Sales management · Sales expenses
Write down what a rep may claim before the first disputed bill arrives.
A sales expense policy is a signed document that says which costs the company pays for a rep, up to what limit and with what proof. This page covers the lines to include, how to test the draft against four goals, and how to get every rep to acknowledge it in writing.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A sales expense policy is a signed document that says which costs the company pays for a rep, up to what limit and with what proof. This page covers the lines to include, how to test the draft against four goals, and how to get every rep to acknowledge it in writing.
A distributor in Coimbatore pays eight reps and has never written down what they can claim. In March one rep submits a hotel bill from Madurai and the owner says the room was too dear. The rep answers, fairly, that nobody ever told them a limit. The argument runs for two weeks, through three phone calls and a visit to the head office, and ends with a part payment that satisfies nobody.
The policy is one to three pages, signed by the owner and the person who runs accounts, and handed to every rep to sign as received. It lists what is covered, what is paid as actuals, what is paid up to a cap, what is a fixed allowance and what is not paid at all. It replaces the habit of settling each claim in a chat with the owner.
Draft it with the sales manager and whoever passes the bills. Your CA should read the final version, because how TA and DA are treated in salary and in the books differs, and rules differ by state and change. Your labour-law adviser should confirm that the deduction and recovery clauses are fair.
This sits between the reimbursement or allowance decision, which picks the payment method for each line, and the city tier rate card, which fills in the caps. Write the structure here first and let those pages supply the numbers.
Where this sits
Topic 8 of 14 in sales management: sales expenses. Policies and controls for the cost of selling.
- The topic before
- Compensation
- The topic after
- Quotas and targets
If you want this done for you
Reps report to someone who is too busy selling to manage them.
The work
What this is actually like.
“The four goals are a better test than a template”
Check the draft against four questions. Does a rep end up neither richer nor poorer for travelling? Does the owner see no surprises? Does the rule help selling rather than stop visits? Is it cheap to run? A policy that fails the third question quietly cuts customer calls.
“Silence is read as permission”
If the policy does not mention phone recharge, parking, toll or a customer lunch, reps will claim them and the owner will argue each. Walk through last year's actual claims and add a line for every item that appeared, even if the line says not covered.
“Proof rules need a threshold”
Asking for a GST invoice on a ten rupee parking slip makes reps invent bills. Set a value below which a self-declaration is enough, and above which the bill is mandatory. Your CA will tell you what the books need for input credit.
“One set of rules means the best seller too”
The first time the top rep is allowed a claim that others are refused, the policy is finished. Write it so there is no named exception, and put a pre-approval route in the text for the odd trip that needs one.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The covered-items table
One row per item: travel to customers, local conveyance, lodging, meals on the road, phone and data, customer hospitality, parking and toll. Columns: handling (actuals, actuals to a cap, fixed allowance, not covered), the cap and its unit, and the proof needed. The owner fills the handling column, accounts fills the caps.
Result: Finished when a rep can look up any item from last month's claims and find a row for it.
The standard of travel and stay
A short list of the class of travel and the grade of hotel for each rep grade, with the booking lead time. It uses your own TA and DA grades, so a junior executive and a regional manager are not on the same line.
Result: Finished when a rep can book a trip without phoning the owner to ask what is allowed.
The proof and pre-approval rules
The value above which a bill is compulsory, the form it must take, and the spend above which the sales manager must say yes first. Add the date by which a claim must be filed, or old bills will keep arriving.
Result: Finished when accounts can reject a claim by pointing at one sentence.
Signed copies and a dispute log
A page at the end where the rep signs that they have read it, and a simple sheet where accounts notes each claim argued about and which clause was unclear. Read the log after one quarter and amend the policy.
Result: Finished when every rep has signed and the log has a date set for its first review.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Do we need a policy if we only have three reps?
Should the policy say who pays for a rep's mobile phone?
Can we cut a rep's pay if they break the policy?
How often should we change the policy?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
Services
The rest of sales expenses
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.