If you lie, you are a liar

Q: When is it acceptable to lie on an expense report?
A: Choose one...
       A: When you are the CEO
       B. When you are in Sales
       C. When you are a new employee and can claim not to know better
       D. Never!

If you are over the age of three, the "D" answer should be the obvious choice. Apparently, even beyond age three, some people think they are the exception to the rule.

If you lie on an expense report, you are a liar. It does not matter if you are the CEO, top salesperson, or newest member of the team. Even if the lie goes uncovered, you know the truth and you know you lied.

Once the lie gets discovered, your reputation is ruined. We're talking about lies, not mistakes here. You can recover from an expense account mistake, but a lie, especially a pattern of lies, does irreparable, often career-ending,  harm.

For example, would you be embarrassed to learn an attorney called a fellow CEO in town to verify her attendance at a dinner you said you hosted? The attorney asked about a specific restaurant, date, time--there was no confusion about the occasion. But, the fellow CEO was not at that small dinner party. She was out of town. Now, the attorney knows you lied, the fellow CEO knows you lied, and anyone the CEO wants to tell knows too. Additionally, the people paying the attorney to investigate your expenses know you lied too.

Would it be worth it?

No matter what else you do, all of those involved--and many not involved but who find out--would know you are a liar.

Don't kid yourself, every interaction with them going forward would be tarnished by their lack of trust in you.

Don't kid yourself, some of those people would have suspected you were a liar for years.

Don't kid yourself, you would know you're a liar too.

Whether you are the CEO, top producer, or newest employee, lying makes you a liar.