travel and expense audit interview questions

Best practices to effectively manage your travel expense audit

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The average business trip costs over $1,293 , and that cost is expected to increase. Plus, travel is one of the hardest expense categories for business owners and managers to control.

To add to the problems, some people call travel expense report fraud the "gateway" to even bigger things. Employees who migrate to more significant scams typically begin by dabbling in travel expense report fraud. 

When was the last time a travel expense audit was conducted to check for things like expense report fraud?

Interested to learn more about travel expense audits and some of the best practices for mitigating fraud? Here's a guide that breaks it down for you.

What is a travel expense audit?

When employees travel, they spend money on things like hotels, airfare, meals, coffee, and other travel-related needs. They save their receipts and either input them into a shared virtual space or save them to submit when they return from traveling.

A travel expense audit focuses on the approval of those reimbursement items. It also analyzes the adequacy of supporting documentation provided by the employees.

Sometimes a company realizes they're losing too much in petty cash. Often, there are too many discrepancies in the reported expense numbers. It could be due to a misunderstanding of the company's travel and expense policies, or it could be as a result of reimbursement fraud.

A travel expense audit helps you find out what’s hurting your bottomline. A to-do checklist can help you make sure all the right steps are being followed.

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The how-to guide to building a corporate travel policy

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Travel expense audit to-dos

Evaluate your overall internal control environment

Take a look at the way expenses your organization handles business expenses. This includes pre-authorizations, approvals, and the final review. Also, ensure different employees perform different tasks. For instance, travelers should never be permitted to approve their own business expense claims.

Assess the effectiveness of your current processes

Ensure you tailor your operations to fit your organization and its needs. For example, if travelers get to approve their own expenses, it's a red flag for ineffectiveness. Your current process should be prepared to tackle both present and future scenarios.

Test selected reports in detail

Going through all the reports may be time consuming and laborious. You can select reports and go through them thoroughly. This might be an excellent exercise to pinpoint the most compelling parts of your processes. Detailed testing can also help you identify if travel expenses made by employees always serve business purposes.

Analyze your travel and expense (T&E) policies

Your travel and expense policies must be concise with a clear set of guidelines. This ensures those involved in the expense reporting process have clearly defined roles with no crossover. A comprehensive T&E policy can help avoid reimbursements of fraudulent expenses or misrepresented expenses.

What is travel and expense Policy?

How can expense policy compliance benefit your business?

Things to consider while designing an expense approval workflow

A guide to streamline your travel request approval workflow

Why are travel expense audits important?

Too many businesses avoid travel expense audits because they're time-consuming and extensive. However, by using better tools, you can make the process easier and more efficient. 

Travel expense audits are vital for cutting costs. They also ensure that all employees are compliant with travel and expense policies.

More importantly, internal audits serve as the primary way to recognize and prevent fraud. A rigorous system for operations and internal controls can help detect fraud and accounting irregularities.

What are travel expense audit procedures?

Audit procedures are the methods (or steps) performed by auditors to get all the information they need. They then use this information to form a report. The report reveals whether or not it represents a clear and fair view of the financial position of the company or sector in question.

• Procedures are always outlined during an audit's planning stage. First, the audit's objective gets declared, followed by the approach, scope, and any potential risks.
• Audit procedures must be sound to identify and prevent future fraud. They must also include a plan to detect any fraud in the future.

A travel expense tracker, for example, is an excellent way to combat multiple reimbursements.

What do audit procedures entail?

It is essential to follow a set procedure for a travel expense audit. Having a well-defined and well-communicated procedure helps prevent confusion and chaos within teams or processes. It also supports all stakeholders to understand their role in the process. This helps everyone stay informed and proactive. 

Audit procedures include:

• Analytical review of expense reports

In an analytical review, an auditor analyzes whether or not financial information is materially sound. They'll do so by matching up records with receipts. This is where having well-documented receipts and expense reports come into play. 

• Inquiry into suspicious expense claims

Here an auditor can interview employees if they find anything fishy. For example, if an employee always eats at the same restaurant, or entertains the same "clients." The auditor in this case  can ask how all of those meals are business-related.

• Inspection of company travel policies

Here, the auditor can inspect and analyze the company policies. Using these findings, they can determine how strict supervisors are in making sure travelers follow them. This is where most businesses end up running into trouble with the IRS. 

• Recalculation and verification of financial records 

This is where the auditors will recalculate and inquire until all financial irregularities are accounted for. Remember, as processes become more refined and stable, audits can occur less frequently too. 

