expense report failed audit: alcohol on client dinner

TL;DR

Most policies restrict or exclude alcohol, so the audit flagged it. Check your company's alcohol rule: separate the alcohol onto its own line marked non-reimbursable (or with the required exception approval), keep the meal portion as the client dinner, and resubmit.

Error

expense report failed audit: alcohol on client dinner

Steps

1. Read your company's policy on alcohol: excluded entirely, allowed with limits, or allowed with exception approval. Expected: you know which rule applies.
2. If alcohol is excluded, split the receipt: one line for the meal (client dinner, reimbursable), one line for alcohol marked personal or non-reimbursable. Expected: two cleanly separated lines.
3. If alcohol is allowed with approval, attach the exception approval and note it on the line. Expected: the approval is visible to the auditor.
4. Ensure the attendee list and business purpose cover the meal portion. Expected: the client-dinner documentation is complete.
5. Resubmit. Expected: the audit passes with alcohol handled per policy.

When to use

• An audit flags alcohol on a meals or entertainment expense.
• You need to bring the expense into policy compliance.

When not to use

• You are tempted to hide the alcohol in the meal total (that is misrepresentation; do not do it).
• The whole dinner was personal (mark the entire expense personal).

Tool compatibility

• Expensify, Concur, and policy-audited expense tools.

Variant phrasings

Alcohol flagged on entertainment expense

Same flag, category-level wording.

Non-reimbursable item on client dinner

The policy phrasing of the same issue.

Why it happens

Alcohol is a common policy carve-out because of tax treatment and company rules. Audits scan entertainment lines for it, and any alcohol must be separated or exception-approved before the report can pass.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_2QY-6XO-aMJQaT3O2HmDiQ