Traveling employee had an arrangement for the money he gets for the trip, if any funds were not spent, they have to give it back: ‘I get the standard letter through internal mail saying that my expenses are out by 29 pennies’

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Oct 1, 2026 5:15 PM EDT

Doing all that for pennies is definitely a choice.

Being a traveling employee must be really nice. Getting to visit different places as part of your job, even if it is for a couple of hours, sounds incredibly nice. There are quite some jobs that have that perk; they assign employees to travel around for business purposes. For that, they provide a hotel and money for food and other expenses. The way they manage it is very different depending on the company. Some use a company credit card to pay for everything; others spend their own money and then get paid back; others receive money first. And they show the tickets to show how much they used. In this case, the methodology is a mixture: the employee receives money for the trip beforehand, but if they need more, they have to wait to show the tickets and get it. If they used less, then they give it back when they come back from the trip. 

The person in this story had too many trips altogether, so they were using the system to their advantage. They weren't giving back what was left from the trip after every single one; they just waited till they had done all of them to check if they were owed or had over the amount of money expected. What they were doing isn't wrong at all; it's just the easiest and more proactive way of handling the trip's money. The problem relies on the fact that, after all the trips, the company realized that the amount of money given to the employee for all the trips was more than what they actually spent. You might think from that sentence that it is over $100 more, but no, only 29 pennies more. Now, the way the employee managed the situation is excellent. But what would you have done in this case? Would you have thought of a clever idea like they did to avoid it happening again? Some advisor said they would have started a payment plan for several months; that would have also been hilarious. I would have loved to see the face of the finance department when they received the pennies. 

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  • I used to travel loads with work. Two to three days a week every week at late notice all over Europe. The company I work for used to like you to have a cash advance and then return any unspent funds and submit receipts for the remainder. Any over receipting you had to pay back or over receipting they'd pay you back into your bank.
    via flufffyninja
  • A man counting pennies. Still frame for contextual reference only.
    via Towfiqu barbhuiya

    A man counting pennies.

    Still frame for contextual reference only. 

  • I was travelling so much I didn't bother returning from individual trips. I'd just refill my float money (approx £300) and put my expenses in. After a year of this the travel stopped so I returned the float money and completed the final expenses. A couple of weeks later I get the standard letter through internal mail (I'm based at a branch 100 miles from accounting) saying that my expenses are out by 29p
    via flufffyninja
  • and I need to either sign the reply for them to deduct from my wages (which is what everyone normally does) or return pay it in cash. Of course I see this and chuckle and my boss asks me what I'm laughing at. I pass him the letter that he laughs at as well then he passes me a penny and says "there's one to get you started". go home that night break out
    via flufffyninja
  • the penny jar and get the remaining 28p in pennys. I then go into work the next day get a brand new envelope (for internal mail they liked you to reuse where possible) got the expensive headed note paper out of stationary to reply "please find the funds enclosed" and sent back via internal mail. I'm hopeful my reply cost them more than the 29p
    via flufffyninja
  • SheiB123 The accounting dept at a former employer once revised the new CEO's expense report to remove $0.20; they advised that he had over-tipped. He instituted a review of how expense reports were reviewed. The company had three people reviewing expense reports to ensure people were following the policy. Fully loaded salaries for these people was over $100K annually. This was their ONLY responsibility as there were 100's of
    via flufffyninja
  • staff traveling regularly. They reduced expense reports by an annual average of $7K. The company reverted to per diem in the next year. The staff were reassigned to other areas in accounting.
    via flufffyninja
  • A lot of pennies in a table.
    via Dan Dennis

    A lot of pennies in a table. 

  • seanbray You should have paid 30p, meaning that they have to go through that process to refund you.
    via seanbray
  • triedtoavoidsignup I would have gone on a payment plan... 1 penny per week for 29 weeks....
    via triedtoavoidsignup
  • PN_Guin I wonder how much money could be saved (wages, communication, overhead), just by setting a threshold in the single digit dollar range and simply not bother with anything below. Alternatively a percentage of the total.
    via PN_Guin
  • DaHick I am positive it cost them more than 29p. I think that is why my company demands bank transfer or wage deduction. Because that is automated, and the other one requires a trip to the bank.
    via DaHick
  • Militantignorance I once got a "your credit card account is overdue letter", but then I looked and was overdue by $0.00. I called and asked it I should send them a check for $0.00, or just and empty envelope. The customer service rep and I had a good laugh.
    via Militantignorance
  • R-Dragon_Thunderzord Should have traveled to the head office and paid the Pennies in person. Submitting your travel expense of course.
    via R-Dragon_Thunderzord
  • PassComprehensive425 I once got a deparment store credit card bill for 5 cents. I went to the store and told them I wanted to pay my bill in full in cash. The clerk and her colleague's jaw dropped when they saw bill. They literally lost money the moment they printed and sent me the bill (postage was multiple times my bill). Is it any wonder this department store no longer exists.
    via PassComprehensive425
  • Bluebird Dense1485 Forget everything else. OP was probably paid more to deal with the discrepancy than the discrepancy. At minimum wage in the UK 29p is 1 minute 22 seconds. OP probably took longer to read the email (including time to laugh) than 1:22
    via Bluebird Dense1485
  • drugsdruyd I would have submitted it in person. Claiming expenses to get to accounting office.
    via drugsdruyd

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corporate employee expenses malicious compliance pennies traveling
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