UK firms amid busiest week of the year for expense claims

UK business owners should anticipate a deluge of expense claims made in the last full working week before Christmas, according to data predictions from travel and expense management company, Concur.

In the final working week before Christmas 2015, a total of 3,957,137 claims were processed, including 123,120 in the final full week before Christmas – some 24,624 a day. That’s a 45% increase compared to the same period in 2014.

Chris Baker, Managing Director of UK enterprise, Concur, says that with the end of the financial year in sight, it’s actually helpful for businesses to get their books up-to-date, while employees seek additional funds to tide them over during the busy festive period.

“This combination creates a mad rush at the end of the year as everybody submits their expense claims at the same time – add Christmas party expenses to that and it’s a perfect storm," he said.

December as a whole is considerably busier than all other months for business expense claims. In December 2015, the total number of claims was 426,000, more than a quarter (27%) higher than the monthly average in 2015.

“There is one good thing about a busy Christmas – it really brings the team together,” added Baker.

“From helping each other out when somebody is swamped to sharing gossip from the interesting expense claims that sometimes come in, bonds are forged at Christmas that last for the rest of the year.

“Finance teams should harness this mentality and lean on each other to carry them through.”

Date published 14 Dec 2016 | Last updated 14 Dec 2016