Conference 7.286::digital

	Can I assume you are a field specialist in California (THEBAY)?

	I don't think I've had the multiple EV/one refund problem, but I think 
I've seen most every other screw up possible in my ten years!.

	I started a DECalc spreadsheet for expenses when the new Diner's Club
system went in. It tracks what is on the card vs. what I get back, via TL or
refund check. It also makes adjustments to balances when I pay DC. I find
that's all I'm really worried about, now. BTW, I solved the deposit problem by
using my wife local credit union account, and doing some creative entries in
her check register! 

	As for improvements to the system, the first thing our DSWM did when 
refund checks started getting late was to up everyones TL allowance! That at 
least covered most plane tickets, which hit the billing system pretty fast. I 
wish we could do expenses by terminal the way I do CLARS, now. They could also 
give District Petty Cash some authority to issue checks, as they do advances.

	Another improvement they could make is to deduct the $24 for the car 
from the check every week so I wouldn't have to fight to get $24 worth of gas
in some weeks! 

    Here in Belgium, everybody is paid on Bank account. No checks, never.
    It is also a lot safer!
    I believe it is the same for all Europe.
    
    			Andre.
    

    A bit late, but... 

    About 2 years ago, my group in Maynard participated in the field test
    of a project called DECash which was for direct deposit of all
    mileage vouchers.  The manager logged in and electronically "signed"
    all the vouchers, then the money was deposited.  I didn't participate
    because you needed a DCU account and I didn't process many mileage
    vouchers.  Consider yourself lucky to have a car and a Diner's club
    card.  Internal SWS doesn't do those things.  Of course there probably
    won't be any Diner's Club cards if people keep turning them in.
    :)

    What became of the project I have no idea, but it was never
    implemented.  I could give you the name of the CC manager if you want
    to find out. 
                                                
    BH

    Maybe someone does listen to us in this conference ...
    
    Look what I just got in the (interoffice) mail:
    
-----------------------------		      I N T E R O F F I C E
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| d | i | g | i | t | a | l |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
-----------------------------		      M E M O R A N D U M


TO: MATTHEW A. THOMAS			      DATE: 05/07/86
    OAO					      FROM: MARTHA BRAVERMAN
					      DEPT: US AREA TRAVELETTER
					      EXT : 223-3677
					      LOC/MS: PKO3-2/F37


SUBJECT: EMPLOYEE EXPENSE/DIGITAL CREEDIT UNION DIRECT DEPOSIT


In an effort to expedite the turnaround of Employee Expense 
Reinbursements, Cash Advances, and Fleet Payments (Plan B and D)
we will be offering you the option of having these disbursements
directly deposited into your Digital Credit Union (DCU) account.
We will begin this service in June 1986.

Notification will be sent to you on the day the transaction is
processed. The deposit will be made to your DCU checking account 
the day after the transaction is processed. These funds will then
be available to you and you can use your Easy Cash/Monec card to
access these funds at automatic teller machines.

In order to be eligible for this service, you must be a member of the
DCU with a CHECKING account. (Savings account members are not eligible).

Please note that once you are enrolled in this program, ALL 
disbursements will be directly deposited until you cancel your
enrollment.

If you are interested in this service, please complete the form below 
and return it to Martha Braverman at PKO3-2/F37.


          EMPLOYEE EXPENSE DIRECT DEPOSIT AUTHORIZATION



EMPLOYEE NAME _____________________________________________________

BADGE NUMBER  _____________



I would like to have all my expsense reimburseents, cash advances, and 
fleet payments deposited into my Digital Credit Union checking account.



          ____________________________________
          SIGNATURE

    Since I am not in the field, I only have to worry about this sort
    of thing once in a while, but I often thought that the most useful
    improvement would be electronic input.  I used to do conference
    expenses on Digicalc (I did them so seldom, I never bothered to
    convert to DECalc).  Then I would have to copy the results onto
    the expense voucher.  Always seemed like a big waste of time.
    
    Burns
    

    This is a good idea for submitting expense vouchers *after* the
    trip.  I would little reluctant to have my cash advance deposited
    to my DCU, especially when I have to fly the first thing next morning.
    
    How about giving us a choice?
    
    - Vikas

    If there are any ALL-IN-1 users out there, I developed an ALL-IN-1
    form that mimics the standard expense voucher form.  It will
    automagically total the columns & rows, very spread-sheet-ish. Probably
    not real useful except for a trip where there are many entries on
    the voucher.  The time it saves me is that when I'm done with a
    voucher, all I need to do is print the form and then copy it verbatim
    onto a real voucher for submission.
    
    Jon

    I also have a DECalc spreadsheet which mimics the standard Employee
    Expense Voucher.   It handles the front side in a one-to-one
    correspondence, and changed the back side around slightly to give
    daily accounting of miscellaneous expenses and business meetings
    (which have to be summarized daily on the front sheet any).   Send
    me MAIL if you want a pointer to it.

    You don't HAVE to print out the spreadsheet, then copy it to your
    expense voucher, folks!  I have developed a Lotus application that
    does expenses, including the company car form, carrying the amount
    over to the voucher, etc.  It even remembers your mileage from last
    week and adds in this week's mileage to come up with the ending
    mileage automatically.  A batch file then automatically prints
    out the voucher using Sideways.
    
