Expense Report of office

Recently a situation has come up in the office, Jim noticed that his supervisor Stan is frequently using the corporate expense account for his own personal use. In fact, just last week Stan took out his own family and Jim for a night of fine dining on Saturday. When it came time to pay the check, Stan insisted on placing the bill on the corporate account. Jim is concerned because he may be implicated in the process, but he does not want to report his boss to the company. Jim fears that if he confronts Stan, then Stan may become angry with him. Therefore Jim has now come to me for advice, as he trusts me completely.

At first I was unsure of what to do, but I figured let me ask Jim some questions to better understand the situation better. So I asked Jim how often do you see Stan using his expense account to pay for personal expenses? He stated, "I have noticed at least three to four times a month there is a personal expense on his corporate expense report." Then I also asked if he noticed if there is anything more than just meals included in the personal expenses? Jim responded that responded that recently they were both in Atlantic City for a non-business related trip and he noticed Stan using the corporate expense card. Last question I asked Jim was if he has ever questioned Stan as to why he uses the corporate account with these expenditures? Jim said "I have never asked Stan due to the fact I would rather avoid the confrontation."

After discussing the situation with Jim and better understanding the entire circumstance I recommended that Jim should speak with Stan. Especially due to the fact the Jim and Stan have a good relationship, it's not everyday that a supervisor invites his subordinates out to dinner with their family. I would suggest that Jim ask Stan if he uses his corporate expense account for personal expenses? If Stan asks why, Jim can just state that he noticed him using the business account at last week's dinner. If Stan gets anger or defensive it might be in Jims best interest to bring it to Stan's boss.

The next step would be to bring the situation to upper management due to the fact Stan might be costing the company money and taking from the bottom line. The reason I strongly believe this would be the next best move is due to the fact that Jim has been out to dinner with Stan and his family while using the expense account and Jim wants to make sure this will not affect his future employment if Stan is eventually caught. Also, if the end result is that Stan is actually not doing anything wrong, it proves that Jim is just looking out for the company's best interests.

The biggest disadvantage to Jim failing the take action could possible put Jim's future employment in jeopardy. This is due the fact Jim has been in situations where he has been with Stan while he was using the company expense account for personal use. Also, if Jim fails

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