The top 12 forged expense claims and software to prevent fraud

By Grégory Coste.

Published: 17 October 2024

Any employee can make a false business expense claim. Especially if the company has no expense management policy or control procedure in place.

According to Les Echos and Capital :

Fraud costs an average of €700 per employee per year.

More than 60% of French people inflate their travel expenses,

50% inflate their meal expenses,

43% inflate their accommodation costs.

What's more, a company director who is unable to justify an expense claim may be subject to a reassessment by URSSAF in the event of an audit by the tax authorities.

appvizer therefore advises you to keep your accounts up to date, enclosing original receipts, and to read this article carefully. We reveal 12 cases of false invoicing and tell you how you can take action against fraudsters.

Ready to manage your expense reports like a well-informed company director using dedicated software ?

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The top 12 forged expense claims

Fraudsters are full of imagination when it comes to creating a false expense claim. Most of them are motivated by the search for compensation.

This compensation is intended to balance (as you wish) :

the time wasted filling in expense forms,
a lack of consideration from the company,
a low salary,
the fact of having to advance the sums,
the time it takes to be reimbursed.

Fraudsters have no shortage of ideas for obtaining this allowance, this additional tax-free salary...

No. 1: the false restaurant bill

The false restaurant bill is a classic: both employees and the self-employed use it.

Everyone has their own model for a fake restaurant bill:

get invited to a business lunch, but get a copy of the bill so that your company can reimburse you;
pay your share of the bill (indicating several place settings) and present this false meal voucher as proof to your employer to be reimbursed;
acting as if you had invited guests so that you could exceed the maximum amount authorised for lunch: simply ask for 2 place settings instead of 1 on the bill;
Being on half-board in a hotel, but asking for a receipt for lunch, is another way of providing a false meal bill.

No. 2: False hotel bills

The fake hotel bill is generally much higher than the average. It is accompanied by a statement of expenses showing the total amount.

From simple employees sent on professional training to top management executives, everyone asks hotels to inflate the price of overnight stays in order to hide certain non-business expenses.

False invoices from Ibis, Campanile or other hotels are commonplace and generally conceal :

telephone calls to premium rate numbers,
a "good slap" in the minibar,
pay-per-view adult video,
dinner in the room with a 'guest'.

The "client" is often the spouse accompanying the employee on a business trip.

No. 3: Fake taxi bills

How do you cheat on your taxi bill?

Here are two practices used, especially in foreign countries, and sometimes in France:

Ask for a higher amount than the fare, so that you are reimbursed for more than you actually spent,
ask for a blank form so that you can enter the amount on the fake taxi bill yourself.

Another 5-step trick for creating a fake taxi bill:

tell the driver that his business card is not working,
ask for 2 copies of the bill, and explain to the driver that the company (of the person being transported) is going to pay him directly for the fare,
send a copy of the journey to his accounts department,
also send a copy of the journey to his manager,
be reimbursed for the fare that you did not pay yourself.

Taxis are not the only way to create a false bill for transport expenses.

Here are 5 examples of fraudulent travel expenses .

No. 4: the little train ticket scam

A business trip is planned. The company provides a first-class e-ticket to ensure that the employee is as comfortable as possible.

The employee simply exchanges the ticket for a second-class ticket and pockets the difference, providing the first-class e-ticket to the relevant department. The accountants won't even notice.

No. 5: Air ticket fraud

Applying the same principle as for train travel, this time the fraudster pockets a larger sum.

Imagine a return journey to the United States: the difference in ticket price between first and second class represents a substantial profit.

Note: fraud involving a train or plane ticket is less serious insofar as the company actually spends what it had planned to spend.

6: Lying about mileage expenses incurred

The mileage scale is set by the authorities and defines the amount of reimbursements for business travel.

The idea is to falsely declare the mileage expenses incurred for this type of journey.

To make sure you get as much money as possible, all you have to do is declare :

7 horsepower and use a less powerful vehicle such as a motorbike,
a distance travelled that is longer than the actual kilometres travelled.

