Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud

Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by XCabbage on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @10:21AM (#18600158)

Maybe I'm more cynical, but I presume that the AI just looked at the strip club receipt, identified as a strip club because the submitter had made no attempt to hide that fact, then determined that according to some official company expenses policy it was impermissible to bill for strip clubs, and then the AI's masters triumphantly declared it to be "fraud" - without worrying about niggly little questions like whether the employee had read the policy, knew the policy existed, or even had access to the policy, nor whether the employee had been authorised by their manager to submit the expense claim despite it violating the written policy.

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by jakobegger on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @12:11PM (#18601334)

Do you really need a formal company policy to know that you shouldn't expense a strip club?

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by XCabbage on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @12:37PM (#18601614)

Why shouldn't I, if the strip club bill was racked up for business purposes? My employer doesn't expect me to take clients to strip clubs, but if they did, I'd damn well expect to be allowed to expense them.

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by jakobegger on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @01:01PM (#18601877)

I'm not totally sure you aren't trolling me.

Somehow I just assumed it was universally agreed upon that strip clubs are not something that you go to for business reason.

And if a sales person invites a client to a strip club, they would do so understanding that it's a questionable thing to do, and that they would be smart enough not to file it in their expense report.

Even if their manager said it's okay. I mean, that would just be a perfect reason for the company to fire both the employee and the manager for colluding to defraud a totally ethical company.

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by cosmie on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @03:46PM (#18603439)

> And if a sales person invites a client to a strip club, they would do so understanding that it's a questionable thing to do,

Don't presume the sales person is inviting the client.

I do consulting now, and periodically have to go to client sites for presentations and training sessions. There's almost always a big client dinner one of the days we're there. Where we go out to eat, and what we do afterward, is usually driven by client suggestions. In my case, the "after dinner" activities almost always entailed some form of bar hopping, and has never included strip clubs. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't include strip clubs if that's what the client wanted, just that the specific clients I've serviced haven't ever had that particular inclination.

Note that I've only ever been the most senior person present from my company once, and therefore responsible for expensing the client-servicing night. The only direction I was given that time was to keep the client happy and to not blow past the budget for that trip (which had about $5k worth of cushion, after anticipated employee travel expenses). Most of the expenses are passed through to the client however (which is what dictates the budget), and some client agreements do have very strict stipulations on allowable pass-through expenses.

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by jstarfish on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @01:22PM (#18602118)

You are clearly not in sales.

> I just assumed it was universally agreed upon that strip clubs are not something that you go to for business reason.

Not for personal benefit, but in the interest of winning over a client, coke-fueled stripper parties are fair game.

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by jakobegger on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @01:58PM (#18602518)

Do you recommend putting the receipt from the coke dealer in your expense report as well? (As long as there's no company policy against narcotics in expense reports, obviously)

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by pertymcpert on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @03:01PM (#18603118)

Strip clubs are legal, and many people don't have any ethical issues with them.

Presumably a coke dealer is dealing in illegal drugs.

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by drawnwren on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @07:27PM (#18604772)

Unfortunately, I don't think coke dealers are in the practice of providing itemized receipts.

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by gamblor956 on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @04:56PM (#18603940)

Up until 5-8 years ago, it was still standard business practices at most major accounting firms to take clients to strip clubs.

It's still SOP for many investment firms...

So, no, he's not trolling you. Since the article didn't provide details, it's very possible that the expense was submitted during the transition time when there was no firm policy banning taking clients to strip clubs.

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by ambicapter on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @01:19PM (#18602083)

Are you in sales?

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Re:Algorithmic auditors are exposing employee expense fraud by pertymcpert on Tuesday December 04, 2018 @03:02PM (#18603129)

Uh, no. Happens all the time on wall st. Have you been living under a rock?

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