Best practices to mitigate business expense fraud

A recent study suggests,   nearly 1 in 5 occupational fraud involves expense reimbursement. What’s saddening is these whopping numbers show up despite over 80% of companies stating audits are necessary. Don't play around with your business' money. 

No matter how much you trust your employees, there could still be glitches or dishonesty that's costing you. Some ways in which individuals exhibit fraudulence are:

• Overstating expenses
• Submitting fictitious costs
• Reimbursing multiple times
• Mischaracterizing expenses

In addition to performing regular audits, here are some hacks to avoid expense fraud:

• Create and enforce a well-defined travel expense policy that’s easy to read and digest
• Monitor all expense reports and regularly check for duplication and errors
• Manage receipts using an expense management software for more consistent entries
• Make sure there are clear, enforced approval policies for both before and after submitting an expense

Another helpful tip is to use an expense management software that captures all employee spending using mobile-based receipt data extraction. These advanced apps use technology like OCR (Optical Character rRecognition), that help eliminate the task of manual data entry. As a result, there will be fewer human-prone errors too. 

SUGGESTED READ:

How to detect and prevent expense report fraud

A travel expense management software will save you time and costs

Your business can mitigate fraud and ensure compliance by performing regular audits and following the best practices of the industry. But if done manually, this process could cost you time, money, and effort. A more effective and easier way to ensure your bottom line is covered with minimal manual intervention is by using an expense management software. 

When you incorporate an expense management software, all stakeholders stand to benefit. 

• Your finance teams would no longer need to hound employees for expense submissions. They would also not be under heaps of receipts pending on verification and approval. 
• Your employees would no longer have to fill in lengthy, tedious forms for reimbursements. They would also not have to lose out on their money for business-related expenses. 

Happy employees at the workplace mean an increase in employee productivity and morale. This has  proven to be a winning formula for any business aiming to scale. 

Are you curious to know how we can help increase employee productivity while also streamlining your expense management? Get in touch with us today by scheduling a demo !

Shruti Kesavan

Shruti Kesavan leads Content Marketing at Fyle. When not convincing people to automate their expense management, she loves to read, travel, and explore the world with her pup. Be sure to drop her a note at [email protected], if you're looking for any guest blogging opportunities.

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Last Updated: August 21, 2021

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In its sole discretion, the Company reserves the right to terminate your Account, or any part thereof, if you fail to comply with the terms outlined in the Terms of Use. The Company, may, in its sole discretion, terminate access to the Site without notice. You agree that the Company shall not be liable to you or any third party in the event of such termination of access to the Site or software. In the event a User’s Account is terminated, and such User is a subscriber to Premium Membership Content, a pro-rated refund will be issued as of the date of termination, which termination date shall be decided in the sole and absolute discretion of the Company.

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The Company grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, and revocable license to use and access the Content solely for use in accordance with the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use. The Content may not be used for any other purpose.  This license will terminate upon your cessation of use of the Services, Website, and/or Marketplace.

Certain Restrictions

The rights granted to you in this Agreement are subject to the following restrictions:

(a)        No Copying or Distribution. You shall not copy, reproduce, publish, display, perform, post, transmit, or distribute any part of the Content in any form or by any means except as expressly permitted herein or as enabled by a feature, product, or the Services when provided to you.

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All trademarks, logos, and service marks displayed on the Services are either the Company’s property or the property of third parties.  You may not use such trademarks, logos, or service marks without the prior written consent of their respective owners.

These Terms of Use permit you to use the Website for your personal, non-commercial use only. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store, or transmit any of the material on our Website, except as follows:

• Your computer may temporarily store copies of such materials in RAM incidental to your accessing and viewing those materials.
• You may store files that are automatically cached by your Web browser for display enhancement purposes.
• If we provide desktop, mobile, or other applications for download, you may download a single copy to your computer or mobile device solely for your own personal, non-commercial use, provided you agree to be bound by our end user license agreement for such applications.
• We currently maintain social media accounts at:
• LinkedIn (http://linkedin.com/company/71167259/)
• Twitter (http://twitter.com/Auditopia1)
• Facebook (http://facebook.com/auditopiacommunity)

If we provide social media features with the above sites and/or applications with certain content, you may take such actions as are enabled by such features. We may provide additional social media features on other sites and/or applications and any such actions are to be used in accordance with the terms therein.

You must not:

• Modify copies of any materials from this Website.
• Use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences, or any graphics separately from the accompanying text.
• Delete or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights notices from copies of materials from this site.

