Employee reimbursement controls for a Philippines bookkeeper

Define claimant, business purpose, date, vendor, currency, amount, project or department, receipt, and approver fields. A Philippines bookkeeper can perform a consistent completeness check when the rule is explicit.

For a $186 travel claim, verify claimant, business purpose, date, receipt, currency, project, and approver. If the receipt shows $186 but the card statement shows $168, record the difference and ask whether tax, tip, or a duplicate explains it. The Philippines bookkeeper can prepare the exception and code a documented item; the manager decides policy exceptions and approval.

Sample claims by employee, amount, and exception type. Compare the claim to the ledger posting and reimbursement batch, then preserve the reviewer’s decision. A control that checks only whether a file exists will miss duplicate claims, personal items, or claims submitted after a project closed.

Look for duplicate claims, personal items, split transactions, out-of-period dates, and missing approval. A policy flag is a question for the owner, not proof that a claim should be rejected or paid.

Record who approved, when, what amount was approved, and any exception granted. The bookkeeper may route and remind, but should not approve a claim they prepared.

A payment-ready list should tie each claim to the approved packet and show total, payee, due date, and bank or payroll route. A separate authorized user verifies and releases the batch.

Compare approved claims with the bank, payroll clearing, or accounts payable record. Investigate duplicates, unpaid approved items, and payments that do not match the approved amount.

Summarize missing receipts, late approvals, repeated policy exceptions, and coding corrections by owner or department. This improves the process without asking the offshore role to make policy.