Purpose
Expense triage goes wrong when three different questions get collapsed into one:
is it within policy, is it supported by evidence, and is it deductible or taxable.
They have different owners and different answers. This skill separates them, gives
a single disposition per claim, and pulls integrity indicators out of the finance
queue where they do not belong.
Data classification
Confidential. Claims contain an identified employee's movements, meals,
associates and sometimes health-related travel. Handle as personal data; restrict
to the approvals chain.
STOP CONDITIONS:
| Trigger |
Action |
| Full or partial card numbers, PAN, CVV, bank account or IBAN details in a pasted receipt |
Stop. Say which category was seen, never repeat the value. Ask for a redacted receipt. Do not store or restate it. |
| Health, religious, or trade-union information inferable from the claim (medical travel, dietary or religious detail, union event) |
Stop the automated line of reasoning. Do not comment on it. Route to a named approver handling it under a restricted process. |
| Suspected fraud: duplicated receipts, altered totals, claims for a period of absence, round-sum patterns without support |
Stop triage. Do not confront, do not notify the claimant, do not annotate the claim with an accusation. Escalate to the route the organisation defines for suspected fraud. |
| Payment, gift or hospitality involving a public official, a regulator, or anything that could look like inducement |
Stop. This is an anti-bribery matter, not an expense decision. Escalate to compliance. |
| The claim relates to a legal dispute, settlement, or investigation |
Stop. May be privileged. Route to legal. |
NON-FABRICATION RULE. Never assume a limit, a per-diem rate, an approval
threshold or a mileage rate that the policy did not state, and never import one
from another organisation or another jurisdiction. Never infer a business purpose
from the merchant name, the day of the week, or the claimant's role. If the policy
clause is not supplied, the output is POLICY CLAUSE NOT SUPPLIED — cannot rule.
A rejection quoting an invented rule collapses the first time the claimant asks to
see it.
Prerequisites
- Inputs (mandatory): the expense policy text, or at minimum the clause
governing the category in question; the claim lines with date, merchant,
category, amount and currency; the stated business purpose.
- Inputs (mandatory for evidence tests): the receipt or its absence, and for
entertainment, the attendee list and their affiliation.
- Inputs (jurisdiction-dependent): which jurisdiction employs the claimant and
where the spend occurred. Ask. Deductibility, VAT/GST recovery, per-diem
treatment and taxable-benefit rules are jurisdiction-specific and this skill
must not assume one.
- Access: none required.
If the policy text is absent, stop. Triage without the rule is opinion.
Procedure
1. Split the three questions
Every claim is assessed against all three; they can disagree, and that is normal.
| Question |
Owner |
Failure means |
| Policy: is this category, amount and approval permitted? |
Finance / line manager |
Out of policy |
| Evidence: is there sufficient support for the amount and purpose? |
Finance |
Unsupported |
| Tax: is it deductible, VAT-recoverable, or a taxable benefit? |
Tax function, per jurisdiction |
A tax treatment question, not a rejection |
A compliant claim with a missing receipt is an evidence problem. A supported claim
over the limit is a policy problem. Never merge them into one rejection reason —
the claimant cannot fix an undifferentiated "rejected".
2. Apply the disposition table
| Policy |
Evidence |
Disposition |
| Within |
Complete |
Approve |
| Within |
Missing receipt below the policy's no-receipt threshold, purpose stated |
Approve with the exception noted |
| Within |
Missing receipt above threshold |
Return for evidence; do not reject |
| Within |
Purpose absent |
Return for business purpose |
| Outside — amount over limit |
Complete |
Approve to the limit, reject the excess, or route to the exception approver named in the policy. Never approve silently. |
| Outside — prohibited category |
Any |
Reject, quoting the clause verbatim |
| Outside — approval not obtained in advance where required |
Complete |
Route to retrospective approval per policy; if the policy has no retrospective route, reject |
| Unclear whether in policy |
Any |
Escalate to the policy owner. Do not resolve ambiguity against the claimant by default |
| Any |
Evidence appears altered or duplicated |
Stop — fraud route, not triage |
3. Apply the heightened-scrutiny categories
These carry exposure beyond the claim amount and always need the extra field:
| Category |
Extra requirement |
| Client entertainment |
Attendee names and organisations; business purpose; check against gifts/hospitality limits |
| Gifts given or received |
Register entry; value; recipient; check the anti-bribery threshold |
| Anything involving a public official |
Escalate to compliance regardless of value |
| Travel with a personal element |
Apportionment basis stated |
| Cash and cash-equivalents |
Support beyond the claimant's own statement |
| Charitable or political donations |
Approval per the policy's specific route; political donations are separately restricted in many jurisdictions — ask |
| Home-office and equipment |
Ownership and return terms; often a taxable benefit — flag to tax |
| Alcohol |
Many policies restrict or cap this separately; check the clause rather than the general meal limit |
4. Detect patterns, not just claims
Across a batch, flag: repeated claims just under an approval threshold; the same
merchant and amount recurring; claims dated to periods of leave; sequential
receipt numbers from one merchant across separate claims; a single approver
approving their own chain. Report the pattern to the escalation route — do not
build a case, and do not annotate the individual claims.
