Rapid response relocations

The oil division of a major shipping group needed the facility to manage the expenses of rapid response engineers sent at short notice into locations as diverse as the USA, UAE, India, Malaysia, UK and Australia. To do their job the relocated engineers needed to be sure that local costs such as car hire or urgent ad hoc equipment purchase could be met quickly and efficiently.

This often involved reimbursement in multiple currencies through a diverse banking network. And of course all expenditure had to be accurately reconciled and controlled against cost centres. We got involved right from the start and developed a tailor-made programme which included the following:

• Development of a standardised invoice pro-forma to ensure information obtained from vendors was accurate and exchange rates were handled in a visible manner, particularly when dealing with non-convertible currencies
• Development of a simplified expense claim that could involve claiming expenses in one currency for payment in a second currency against funds held in a third base currency, subject to banking regulations
• Holding funds and tracking costs in multiple currencies and producing reconciliation and cost centre recharge reports
• Making cross-border payments, setting up and controlling bank accounts in non-UK countries for in-country payment services.