Martin Navigates an Audit

Martin did his best to manage the office operations and the finances according to all the rules and processes sent from head office, but these didn’t leave much room for the cultural context and nuances of the country where he is based.

For example, it was often impossible to get a receipt for a taxi ride, yet the rules required this for an expense claim. He has signalled this problem when he has submitted his claims, but he knows that the internal auditor will see this as a risk.

He needn’t have worried. He explained the problem to the auditor when she visited, and they worked to find a solution. He was able to show external meeting notes in the contact database that corresponded to each of the taxi rides. The auditor wrote a formal recommendation that in certain countries, in lieu of a receipt, the taxi could be refunded based on a dated meeting note. The problem was solved – not just for Martin, but for colleagues in some other countries as well.

The auditor made a few recommendations, of course. She also spent time showing Martin how to simplify his budgeting process, and taught him how to use a new financial planning spreadsheet. Martin almost looked forward to the next visit!