5. Write the disposition
Per claim: decision · the reason class (policy / evidence / tax / escalation) ·
the clause quoted verbatim · what the claimant must do next. Rejections that do
not quote a clause get reversed on appeal and cost more than the claim.
Boundaries
- Not for giving tax advice or determining deductibility, VAT recovery or
benefit-in-kind treatment. Flag the question and route to the tax function for
the relevant jurisdiction.
- Not for investigating suspected fraud. Detect, escalate, stop.
- Not for explaining a cost-centre overrun — that is
finance-budget-vs-actual-commentary.
- Not for writing or amending the expense policy itself — that is
legal-compliance-policy-drafting.
Hand-offs
- Receives from: the claims queue, or from
finance-budget-vs-actual-commentary
when a variance traces to claim behaviour.
- Routes to:
legal-compliance-policy-drafting when repeated ambiguity shows the
policy clause itself is defective.
- Routes to: the internal audit / assurance function (outside this skill set)
when claims are requested as audit or investigation evidence.
- Escalates to: compliance for bribery and hospitality indicators; to the fraud
route for evidence integrity; to tax for treatment questions.
1---2name: finance-expense-policy-triage3description: Triages expense claims against a supplied expense policy using a fixed disposition table, separates a policy breach from a tax or evidence problem, and escalates bribery, conflict-of-interest and fraud indicators out of the finance queue instead of deciding them. Refuses to rule on a claim when the policy text, the receipt evidence or the business purpose was not supplied. Use when reviewing a claim or a batch of claims, when a claimant disputes a rejection, when writing a rejection that must stand up, or when deciding whether a spend pattern needs escalation. Trigger on 'expense claim', 'is this claimable', 'expense policy', 'reject this claim', 'entertainment expense', 'gifts and hospitality', 'per diem', 'out of policy'. Not for explaining a cost-centre budget overrun (use finance-budget-vs-actual-commentary) or for month-end reconciliation (use finance-month-end-variance-analysis).4---56## Purpose78Expense triage goes wrong when three different questions get collapsed into one:9is it within policy, is it supported by evidence, and is it deductible or taxable.10They have different owners and different answers. This skill separates them, gives11a single disposition per claim, and pulls integrity indicators out of the finance12queue where they do not belong.1314## Data classification1516**Confidential.** Claims contain an identified employee's movements, meals,17associates and sometimes health-related travel. Handle as personal data; restrict18to the approvals chain.1920**STOP CONDITIONS:**2122| Trigger | Action |23| --- | --- |24| Full or partial card numbers, PAN, CVV, bank account or IBAN details in a pasted receipt | Stop. Say which category was seen, never repeat the value. Ask for a redacted receipt. Do not store or restate it. |25| Health, religious, or trade-union information inferable from the claim (medical travel, dietary or religious detail, union event) | Stop the automated line of reasoning. Do not comment on it. Route to a named approver handling it under a restricted process. |26| Suspected fraud: duplicated receipts, altered totals, claims for a period of absence, round-sum patterns without support | Stop triage. Do not confront, do not notify the claimant, do not annotate the claim with an accusation. Escalate to the route the organisation defines for suspected fraud. |27| Payment, gift or hospitality involving a public official, a regulator, or anything that could look like inducement | Stop. This is an anti-bribery matter, not an expense decision. Escalate to compliance. |28| The claim relates to a legal dispute, settlement, or investigation | Stop. May be privileged. Route to legal. |2930**NON-FABRICATION RULE.** Never assume a limit, a per-diem rate, an approval31threshold or a mileage rate that the policy did not state, and never import one32from another organisation or another jurisdiction. Never infer a business purpose33from the merchant name, the day of the week, or the claimant's role. If the policy34clause is not supplied, the output is `POLICY CLAUSE NOT SUPPLIED — cannot rule`.35A rejection quoting an invented rule collapses the first time the claimant asks to36see it.3738## Prerequisites3940- **Inputs (mandatory):** the expense policy text, or at minimum the clause41 governing the category in question; the claim lines with date, merchant,42 category, amount and currency; the stated business purpose.43- **Inputs (mandatory for evidence tests):** the receipt or its absence, and for44 entertainment, the attendee list and their affiliation.45- **Inputs (jurisdiction-dependent):** which jurisdiction employs the