    Once it is printed, I merely take the front and back sheets and
    staple them to a REAL expense voucher, front and back.  Receipts
    are inserted into the envelope and off it goes to Travelletter.
    I have never heard a peep from them about it.
    
    The trick is that what you print out must look EXACTLY like the
    voucher.  Including all the little code numbers, and even the
    instructions that are printed on the voucher form.  Admittedly,
    I travel a lot and have lots of information to expense, but this
    system has saved me a great deal of time, not to mention aggravation.
    
    							Pat
    

All these new programs like Lotus have spoiled people.  Back in the old days,
it's alleged - I'll admit I never saw it - that there was a RSTS BASIC PLUS
program that filled out your trip expense reports.  All you gave it was
the totals - it figured out some way of distributing the total among meals,
hotel, etc.  The formulas it used were extensively tested to pass inspection
by whoever looks at the forms....

While I never saw that particular program, I did do some stuff like this by
hand with some automated assistance - a small APL program that let you enter
totals, exact amounts where you knew them - especially for things where you
had receipts - then divided things up, first evenly, then with adding a
random perturbation with mean 0 - since it's well known that accountants
never believe any amount that ends in 0.
							-- Jerry :-)

In 1976, I was working in COG as the manager of the group that did, among 
other things, RSTS/E and BASIC-PLUS technical support.

When I started getting "funny" vouchers from one of my people (meals NOT 
ending in .00, as previously submitted), I asked him how he was figuring 
out his vouchers.

Seems he was using this BASIC-PLUS program, which...

Ray_who_didn't_care_how_they_were_prepared_as_long_as_they_were_reasonable

    The comment about how figures ending in 0 is interesting, because when
    I'm deciding how much to tip for a meal, I generally pick an amount
    that requires 1) the least amount of math if I'm paying with a credit
    card or 2) rounds the total bill out to an even dollar if I'm paying
    with cash so that I'm not stuck lugging change around.   [Don't
    get the impression that keeping the tip a reasonable amount is not
    a priority too.]
    
    I've never had any of my meal expenses bounced.
    
    - M

    re: .10
    
    And before the RSTS BASIC program, there was this Fortran program
    on the -10. (In fact, it managed to break most new releases of the
    compiler so got added to the test system.) And before that there
    was this TECO macro--what else?

    One extremely annoying feature of the current expense voucher system
    is that, in certain instances, it does not recognize the difference
    between a reimbursement and an advance.
    
    There are occasions when I have submitted my expenses and Digital owes
    me a refund; while this is being processed, I request an advance for
    some future business-related expenses.  Well, I get the advance check,
    all right, but not in the way I would like.  If it was for an amount
    greater than the refund that is owed me, I never receive the refund
    check at all; and if it is for less, the refund check is merely
    for the difference.  It seems that Digital applies the advance check
    toward the refund!
    
    This is utterly wrong.  A refund is a reimbursement for past expenses;
    until I receive it, I am behind in my personal finances.  An advance,
    on the other hand, is intended to cover your future expenses, so that
    when the trip is over, you are more or less even in your finances.
    Therefore, when Digital considers my advance request as nothing more
    than a refund for previous expenses, I will end up just as much in the
    hole as I would have been anyway.  The current system thus totally
    misses the point of requesting an advance, and I might as well have
    not bothered.
    
    Alternatively, I could have requested an advance for an amount equal to
    my expected refund plus what I really intended as an advance.  However,
    that boils down to playing games with a faulty system, and I would
    rather not play games.  You might think that this problem is relatively
    rare, but it has happened to me and at least two other people in my
    office. 
    
    This is extremely irritating.
    
    -- Mike

    There are a couple of other negative aspects in the system that
    can hang you out to dry as well:
    
    When you request an advance, and receive the money, you are expected
    to submit expense reports offsetting the advance within 30 days of 
    WHEN THE ADVANCE WAS REQUESTED, not when you received the check.
    When you're in the Field, there can be a fairly long lead time on
    both check and expense processing, especially if your CC Mgr is
    in another location.  Add DECWorld to this and stir briskly ...
    
    Also, if you have an advance outstanding, and they process expense
    reports dated before the advance, they still apply the advance against
    all reimbursments, and THEY DON'T TELL YOU!  So, you might end up
    writing out a check to DEC at the end of the trip, thinking that
    you didn't use all of the advance, when in fact they actually
    owe you money ... 
    
    Geoff

    Not being in the field and averaging 3-4 trips a year, I apply the
    following simple rule:
    
    When I have advanced money to DEC (in the form of charging hotels
    or such) and have submitted the paperwork, I will not give them
    a second advance while the first is outstanding.
    
    Second topic:  I'm always amazed by the games played (different
    each year) to get DECUS registration paid and an advance for the
    DECUS trip.  These have varied from:
    
    1) It can't be done
    
    2) write a personal check and hope the receipt comes back in time
    
    3) BUY a moneyorder and use the moneyorder bill to clear the advance
    
    4) Take out an educational advance
    
    The amazing part is that this happens 3-4 times a year to several
    hundred employees and very petty cash hasn't devised a rational
    scheme for it yet.
    
    /s/ Jim Williams