DEFINITION
Expense Splitting
Expense splitting is dividing a single expense across multiple claims, dates, or categories so that each part falls below an approval or receipt threshold. It is a threshold-avoidance technique rather than a category of spend.
A meal costing 9,600 where approval is required above 5,000 might be submitted as three claims of 3,200. Each claim is compliant; the underlying expense was not.
Detection groups transactions by claimant, merchant, and date proximity, then compares the aggregate against the relevant threshold. Repetition by the same employee is the signal that distinguishes deliberate splitting from coincidence.