Breakthrough Idea Drastically Cuts
Expense Report Preparation Time

Discover the secret that makes expense reporting effortless, accurate, and faster than ever before.

By Paul Johnson, Principal, Shortcuts to Results LLC

• Are you trapped among the millions who consider filling out expense reports a huge waste of your time?

• Is money that is rightfully yours held hostage until you jump through the expense report hoop?

• Are you continually frustrated by the tedious chore of maintaining accurate and timely expense reporting?

You are about to discover via this free report a painless approach for simply fulfilling your expense reporting requirements in half the time.

Almost Magic

Some things haven't changed in a long time. Decades-old IRS reporting requirements still demand a written expense recap sheet for business-related expenses; otherwise they can disallow your business deductions. Also, I'm betting the basic design of the expense report form you fill out today is decades old as well. The one I see most folks using looks much like the one I was filling out in the 70's, and it wasn't "new" back then, either.

But lots of things HAVE changed. In the 70's, mechanical adding machines were replaced by electronic calculators. The 80's and 90's have brought us computers and software applications. Now portable devices -- cell phones, PDA's -- deliver flexibility and productivity.

Yet the old expense report form seems to linger on, like a dinosaur who didn't get the memo.

Recently two things magically came together for me in kind of a "perfect expense report storm."

The first was inspiration for a brand spanking new -- I'll warn you, radically different -- design for the traditional expense report. When you step back and look at this new design, you'll probably think two things:

• "It's obvious that Paul didn't just put perfume on the old pig."
• "Boy, this looks weird; how am I supposed to use THAT??"

As I ease you into what's behind the design of this expense report form (that I will give you shortly), consider this second piece. While this breakthrough form design allows you to easily fulfill IRS reporting requirements by itself, it REALLY shines when you couple it with a technology tool you probably already have. This radical new design effectively bridges ancient reporting requirements with today's common time-saving technology.

I don't know if you would consider such inspiration magical, but more than a few folks are really excited about this new design:

Using this new approach for handling the ever-present (but never popular) tedious expense reporting task can:

• Cut the time wasted on expense report preparation in half.
• Ensure on-the-button, to-the-penny, precision-accurate reports.
• Make it easy to submit complete reports on a timely basis.
• Provide a beautiful, pristinely-clean, easy to read expense report.
• Help you claim your rightful reimbursement faster.
• Convert the expense report into a can't-live-without-it management tool.
• Make it simple to get your expense report DONE, so you can check that box and get productive again.

And if you're feeling a bit vindictive toward the IRS (don't feel like you're the only one!), this expense report design can even serve to frustrate IRS auditors -- more on that in a moment.

The Last One to Notice

My name is Paul Johnson and I run a salesforce development company, not an accounting firm. One day I was "inspired" to come up with a better way to fulfill the documentation requirements of my business expenses. Hey, I don’t make a nickel when I’m doing administrative work like filling out expense reports, so I want to get it done lickety-split.

While my Shortcuts to Expense Reports (that's what I named my design) will work for any company, it's really great for the small business owner and the self-employed.

I’d use this same form when billing expenses back to my clients, who are much larger (I have clients like Nortel Networks, ADP, and AutoNation, among others), and some of them asked me if they could use my form. They tell me...

• It’s easy for their field people to fill out and get in on time - even salespeople!
• The payables people like the way it organizes the information and makes it easy to post to the books.
• And the ability to tailor Shortcuts to Expense Reports with up to 24 categories makes it easy to track the expenses that are important to the CFO.

Now, I don’t consider myself a bastion of great accounting breakthroughs (in fact, I hate accounting!), but I thought, “Whoa, maybe I’m on to something here??!!” It seemed I was the last one to notice I had something great to share.

In fact, this approach is so simple it’s shocking that some big company hasn’t figured it out already.

Is Tradition Holding You Back?

Before I show you this new-fangled expense report, let's make sure you and I have the same idea about what a "traditional" expense report looks like.

I’m talking about the expense forms that have categories:

• Transportation
• Lodging
• Meals
• etc.

... across the top, and dates for the rows down the side. Or maybe the reverse, but it’s still a matrix. Then, down below you’ve got boxes:

• Automobile/Mileage
• Miscellaneous
• and other stuff

... with more dates and amounts that you have to match up to the matrix above. Sound familiar? If you'd like to SEE an example of the traditional report to make sure we’re talking about the same thing, click here.

If you’re the unlucky one filling out these forms, there are never enough boxes when you need to cram two similar transactions into the same date box. Yet one column over, there’s a field that always goes empty because you don’t use that in your business. And every time you fill out the form, you’re always writing the same thing into Miscellaneous because you don’t have a column to handle it.

Are you ready for the first new innovation in the expense report form in over 50 years? Here you go!

Remember, I predicted you'd think, "Boy, this looks weird; how am I supposed to use THAT??" Was I right?

In a moment, I'll explain a little about how to use it. But now that you've seen the design, it'll probably make more sense if I talk a little about the common tool that was used to create it.

What I've done is look at what Excel from Microsoft Corporation can do, and then radically redesign the expense report form to leverage it. Most other Excel-driven expense reports merely convert the traditional expense report form into a spreadsheet. They've put perfume on the old pig, but the core design still stinks.

