overs on trips and while most calls can be in public some require extended calls that aren't appropriate for cell phones or public locations. They can't be rescheduled due to time constraints or requirements of other participants. Many airports offer business centers or some airlines offer their space for meetings. Please advise. ANSWER: While this should be seen by management as the exception, not the rule, the recommendation is to use 'none of the above' in this case. Please see the following link for a listing of expense categories.

12 ================================================= QUESTION: Lastly, this is just a comment that might help you. I finally went about the process of setting up my home office and did a search on W3 for ergonomic home office. It took me to a page describing recommendation and then had a link straight to Staples which I followed and bought the chair. Later when I called the IBMer handling Staples, she told me that I should have gone to BonD but unfortunately W3 was misleading. I did expense and got reimbursed but taxed I believe. I am just offering this as an area where you might want to have fixed to avoid exceptions. I was really following the instructions to the tee only to find out the ones on W3 were not accurate. ANSWER: In most cases, the IBM employee is responsible for obtaining and paying for their own Home Office Furniture. Unique situations should be discussed with your manager (who may seek advice from HR). Ref. ================= Quick Reference guide to Expense reimbursement Click link to reference guide ================= If there are questions, please send to GBS NA Payables/Dallas/IBM