Twice in the past few weeks senior business people he taken it upon themselves to tell me how modest their expense claims are. Each assured me there were all sorts of things they were perfectly entitled to claim for that they chose to finance out of their own pockets.

过去几周里，有资深商业人士两度向我倾诉，他们申请报销费用是多么地节制。每个人都向我保证有很多东西他们完全有权申请报销，但他们都选择了自己掏口袋。

The conclusion I was meant to draw was that they were fine, upstanding people and great role models in business. The conclusion drew was that they were part of a tiresome new fashion in Britain: claiming that you are under-claiming. Last week, Barclaycard published a survey saying that executives routinely under-claim on business trel, and that the more senior you are, the less you claim. The erage chairman under-claims by 719 a year, apparently.

他们希望我得出的结论是：他们正派而诚实，是优秀的商界榜样。但我真正得出的结论是，他们不过是英国一种恼人新风尚的追随者：宣称自己申报的费用比实际开支少。最近，巴克莱卡(Barclaycard)的一份调查显示，企业高管在申报出差费用时经常少报金额，而且越资深的高管申报的越少。显然，董事会主席平均每年会少报719英镑。

Does this mean that in business, as opposed to politics, there is no titillating story on expenses? That business people are better people than parliamentarians?

这是否意味着，和政坛截然相反，商业领域不存在让人竖起耳朵的报销丑闻？是不是商业人士比议员更正派呢？

It means nothing of the sort. The expense accounts of executives are fascinating documents, though what story they tell can be devilishly hard to work out.

根本不是那么回事儿。高管的报销清单引人入胜，然而它们背后隐藏的故事很难说清楚。