You are invited to download a free PDF version of this Shortcuts to Expense Reports form by clicking here. Feel free to make photocopies and use it all you like - for free!

  
The PDF version will allow you use my design for free, but if you already have Excel on your computer, you can order the Excel template that really makes my design sing.

Notice that the sample Shortcuts to Expense Reports above includes different types of data for you to study. You are welcome to compare it to this sample conventional form (click here) with the exact same data, so you can see how the two forms compare “in action.”

You can decide for yourself which is easier to read, and you can imagine for yourself which is easier to fill out.

You'll save gobs of time using Shortcuts to Expense Reports.

It gets even better. Now that you’re familiar with Shortcuts to Expense Reports, consider these benefits of the Excel version:

• Customizing this form for your own company is a snap. It’s in Microsoft Excel, so between what you already know and Excel’s onboard help screens, putting in your company information or adding an “Approved By” line will be a piece of cake.
• Standard expense forms have 10 categories, but ours has 13 with room for 24! And it's so easy to make changes; here's how. Just cruise over to column R, which is outside the print area, and you’ll find a Categories Table with 24 rows below it. Just enter in the Category names that you want to appear on your form, and they’ll appear in the Summary by Category section on the bottom of the printed form as well as in the drop-down windows in the Category column.
• Securing your customized form is a snap. You can hide the Categories Table to prevent others from tinkering with it, and maybe even lock it down with a password.
• Because there are no fixed day or date boxes, you can use this Expense Report for any period that’s meaningful for you. A day, a week, the duration of a project, a month, whatever you like.
• There’s room for a whopping 45 entries per page!
• Plus much more...

You may want to use the free PDF version to see how this clever expense report makes huge improvements in the ability of ANYONE in your company to rapidly discharge this unsavory and recurring task. You can dissect it, play devil’s advocate, pass it around your company for opinions, show it to your CPA, and let it help you “think it over.” The only thing you CAN’T do is build the spreadsheet yourself, for two reasons: First, there’s no way you can get it done for less than the $17 it’ll cost you to buy it, and second, it’s copyrighted, so bootlegging it is illegal AND prevented by your own integrity.

$17 Gets You the "Live" Excel Template

That $17 will give you a license so you can distribute Shortcuts to Expense Reports for use throughout your company, whether you have 5 or 50,000 employees (or just you!). If you want changes, you make them; the license you are purchasing permits that. The only thing you can’t do is distribute it for use in another company for free or for charge. When you're ready, you can get your licensed copy of Shortcuts to Expense Reports by clicking here. You can be enjoying expense report nirvana in just a few short minutes!

Here’s the big disclaimer; I’m not a lawyer, nor a CPA, nor a spokesperson for the IRS, and I’m providing you this tool to use at your own risk. We assume no liability for your application of Shortcuts to Expense Reports.

My 100% No Questions Asked,
Take-It-To-The-Bank Guarantee

If you're not completely happy with Shortcuts to Expense Reports, if you're not thrilled with how easy it is to use compared to the standard expense reports you've struggled with, just ask for your money back within 90 days and it will be cheerfully refunded. You risk nothing by placing your order now.

But does it work on an Apple Macintosh?

MacIntosh user Mary Whitmore reports:

"Yes, it works just dandy. I'm not sure if we have some sort of "enabling" software that makes our Macs "unusual," but the important thing to me (selfish being that I am) is that it works for us.

Thanks! Cool idea."

Special Bonus - Mileage Calculator!

  
Spreadsheets do math, right? We built a Mileage Calculator right into the spreadsheet. A special field keeps the current mileage reimbursement rate handy; you punch in the miles and, boom, out comes the reimbursement amount right down to the penny. Order Shortcuts to Expense Reports and put your hand calculator away!

Remember, you can get the live Excel version of Shortcuts to Expense Reports that will let you do all the tricks for just $17. Plus, you can probably write it off as a business expense, which is the next best thing to "free."

Ready to try my Shortcuts to Expense Reports?

All on-line orders are processed by our secure shopping cart system. After your order is confirmed, you'll immediately get your download link for the fully-operational Excel spreadsheet form so you can put it to use right away. Your electronic receipt will arrive via email within 15 minutes.

Let me mention just one more thing before you order:

Date Sort Version now available for just $10 more

Some organizations have an expense report review and approval process. For them, we have written a powerful Excel macro that re-sorts all entries and puts them into ascending date order.

That means that Salesperson Sam can input all his expenses in random date order, click on the Sort button right on the spreadsheet, and -- voila -- all entries are displayed in date order, just the way Manager Mary wants to review them.

(Special Note: If you have an Apple Mac and you're using Office for Mac 2008, the Date Sort Version won't work for you.)

Click Here to choose the
Standard Version for
only $17

Click Here to choose the
Date Sort Version for
only $27

Start enjoying this breakthrough idea today, and make your expense reporting simpler, more accurate, and faster than you ever thought possible.

Guaranteed! Remember, if you're not completely happy with Shortcuts to Expense Reports, if you're not thrilled with how easy it is to use compared to the standard expense reports you've struggled with, just ask for your money back within 90 days and it will be cheerfully refunded. You risk nothing by placing your order NOW.

Excel is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Note: This expense report is intended for use only in the United States. The prices quoted are in U.S. dollars. Applicable taxes are additional.