4 ms·

I'm not sure why this would be worth doing for the employer. once you add up salary and associated costs (health insurance, payroll, etc.), a typical engineer c

I'm not sure why this would be worth doing for the employer. once you add up salary and associated costs (health insurance, payroll, etc.), a typical engineer costs at least $100,000/yr in most areas of the US. if a few of them abuse the system to buy $1000 graphics cards, does it really move the needle? my employer does not reimburse home office expenses, but several of my friends work for employers that do. the way it works for them is that they get a yearly "technology" budget of about $1000-2000. then they can spend it on any equipment they want to use at home or in the office. as long as it's some sort of computer hardware or office furniture, no questions are asked.

WalterBright 6y ago
> "technology" budget That's basically just a $1000 bump in your salary. The fiction that you're getting an extra technology benefit is just that, a fiction. From a pragmatic point of view, and an accounting one (for the employer), your "benefits" are taken from your salary. The only time those benefits are worth it for the employer is if it pays for something pre-tax rather than post-tax (health care falls into this category, hence the popularity of employer provided health care). The accounting term for this is "total employee compensation". That's what matters to the employer when calculating the cost/benefit of an employee. Be careful what you ask for in benefits. They can be expensive for the employee.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  I must admit I'm not very familiar with business accounting or tax rules, and I can't find any sources that directly address this specific topic. it's my understanding that equipment purchases are counted as expenses for the business, so they get to subtract it from their taxable income. does this change when the employee directly controls equipment purchases?
WalterBright 6y ago
> if a few of them abuse the system to buy $1000 graphics cards, does it really move the needle? That does happen a lot with expense reports. They get abused all the time. Sometimes, though, employees do get their ERs audited, and get fired for ER fraud. Especially if the employer needs a reason to fire you.

WalterBright 6y ago

> "technology" budget That's basically just a $1000 bump in your salary. The fiction that you're getting an extra technology benefit is just that, a fiction. From a pragmatic point of view, and an accounting one (for the employer), your "benefits" are taken from your salary. The only time those benefits are worth it for the employer is if it pays for something pre-tax rather than post-tax (health care falls into this category, hence the popularity of employer provided health care). The accounting term for this is "total employee compensation". That's what matters to the employer when calculating the cost/benefit of an employee. Be careful what you ask for in benefits. They can be expensive for the employee.

leetcrew 6y ago
I must admit I'm not very familiar with business accounting or tax rules, and I can't find any sources that directly address this specific topic. it's my understanding that equipment purchases are counted as expenses for the business, so they get to subtract it from their taxable income. does this change when the employee directly controls equipment purchases?

WalterBright 6y ago

> if a few of them abuse the system to buy $1000 graphics cards, does it really move the needle? That does happen a lot with expense reports. They get abused all the time. Sometimes, though, employees do get their ERs audited, and get fired for ER fraud. Especially if the employer needs a reason to fire you.