How outdated reimbursement processes are eroding employee trust and financial well-being across Singapore's professional workforce
There's an insidious workplace practice that's haemorrhaging money from Singapore's professionals—and it's not even on most employers' radar. Whilst companies obsess over benefits packages and salary increments, they're overlooking a financial burden that's quietly undermining employee morale: the out-of-pocket expense trap.
New research from Airwallex reveals a staggering reality: Singaporean employees are collectively fronting an average of S$6,496 per year—approximately S$541 per month—in work-related expenses before reimbursement. For high-earning professionals navigating client entertainment, international travel, and executive-level responsibilities, these figures balloon considerably higher.
The data paints an uncomfortable picture of modern corporate culture. 77% of surveyed employees say their company's current expense process doesn't meet their needs, whilst 41% have faced genuine financial difficulties whilst waiting to be reimbursed. This isn't merely an administrative inconvenience—it's a structural problem eroding trust between employers and their most valuable assets.
The mechanics are deceptively simple: book a last-minute flight to Jakarta for a client pitch, host a business dinner at Odette, cover accommodation during a regional conference. The bills arrive immediately. The reimbursement? That's a different timeline altogether.
According to the research—which surveyed 500 Singaporean employees between 25th July and 31st July 2025—the reimbursement delay is systematic and severe. Only 6% of employees are reimbursed on the same day they incur expenses. Meanwhile, 19% wait between three and four weeks to recover their money, and a troubling 8% have waited over a month.
The expectation-reality gap is stark. Whilst 25% of employees believe reimbursements should occur within six to 10 working days, the lived experience tells a markedly different story.
For context, this matters more than you might initially assume. Singapore's credit card interest rates hover around 26.9% to 28% per annum, calculated daily on outstanding balances. When professionals use personal credit cards to cover work expenses—as 52% of surveyed employees report doing—delayed reimbursements don't just create cash flow issues. They expose workers to genuine interest charges and potential debt accumulation, even after the company eventually pays them back.
The expense burden isn't distributed equally across Singapore's workforce. Predictably, senior management shoulders the largest load—23% of those required to pay expenses upfront are senior managers, followed by senior executives and middle managers at 20% each.
But drill into the sector data, and the disparities become more pronounced. The hospitality and leisure industry leads in out-of-pocket spending, with 15% of employees reporting annual expenses exceeding S$20,000. Manufacturing follows at 13%, and education at 8%.
For employees in micro and small businesses, the financial strain intensifies further. These workers report spending nearly S$7,000 per year on work-related expenses, and 53% experience anxiety whilst waiting for reimbursements—compared to the overall average of 24% for those paying expenses two to three times monthly.
Young professionals face particular vulnerability. 55% of employees aged 18 to 27 have experienced financial strain from work event expenses, a cohort presumably with smaller financial buffers than their more established counterparts.
When reimbursement delays persist, employees develop workarounds—most of them financially precarious. The research uncovered several concerning patterns:
These aren't isolated cases of poor financial planning. They're rational responses to a system that effectively transfers company operating costs onto individual employees' personal balance sheets.
Consider the mathematics for a moment. If you're a mid-level professional earning Singapore's median PMET (Professional, Manager, Executive, Technician) salary of approximately S$8,363 monthly, fronting S$541 in monthly expenses represents 6.5% of your gross income temporarily locked away from your personal finances. For those in hospitality exceeding S$20,000 in annual expenses, the proportion becomes genuinely burdensome.
Working at an established company offers no immunity from these pressures. 43% of respondents at large firms reported facing financial difficulty whilst waiting for reimbursements, with 16% accruing as much as S$2,999 in annual expenses.
Here's where Singapore's system adds another layer of complexity that few employees fully grasp. The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) maintains strict definitions about what constitutes allowable employment expenses—costs that are "wholly and exclusively incurred in the performance of the duties of the employment."
But there's a crucial distinction that trips up many professionals: reimbursed expenses aren't taxable income, provided they're legitimately business-related. However, if your company's reimbursement process is so cumbersome that you simply absorb costs rather than claiming them back, you've effectively paid for business operating expenses with post-tax personal income.
IRAS guidelines stipulate that allowable employment expenses must meet three conditions: incurred for official duties, not reimbursed by your employer, and not capital or private in nature. The system presumes efficient reimbursement processes. When companies fail to deliver on that presumption, employees face a perverse situation: paying business costs with personal money that's already been taxed.
Singapore's employment landscape in 2025 is characterised by heightened competition for talent and increased employee expectations around workplace flexibility and financial wellbeing. Research from Robert Walters reveals that 93% of employers in Singapore report higher turnover or disengagement after delaying pay rises, whilst 72% of professionals are actively job hunting.
Average job tenure in Singapore has increased to 8.0 years, with 31.4% of employees staying with employers for a decade or more—evidence that effective retention strategies do work when properly implemented.
Against this backdrop, outdated expense policies represent an unforced error. They're a visible, tangible manifestation of corporate disregard for employee financial wellbeing—precisely the kind of friction point that prompts talented professionals to explore opportunities elsewhere.
The Straits Times reported in February 2025 that four in 10 employees in Singapore report facing high mental health risks. Financial stress from work expenses compounds existing workplace pressures, creating what researchers call "financial strain-induced anxiety"—stress specifically attributable to fronting money for your employer.
The research reveals overwhelming employee demand for modernised solutions. 85% of surveyed employees believe that company corporate cards would ease worries around expense reimbursements, eliminating the need to dip into personal finances entirely.
Corporate card programmes have evolved considerably beyond the rigid systems of previous decades. Modern expense management platforms offer:
For Singapore-based companies with regional operations, multi-currency capabilities address a particular pain point. Rather than employees paying foreign transaction fees and waiting for forex conversion reimbursements, corporate cards can pull directly from corresponding currency accounts or auto-convert at competitive interbank rates.
If you're a professional regularly fronting substantial work expenses, this research provides data-backed justification for conversations with your employer. Here's what a reasonable expense management system should provide in 2025:
Perhaps the most significant finding in this research isn't about money at all—it's about trust. When companies require employees to front their own money for work expenses and then delay reimbursement, they're sending an unambiguous message: We expect you to absorb the operational costs and financial risks of our business activities.
For high-earning professionals with financial buffers, this might seem manageable. But the principle remains corrosive. You're essentially providing your employer with an interest-free loan every single month—a loan they didn't ask for, you didn't agree to, and that benefits them whilst inconveniencing you.
In Singapore's competitive talent market, where employers compete on culture, flexibility, and holistic employee value propositions, antiquated expense processes represent low-hanging fruit for improvement. The companies that recognise this—and modernise accordingly—will find themselves with a measurable advantage in both retention and recruitment.
The question for Singapore's professionals isn't whether expense management matters. The data conclusively demonstrates it does. The real question is whether your employer values your financial wellbeing enough to fix it.
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