Time for the paperwork.  Without it, you won't get reimbursed, so just bite the bullet and take care of this right away, before you wind up paying 18% interest on your overdue credit card.

Filing your Expense Report

If you are the organized type, you will have a journal and would have a written record of all your expenses by date and amount. It should be easy to get ready.

If you are the not-so-organized type, you have a bit more work to do.

1. Take a blank sheet of paper and write down in date order, every event that you had to spend money on.
2. Locate all the receipts that match up your list.
3. Update your paper list with newfound receipts.
4. Make a big note of missing receipts.
5. Take several 8.5x11 blank sheets of paper and organize your receipts on those pages. Affix them with scotch tape or staples.
6. Convert any foreign currency to U.S. Dollars.  See Currency for some pointers.
7. Mark each sheet with a page number so that you can keep them in sequence.
8. For items that you paid for and can't locate a receipt, enter them by hand on these sheets and indicate that you can't find the receipt. For tips and tolls, receipts aren't generally needed.
9. Make a note of any miles you traveled in your personal vehicle to and from your home to airport or parking lot. You'll most likely be reimbursed at the current government allowed rate.
10. Find out what form your company uses to fill out expense reports. If a standard form doesn't exist, you can download a sample MS/Excel Expense Report template here. It will automatically keep a running total for you. If you have traveled to more than one foreign country, use one Expense Report form per country so that you can take advantage of the built-in rate exchange calculator.
11. Fill it out. You probably don't have to follow the days of the week exactly, but do put the right DATES on each column. You'll see that the columns and rows automatically keep a running total.
12. You normally need to split your hotel bill into the Hotel & Taxes, Food, and Telephone costs.
13. You'll most likely need to include your original airline ticket receipt.
14. Even if the company paid for some of the expenses (such as Airfare), include them in here, and then enter the total company-paid amount in the appropriate location.
15. Include any cash advances that you were given in the appropriate location.
16. After you confirmed everything is right, sign the expense report and photocopy it and all the receipt pages.
17. Staple all the originals together, give to your manager to sign (if expense exceed their signature authority, they must forward on up the line), and send it on for reimbursement.

For foreign expenses, don't expect an exact conversion to U.S. dollars when your credit card arrives.  It will be up to you and your company policy how you address these small discrepancies.  If you have time, you could simply wait for your credit card statement to come in the mail, or access your account online, giving you the exact figures to use in your expense report.