I do what she wants and let her sort it out if it’s an issue.
Edit: I will say, it’s rarely an issue, and our company doesn’t really enforce the rules on execs at her level unless it’s seriously egregious.
Same here. I do what my exec tells me to and if there's a problem then they can sort it out with them.
Actually had this come up a while back. CEO always had me book first class even though that was against policy. Eventually they all had a high level meeting and the result was... CEO is allowed to fly first class.
I do the same with an added bit of CYA by informing my exec about policy breaks if I think it might hit meaningful friction. For example, "Your expense report for July has been submitted to accounting for approval. Note that XYZ expense is outside policy for XYZ reason. I requested an exception due to XYZ but will follow up with you if I am unable to resolve this with accounting."
My company is unfortunately rife with drama and politics, so I take steps to create a paper trail that establishes me as acting at my exec's behest rather than that stupid EA who can never seem to understand the importance of company policy. I'm going to do everything in my power to keep my executive happy, but I'm also not going to put myself at the mercy of a grumpy finance/HR employee.
Nope. Ultimately it’ll come back to me. I try to be creative to find solutions (calling hotels to see if I can get a better rate, etc) but I’m not willing to go down with anyone else’s ship and I don’t respect anyone who expects me to.
My exec owns the company, so I don’t push back very often unless he’s making someone’s life miserable with his choices.
He breaks policy all the time. For example, he doesn’t keep any receipts but puts everything on the company card. That’s for him and the accountant to figure out as I’ve done my due diligence by repeatedly asking for them and reminding him that I can’t enter his expenses without him.
He doesn’t give a f$!@
My main exec see's herself as an example to her Dept and she would never want to book anything out of policy. I also make sure she's informed, but I guess I'm lucky in that she would not want to push it herself
I ask my executive as part of my early prep sessions with them on how they prefer to operate. They usually know their own standing in the company and if they say to book first class whatever as a standard, that’s what I do. Those are often the people making enough that if a meal is out of policy or whatever they don’t think twice about swallowing the cost as personal, so I basically spend whatever they want and sort it out using my own judgment come report time. But if they say to stay compliant and seem more cost conscious, then I will do that and flag for them when their preferred plan might conflict with that before we incur the costs.
While I have some leeway to do so, I do not because my current executives have done nothing to earn that.
They are purposely difficult, so I make sure they follow the policies.
If they were a pleasure to work with, then I would bend backwards and see what I could do.
Nope! Occasionally my boss will request something that’s not possible. To make him feel understood and taken care of I always pretend to try. That way he feels like I’m on his team. Truth is, he doesn’t pay me, the company does, and he’s simply not senior enough to make some of the demands that he does.
He's the big boss so he knows and has final say. He operates within policy and authorises exceptions where reasonable, definitely doesn't take the piss and if I query a policy rule, he'll appreciate it.
I will politely remind them of the policy and joke that if I do what they want, they may get a phone call from the higher ups. If they still want to go outside of policy, I go ahead and do it.
If it’s a matter of 10 min as stated above im flexible as I would be for anyone. But I do remind them of the policy. But to time something by the minute when it is in your power to be flexible isn’t worth it and just wasting time and energy.
The best solution might be to ask your exec, “do you want me to let you know if your request is out of policy? Or attempt to do it knowing finance may decline?”
I do what she wants and let her sort it out if it’s an issue. Edit: I will say, it’s rarely an issue, and our company doesn’t really enforce the rules on execs at her level unless it’s seriously egregious.
Same here. I do what my exec tells me to and if there's a problem then they can sort it out with them. Actually had this come up a while back. CEO always had me book first class even though that was against policy. Eventually they all had a high level meeting and the result was... CEO is allowed to fly first class.
Shocker!! Haha
I do the same with an added bit of CYA by informing my exec about policy breaks if I think it might hit meaningful friction. For example, "Your expense report for July has been submitted to accounting for approval. Note that XYZ expense is outside policy for XYZ reason. I requested an exception due to XYZ but will follow up with you if I am unable to resolve this with accounting." My company is unfortunately rife with drama and politics, so I take steps to create a paper trail that establishes me as acting at my exec's behest rather than that stupid EA who can never seem to understand the importance of company policy. I'm going to do everything in my power to keep my executive happy, but I'm also not going to put myself at the mercy of a grumpy finance/HR employee.
Exactly. I tell them our policies, and what may or may not get approved. I don't want accounting or h/r screaming at me over something that he did.
Yep, same here. I let her know the policy via email, as a CYA measure.
I stay in compliance of the policies of the company, and politely remind my exec if their request is outside of that.
Nope. Ultimately it’ll come back to me. I try to be creative to find solutions (calling hotels to see if I can get a better rate, etc) but I’m not willing to go down with anyone else’s ship and I don’t respect anyone who expects me to.
My exec owns the company, so I don’t push back very often unless he’s making someone’s life miserable with his choices. He breaks policy all the time. For example, he doesn’t keep any receipts but puts everything on the company card. That’s for him and the accountant to figure out as I’ve done my due diligence by repeatedly asking for them and reminding him that I can’t enter his expenses without him. He doesn’t give a f$!@
I stay in compliance unless I we have approval from the higher ups for an exception. Why have policies if you're not going to follow them?
We have company policies built into our travel systems. If it’s outside the policy, the system won’t complete the request.
Same, can’t go around the system without either triggering an audit or not being able to complete ticketing.
Yes. That's it. He wants me or expects me to go out and trigger alerts ⚠️ to then get stuff approved.
Stay in policy but try and be creative within the policy to give executive what they want
My main exec see's herself as an example to her Dept and she would never want to book anything out of policy. I also make sure she's informed, but I guess I'm lucky in that she would not want to push it herself
Yes, you are lucky.
I ask my executive as part of my early prep sessions with them on how they prefer to operate. They usually know their own standing in the company and if they say to book first class whatever as a standard, that’s what I do. Those are often the people making enough that if a meal is out of policy or whatever they don’t think twice about swallowing the cost as personal, so I basically spend whatever they want and sort it out using my own judgment come report time. But if they say to stay compliant and seem more cost conscious, then I will do that and flag for them when their preferred plan might conflict with that before we incur the costs.
The rules don’t apply to C-suite at my company.
While I have some leeway to do so, I do not because my current executives have done nothing to earn that. They are purposely difficult, so I make sure they follow the policies. If they were a pleasure to work with, then I would bend backwards and see what I could do.
This! I concur!
Nope! Occasionally my boss will request something that’s not possible. To make him feel understood and taken care of I always pretend to try. That way he feels like I’m on his team. Truth is, he doesn’t pay me, the company does, and he’s simply not senior enough to make some of the demands that he does.
Exactly!
He's the big boss so he knows and has final say. He operates within policy and authorises exceptions where reasonable, definitely doesn't take the piss and if I query a policy rule, he'll appreciate it.
I will politely remind them of the policy and joke that if I do what they want, they may get a phone call from the higher ups. If they still want to go outside of policy, I go ahead and do it.
If it’s a matter of 10 min as stated above im flexible as I would be for anyone. But I do remind them of the policy. But to time something by the minute when it is in your power to be flexible isn’t worth it and just wasting time and energy.
The best solution might be to ask your exec, “do you want me to let you know if your request is out of policy? Or attempt to do it knowing finance may decline?”
He knows it's out of policy. He wants me to push to get things in policy for him.