claimant and46 where the spend occurred. Ask. Deductibility, VAT/GST recovery, per-diem47 treatment and taxable-benefit rules are jurisdiction-specific and this skill48 must not assume one.49- **Access:** none required.5051If the policy text is absent, stop. Triage without the rule is opinion.5253## Procedure5455### 1. Split the three questions5657Every claim is assessed against all three; they can disagree, and that is normal.5859| Question | Owner | Failure means |60| --- | --- | --- |61| Policy: is this category, amount and approval permitted? | Finance / line manager | Out of policy |62| Evidence: is there sufficient support for the amount and purpose? | Finance | Unsupported |63| Tax: is it deductible, VAT-recoverable, or a taxable benefit? | Tax function, per jurisdiction | A tax treatment question, not a rejection |6465A compliant claim with a missing receipt is an evidence problem. A supported claim66over the limit is a policy problem. Never merge them into one rejection reason —67the claimant cannot fix an undifferentiated "rejected".6869### 2. Apply the disposition table7071| Policy | Evidence | Disposition |72| --- | --- | --- |73| Within | Complete | Approve |74| Within | Missing receipt below the policy's no-receipt threshold, purpose stated | Approve with the exception noted |75| Within | Missing receipt above threshold | Return for evidence; do not reject |76| Within | Purpose absent | Return for business purpose |77| Outside — amount over limit | Complete | Approve to the limit, reject the excess, or route to the exception approver named in the policy. Never approve silently. |78| Outside — prohibited category | Any | Reject, quoting the clause verbatim |79| Outside — approval not obtained in advance where required | Complete | Route to retrospective approval per policy; if the policy has no retrospective route, reject |80| Unclear whether in policy | Any | Escalate to the policy owner. Do not resolve ambiguity against the claimant by default |81| Any | Evidence appears altered or duplicated | Stop — fraud route, not triage |8283### 3. Apply the heightened-scrutiny categories8485These carry exposure beyond the claim amount and always need the extra field:8687| Category | Extra requirement |88| --- | --- |89| Client entertainment | Attendee names and organisations; business purpose; check against gifts/hospitality limits |90| Gifts given or received | Register entry; value; recipient; check the anti-bribery threshold |91| Anything involving a public official | Escalate to compliance regardless of value |92| Travel with a personal element | Apportionment basis stated |93| Cash and cash-equivalents | Support beyond the claimant's own statement |94| Charitable or political donations | Approval per the policy's specific route; political donations are separately restricted in many jurisdictions — ask |95| Home-office and equipment | Ownership and return terms; often a taxable benefit — flag to tax |96| Alcohol | Many policies restrict or cap this separately; check the clause rather than the general meal limit |9798### 4. Detect patterns, not just claims99100Across a batch, flag: repeated claims just under an approval threshold; the same101merchant and amount recurring; claims dated to periods of leave; sequential102receipt numbers from one merchant across separate claims; a single approver103approving their own chain. Report the pattern to the escalation route — do not104build a case, and do not annotate the individual claims.105106### 5. Write the disposition107108Per claim: **decision · the reason class (policy / evidence / tax / escalation) ·109the clause quoted verbatim · what the claimant must do next.** Rejections that do110not quote a clause get reversed on appeal and cost more than the claim.111112## Boundaries113114- **Not for** giving tax advice or determining deductibility, VAT recovery or115 benefit-in-kind treatment. Flag the question and route to the tax function for116 the relevant jurisdiction.117- **Not for** investigating suspected fraud. Detect, escalate, stop.118- **Not for** explaining a cost-centre overrun — that is119 `finance-budget-vs-actual-commentary`.120- **Not for** writing or amending the expense policy itself — that is121 `legal-compliance-policy-drafting`.122123## Hand-offs124125- Receives from: the claims queue, or from `finance-budget-vs-actual-commentary`126 when a variance traces to claim behaviour.127- Routes to: `legal-compliance-policy-drafting` when repeated ambiguity shows the128 policy clause itself is defective.129- Routes to: the internal audit / assurance function (outside this skill set)130 when claims are requested as audit or investigation evidence.131- Escalates to: compliance for bribery and hospitality indicators; to the fraud132 route for evidence integrity; to tax for treatment questions.
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