For many companies, such as an executive recruitment firm or a major business, it's just not possible for a company representative to purchase everything each employee needs to conduct business on the company's behalf and dole these items out to the employees. Sometimes there are too many employees doing different tasks. Sometimes the employees are too far from the central office. And sometimes employees don't even know what they're going to need until they need it. In these situations, expense accounts come in very handy.

An expense account is a bank account set up by the company. Certain employees are allowed to access the funds in this account for business purposes, which allows them to buy things like supplies, Aurora dental equipment, and lunch for clients without first applying to the company accountants for money. If your job comes with an expense account, it means that the company is trusting you to use this money appropriately. You might be given a credit card, debit card, checkbook, or all three to access the money.

There are two basic types of expense account: with the accountable type, the money belongs to the company and when you spend it you must provide proof that it was for a business expense. It doesn't count as income. The unaccountable type does, so you can do with it what you will as long as you pay taxes on it.

If you have an expense account, it's extremely important that you keep the company credit or debit cards separate from your personal ones. You should never charge personal purchases to the company account or even tack personal purchases on when you're buying badge holders for the company, even if you fully intend to pay them back. All spending from the company expense account must be justified with receipts. Having purchases other than company purchases on the receipts makes things unnecessarily complicated and may even get you fired.

So what sorts of things is it okay to charge to your company expense account? This depends largely on what your company has authorized, but generally speaking anything related to the work you do for them is a business expense. For example, if you flew out to look at show kitchens in Hamilton, Ontario, your plane ticket, hotel room, and meals during your trip are all business expenses. Buying supplies for the company, paying company invoices, and entertaining clients are also business expenses.

If you ever think you might get back at the Canadian mortgage companies by abusing their expense accounts, dump this idea immediately. Expense accounts are regularly audited by the company accountants and by the Canada Revenue Agency. You will have to turn in your receipts and if there's anything that doesn't add up, you could face fines, dismissal, or even jail time. It's just not worth it.