Which country has the most expense report fraud?

Employees in different countries behave very differently in accordance with company expense policies, according to new data released from the AppZen platform. Below is an exclusive sampling of the data straight from AppZen’s Expense Audit platform.

The metric is very straightforward, measuring which countries have the highest and lowest percentages of expensed items rejected by AppZen. Keep in mind this is relative to each company’s own expense policy. So, for example 18% of all items flagged by AppZen for review in Japan are ultimately rejected, while only 7% in Malaysia are.

There is much to clarify here. These numbers in no way represent broad generalizations of the moral character of employees based in these countries. Italians are not necessarily dishonest when it comes to expense reports, while the Swiss (sharing a border) are models of occupational decency.

It could be that nations like Italy, Mexico, and Singapore have traditionally strict internal policies around expenses. Or even something of the opposite: that, despite these strict internal policies, there’s an understanding that they won’t be fully enforced by employers, and AppZen is flagging potential misconduct around actions from which internal cheeks have been turned for years.

What companies can take away from this data when working with employees based in countries near the top of the list is that there should be some evaluation of existing expense policies. Maybe they’re too strict. Maybe enforcement is too lax. Maybe if a solution like AppZen comes in parameters need to be set more liberally. Or maybe it’s time for a deeper, more comprehensive change in expense culture across the organization and around T&E spending and leakage.

Have more questions? Contact AppZen today.