Travel & Expense Audit Checklist

Travel and expense audits often stop at checking receipts. This checklist covers policy compliance, approvals, reimbursement and fraud indicators, so you can see whether the T&E process actually controls spending.

Use it when planning and performing a travel and expense audit. Policy and booking checks confirm the policy defines limits, classes and exception authority, hotel and transport limits reflect realistic market conditions, pre-trip approval is required for material travel, business purpose is documented, and preferred booking channels are used or exceptions explained. Expense review checks confirm receipts are complete, dates, locations and merchant data align with the trip, claims are submitted by the individual employee, approvers review substance rather than completion, and advances and corporate-card balances are reconciled promptly. Analytics and red flags checks cover duplicate amounts, receipts and transactions, weekend or personal extensions and companion costs, taxi, hotel and meal trends by employee and route, repeated policy overrides by the same employee or approver, and documented justification for high-value exceptions.

Mark each point Done, Review or N/A, use the risk prompts to spot exceptions that have become normal practice, and keep the evidence listed. The completion page records your final conclusion.