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Staff expense fiddling tops 3.5 billion

Fraudulent expense claims cost British businesses more than 3.5 billion, with currency exchange company FairFX estimating the average employee claims 462 worth of personal spend as a business expense.

Overall, FairFX found 26% of employees fiddle expenses, but the worst offenders came from the promotions industry, where 67% of staff confessed to wrong-doing, followed by graduates and trainees (43%).

The most popular spend passed off as expenses is food and drink (39%), followed by travel (24%) and accommodation costs (19%).
 
Staff from the financial sector fiddle the most - claiming an average of £1,070 per year.
 
Stephen Heath, chief executive of FairFX said: "Businesses need to find a new approach to managing employee expenses. A prepaid corporate card, for example, could erase fraudulent claims, cut employee administration time and ensure the expenses process is easy and cost efficient."