Have you ever felt like you were smarter than your boss’s boss?

If you were in a situation where you knew you were right and the boss’s boss was wrong, would you point out the error in judgement, or, if it worked in your favor, would you simply do as told?

In today’s story, one employee submits an expense report, but the boss’s boss is unhappy.

This actually works out really well for the employee!

Let’s see what happens.

Doesn’t Add Up? Make It Add Up? Well, Okay Then…

This happened many, many years ago when I was a systems administrator for a now defunct company.

I was to go to training and I ended up going to Canada to train on some then-new systems.

No biggie. I kept my receipts and ended up overspending a bit because, well, I got to see the sights and got to have some tasty food.

Time to submit the expense report.

When I got back, I submitted my expense report.

I wrote down the numbers and factored in the current exchange rate (Canadian dollars to US Dollars) and figured that was that.

I mean, being honest, right?

The boss’s boss was really upset.

Well, OMG, my boss’s boss went to my boss and complained that I couldn’t even add anything up!

You see, the amount I was showing they owed me was LESS than what the receipts showed.

(Canadian dollars were maybe worth 65 cents of American dollars.)

So, it got rejected and my boss’s boss said make them match.

It didn’t seem like the right thing to do, but why not?

I looked at my boss and said, “You know, that’s Canadian, right?”

My boss just shrugged and said, “Make him happy and make the numbers add up.”

Well, okay then.

They got a much bigger expense reimbursement.

I added the Canadian dollars up and didn’t factor in the exchange rate.

So, instead of requesting a reimbursement of (for example–not the actual numbers) $650 USD, I put down $1000 (CAD).

They cheerily paid it. 🤦‍♀️

Only me and my boss knew, but it was so much more trouble trying to do the RIGHT thing.

No one ever tried to correct it.

On the plus side, it pretty much paid for the extras on the trip.

You’ve gotta love it when the exchange rate works in your favor and the boss’s boss isn’t smart enough to understand!

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

Someone who used to leave near the US and Canadian border weighs in.

This is funny!

Health insurance companies aren’t very smart either!

This person rants about Americans.

I think I’d try to find another excuse to go to Canada!

It won’t be hard.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.