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Not working this weekend... Fuck yeah
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I ran my busy season meals through Target and Walmart. Bought fruit for my team, nuts, all sorts of shit - I was eating better than any of the garbage Chinese food they had every night. The purpose of the OT meal is simply to feed you while you're stuck at the client site forever, so as long as you don't treat it as per diem to spend on lingerie or cat food or whatever, I *personally* think it's fine.
You're welcome. Happy to be helpful.
M1 - thanks for the tutorial on how to commit fraud. Great role model and leader for the group!
I know ppl who run through $25 of groceries for each OT meal. That's what they tell me anyway.
Nowadays most grocery stores have a nice premade selection, so you definitely could be grabbing dinner, going home and working more. I agree with others though to read the policy and not trust your teams. If you have an expense audit, "my team said so" doesn't go very far.
Is it in line with policy? No. Can you get fired for it? Yes. Are you likely to get fired for it? Probably not, especially if your team is urging you to do it. Personally, I wouldn't think it's worth the risk and I don't think it speaks highly of your ethics if you choose to do it.
Queue the hordes saying you are the firm's slave and have a god given right to steal from them because of it.
You can buy groceries, there is no issues as long as it within the limit. Further there is no receipt required below $25
To be clear - by policy (at pwc at least), it is totally fine to purchase a meal from a grocery store and consume it at the office/client site. By policy, it is not acceptable to purchase a meal on your way home and eat it at home. It is also against policy to purchase anything except your overtime meal (e.g. your weekly groceries). Of course your chances of getting caught aren't high if you are smart about it, but we work in a field where ethics are important. If something small like that causes you to compromise your ethics, I would hate to see what happens when you get pressure to cover something big up for a client.
The reason I end up working overtime is because of travel to the client, which I am allowed to expense - mileage. So no matter what, I eat it at home. Plus at EY, we are taxed on it, just like compensation. Don't know if it's the same for PWC.
I have only used partner approval once when I was explicitly told that we had to send something out that night. Probably leaving money on the table but I'd rather be careful. I'm sure they say yes most nights but I'm cautious
EY1 is that considered ok? My seniors have told me to go to Costco and buy $25 worth of groceries.
I think it depends on your team. I know most teams are ok with it at my office because a lot of people claim to be health conscious and want to prepare meals on their own. This is especially the case during busy season in Jan-Mar.
I'm at a small office in the southwest region btw.
To EY 1s point - I had dietary restrictions that made my case stronger, but my team was laid back in general because it was a shitty client and no one wanted to make it even worse with intrateam tension over bullshit policies that incentivize terrible health habits.
It doesn't really matter what your team says. They aren't the ones who set the expense policies and they aren't the ones who audit expenses. Technically the policy is to give you a meal to eat while you're working overtime. If you're using it as a per diem to buy groceries for home then you're technically in violation of the policy. So, if you're going to violate the policy you need to be smart in how you run it through. If you're always running through round numbers (I.e., $25 every night) then it's a red flag for the expense auditors and very easy to see what you're doing. Instead make sure that the amounts you're pushing through look like they're purchases of food from a restaurant. Make sure they're non-rounded numbers and make sure there is variability from day to day.
Don't just buy a gift card for $25 every night. That's a surefire way to get caught and have potential issues. Also try to shake it up. If you're purchases are from Walmart 5 days a week it's difficult to make the argument that you're not buying groceries. Have a restaurant a few times a week. That way it's more plausible that you're actually just buying your overtime meal those other few days.
What level are you btw? Just curious since you don't post under your title.
If that's to me, I'm a manager as well.
I think it's fine especially if you're using it for food as your OT meal during busy season.
PwC you're not taxed on it (at least not when I was there), but the policy states you must eat at client site or else it's not reimbursable. Therefore, eating at home wouldn't be an option, regardless of the reason.