That small expense claim could turn into your financial nightmare

SINGAPORE – Many working professionals would have incurred work-related expenses – such as for transport, entertaining clients or buying lunch for a new teammate – at some point in their working lives.

Some may procrastinate when filing their claims because they find it a hassle – inputting one receipt after another, only to encounter a system lag and having to repeat the process.

They may end up getting reimbursed late, or sometimes not at all. 

There are also first-time employees who are afraid of being viewed as petty, so they drag their feet over claiming a legitimate expense.

Financial experts said delayed claims can add up and eat into one’s personal savings or, at worst, balloon into unsustainable debt. 

Are you spending too much on company expenses?

Financial and payments platform Airwallex surveyed 500 employees across businesses of all sizes, from micro firms to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to larger enterprises.

It found that 56 per cent of respondents spend up to $5,000 annually, or about $416.70 a month, on business-related costs out of their own pocket. 

Another 5 per cent of respondents said their work expenses exceeded $20,000 a year, which is almost $1,700 a month.

Mr Lionel Tan, director of account management, SME and growth at Airwallex, said small expenses may feel manageable each month, but these can add up to “quite a significant amount of money” over a year.

Communications professional Demi Chumponvong had an unpleasant surprise when she finally took the time to look through her past expense claims. 

Ms Chumponvong travels using ride-hailing platform Grab for meetings or events and can fork out more than $20 a ride during peak hours.

She also incurs petty costs, which typically range between $10 and $20 each, for bulk printing or courier services.

“After a while, I realised that all these $10, $20 expenses add up. The cost is so high!” she said.

Ms Chumponvong often delays filing her claims because she finds it tedious to do so. 

For those first-time employees who may hesitate to claim work-related expenses for fear that they will appear calculative, Ms Gladys Tan, executive financial consultant at finexis advisory, said these young adults should not be afraid to ask for reimbursement.

It is important to have open conversations, she said.

“Approach your manager and share your observations on why and how certain expenses can be managed.

“The young adult will be seen as resourceful and proactive instead of calculative.”

Ms Tan noted that these open discussions can help prevent resentment from building up.

“The last thing we want is for a young adult to go to work thinking: Before I even start earning, I am already burning X amount of money,” she added.

Are work expenses eating into your personal savings pot?

The Airwallex survey found that 28 per cent of employees have dipped into their personal savings to cover work-related expenses.

Ms Tan noted that these work expenses can be “quite significant”, potentially eating into their emergency funds, which are originally intended as a safeguard against unexpected situations such as a medical crisis or job loss.

She added that some might de-prioritise important personal expenses, such as forgoing insurance or putting off investments. 

“They do not feel secure if they draw down their emergency funds further, so they cut back on these important expenditures,” she said. 

Do not use your personal credit card for work expenses

Other employees may even use their personal credit cards to pay for business expenses. In fact, slightly over half – 52 per cent – of those polled said they did so.

Ms Tan said it is not advisable to depend on personal credit cards for work expenses. Credit card debt is among the costliest forms of borrowing, with interest rates reaching between 27 per cent and 28 per cent for individuals who do not pay their bills in full and on time.

The interest also compounds daily, which means interest is calculated and added to the outstanding balance each day. 

“This can lead to the slippery slope of mounting debt, which will potentially impact their credit scores,” Ms Tan said.

A low credit score signals to lenders that these individuals are higher-risk borrowers. As a result, banks may charge higher interest rates on home loans or even choose not to lend to those with a poor credit history.

Ms Chumponvong has been able to juggle her work and personal expenses thus far by adjusting her personal spending to stay within her monthly budget.

For example, if her work expenses are particularly high in a given month, she tends to hold off on making significant personal purchases.

Ms Chumponvong also tries not to use her credit card for work expenses. “I want to build the habit of spending only what I have,” she said.

She added that she is worried she might lose track of both work and personal expenses if she simply taps the card for every purchase. This might lead her to overspend unknowingly, only realising it when the bill comes later.

How to separate work and personal expenses

Ms Tan from finexis advisory said it may be helpful for individuals to have a separate savings account or sub-account for company expenses.

Banks allow customers to open multiple savings accounts for different purposes.

Digital banks GXS and Trust offer sub-accounts within a single savings account.

GXS Bank allows up to eight savings pockets, while Trust Bank allows up to five savings pots for different needs.

Corporate cards could draw a line between work and personal expenses

Alternatively, Ms Tan noted that corporate cards offer a practical solution, albeit with certain restrictions.

They are intended solely for work-related expenses, ensuring a clear separation between personal and professional spending.

Ms Tan added that these cards are, however, “not a free pass to pay for anything and everything”.

Airwallex offers a business debit card solution that can be used wherever Visa is accepted. 

Companies that adopt the solution can issue virtual cards for departments, such as the advertising or marketing department, or to individual employees. There are built-in controls such as transaction limits to prevent overspending.

Airwallex’s Mr Tan said employees can simply upload the receipt to prove that it is a business expense. The Airwallex solution tracks, reviews and approves the spending.

The employee does not have to pay for anything out of pocket throughout the entire process, he added.

Mr Tan said corporate cards are commonly issued by multinational companies to their staff but are not so common among SMEs.

Airwallex found in its survey that the hospitality and leisure sector has the highest out-of-pocket spending, with 15 per cent of employees in that industry reporting expenses above $20,000 annually.

This is followed by manufacturing and education, rounding out the top three sectors with the highest personal financial exposure. 

What one company is doing

Security company Certis has its own in-house system, which allows employees to submit their expense claims via Allergo, an employee self-service app.

Mr Robin Goh, senior vice-president and head of group communications and marketing at Certis, said employees upload the receipts and fill out a form, and the system uses optical character recognition technology to compare the receipt data with the submitted claim details.

The claims will be automatically approved if there are no discrepancies and the money is reimbursed to Certis’ employees “within 20 minutes”, he added.

In late 2025, the firm introduced ChatNow, a self-service chatbot powered by generative artificial intelligence, making it easier for staff to submit claims via chat. 

Mr Goh said Certis is not looking to commercialise the system for now.