Model of Business Efficiency

At work, we get reimbursed a flat rate of 9 cents per minute for work-related, outgoing calls on our personal cell phones. So today I sat down to do my January expense report, and counted a grand total of four (4) minutes that qualified.

To get my 36 cents, I had to print off my cell phone bill (29 pages), highlight the two relevant calls, and make a copy of the 16 relevant pages for my records. Then, later today, I will send the bill and my mileage log off to a central facility in Miami (!) for scanning into a computer system so someone just down the street can verify that I have submitted proper documentation for my phone calls. I'm guessing it will end up costing around a couple of dollars (in paper for printing and copying, and then scanning, not to mention labor) to reimburse my 36 cents.

Note that my expense report also includes a decent amount of mileage reimbursement — so, no, I'm not submitting this just to get 36 cents back. But as long as I'm at it...