No. 7: Fake proof of full tank of petrol

All you have to do is ask people around you for proof of payment so that you can present it to your accounts department and be reimbursed for the unspent amount.

The cleverest fraudsters will pay attention to working hours, location and type of fuel, if this information is given.

No. 8: Fake car park or parking tickets

It's easy to get hold of car park or parking tickets to justify your expenditure and pocket the money.

This practice is tending to disappear with the advent of parking meters that require you to give your number plate number (in the whole of Palavas-les-Flots in particular).

For expenses incurred using a vehicle, we strongly advise you to ask for the vehicle registration document.

No. 9: Set an advantageous exchange rate

It is possible to go on a business trip and enjoy it at the expense of the princess. If your employer has no policy on the exchange rate of foreign currencies, it's easy to declare a rate that's more than advantageous to you.

Here's how to commit fraud with impunity:

present receipts for expenses incurred abroad, expressed in the currency of the country,
quote an exchange rate that can save you hundreds of euros!

The advantageous conversion of foreign currencies into euros is all the easier if you take into account the language used to describe the expense claim.

The languages used, such as Chinese and Japanese, have characters that are illegible and incomprehensible to the vast majority of French people: it is therefore very easy to lie about the name of the service and its amount.

If there is no control procedure, the accountant will have to take your word for it!

No. 10: Business gifts to fictitious customers

Certain sales staff or managers are authorised to give gifts to their customers.

Depending on the importance of the customer and the budget allocated to business gifts, the gift may be a simple advertising pen, a box of chocolate, or even a bottle of Grand Cru Classé for an important or long-standing customer.

The temptation is great for some fraudsters to offer these gifts to friends, family or themselves in a roundabout way.

Another false expense form is smuggled in unnoticed...

11: getting reimbursed twice

Some fraudsters have a lot of nerve and ask to be reimbursed again for an expense that has already been paid for by the company.

To see through their game:

the expense was incurred several months ago,
the employee has kept the receipt. The employee is counting on the manager or accountant to forget, as they are swamped with expense claims to process.

Tip: always ask for the original receipts and keep them.

No. 12: Create false invoices

Fake invoice templates are available on the Internet, for example to create a blank restaurant expense claim.

Some people are also very proficient at using Photoshop.

However, any member of the company who commits fraud by creating a false invoice from scratch is liable to dismissal for serious misconduct.

The fraudster is also liable to penalties under the law:

Making or using false documents is a punishable offence: up to 3 years' imprisonment and a €45,000 fine.

Source: Service-Public.fr

Solutions to combat fraud

You're wondering: what are the best solutions for preventing abuse and putting fraudsters out of business?

Software is the essential tool for detecting and, above all, preventing fraud. The software is updated automatically on a regular basis, which is very useful, especially if there are any changes to the mileage scale.

But before you buy, you first need to establish a "contract of trust" internally.

Establish a business expenses policy

The manager should draw up an agreement setting out the rules to be respected for expenses incurred on behalf of the company.

They must then make these rules known to their employees. The human resources manager must ensure that the key measures are understood by all members of the company concerned.

The basic rules :

set a framework for use and the nature of authorised expenses,
define an amount per type of business expense
list the compulsory information to be provided to justify the expense,
set a maximum time limit for reimbursement to the employee.

It is a good idea to obtain legal advice from a firm of lawyers specialising in employment law. They are familiar with social issues and the various collective agreements.

Define rules for managing and controlling expenses

For effective protection against false expense claims, you need to take the necessary steps. By using software, you can dematerialise your expense reports and gain overall visibility of the expenses incurred.

You save time and keep an eye on your employees' expenses:

all expenses are centralised
reports can be consulted in real time,
a dashboard showing expenses by type,
It's easy to track and analyse expenses.

In addition, you can monitor which employees travel the most, and which have the most business expenses.

Expense claim management software