If you print, copy, modify, download, or otherwise use or provide any other person with access to any part of the Website in breach of these Terms of Use, your right to use the Website will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. No right, title, or interest in or to the Website or any content on the Website is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by the Company. Any use of the Website not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use and may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws.

Prohibited Uses and Code of Conduct

It is the expectation of the Company and its affiliates that all Users of the Site and Platform as well as use of third-party affiliates of the Company act in a manner that is professional and ethical at all times .  You may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use. You agree not to use the Website:

• In any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local, or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries).
• For the purpose of exploiting, harming, or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable information, or otherwise.
• To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use, or re-use any material that does not comply with the Content Standards (below) set out in these Terms of Use.
• To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any “junk mail,” “chain letter,” “spam,” or any other similar solicitation.
• To impersonate or attempt to impersonate the Company, a Company employee, another user, or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using email addresses or screen names associated with any of the foregoing).
• To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the Website, or which, as determined by us, may harm the Company or users of the Website, or expose them to liability.

You also hereby acknowledge:

• Use of foul, discriminating, incident language or slurs between users of the Site will not be tolerated.
• Cyber bullying, cohesion, or like intentions to defame, destroy, intimidate others is not tolerated and will be met with the full force if any user is found to be engaging in any action that can be construed as harmful to any user.  The Company may terminate your use of the Website if it finds you have engaged in any of the foregoing activities, in its sole and absolute discretion.
• Expulsion from the site, deletion of account, and any monies still owed to the Company may be taken at the time of account removal. The Company reserves all rights to make these decisions in its sole and absolute discretion.
• If removed from the Site for violating terms of service or any agreement listed in here does not entitle any User to any form of refund.

Additionally, you agree not to:

• Use the Website in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use of the Website, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the Website.
• Use any robot, spider, or other automatic device, process, or means to access the Website for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Website.
• Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Website, or for any other purpose not expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, without our prior written consent.
• Use any device, software, or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Website.
• Introduce any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, logic bombs, or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage, or disrupt any parts of the Website, the server on which the Website is stored, or any server, computer, or database connected to the Website.
• Attack the Website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of- service attack.
• Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website.

User Generated Content

The Site and Platform may contain (either currently or in the future) message boards, chatrooms, profiles, forums, Groups, the ability to share Marketplace Resources, and other interactive features that allow users to post, upload, submit, publish, display, or transmit to other users or other persons content or materials (collectively, “ User Generated Content ”) on or through the Services.

You are solely responsible for your User Generated Content.  Please consider carefully what you choose to share. All User Generated Content must comply with the Content Standards set forth below.  With the exception of Group Content, which a Group Organizer or Group Moderator may, in their discretion, elect to be deemed confidential per User access settings, any User Generated Content you post on or through the Services will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You assume all risks associated with the use of your User Generated Content.  This includes any reliance on its accuracy, completeness, reliability, or appropriateness by other users and third parties, or any disclosure of your User Generated Content that personally identifies you or any third party.  You agree that the Company shall not be responsible or liable to any third party for any User Generated Content posted by you or any other user of the Services.

You further agree that the Company shall not be responsible for any loss or damage incurred as the result of any interactions between you and other Users. Your interactions with other Users are solely between you and such Users. If there is a dispute between you and any other User, we are under no obligation to become involved.

You retain ownership of User Content you post to the Site. You hereby grant to the Company an irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free and fully paid, transferable, perpetual, and worldwide license to reproduce, distribute, publicly display and perform, prepare derivative works of, incorporate into other works, and otherwise use and exploit your User Content, and to grant sublicenses of the foregoing rights, in connection with the Services and the Company’s business including, without limitation, for promoting and redistributing part or all of the Services in any media formats and through any media channels. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not be entitled to a license from Users for Group Content.

You represent and warrant that you have all the rights, power, and authority necessary to grant the rights granted herein to any User Content that you submit. You hereby irrevocably waive all claims and have no recourse against us for any alleged or actual infringement or misappropriation of any proprietary rights in any communication, content, or material submitted to us. Please note that all of the following licenses are subject to our Privacy Policy (www.auditopia.com/policy) to the extent they relate to any User Content that contains any personally identifiable information.

Content Standards

You agree not to send, knowingly receive, upload, transmit, display, or distribute any User Content that does not comply with the following standards (“ Content Standards ”). User Content must not:

(a)        Violate Laws or Obligations. Violate any applicable laws or regulations (including intellectual property laws and right of privacy or publicity laws), or any contractual or fiduciary obligations.

(b)        Promote Illegal Activity or Harm to Others. Promote any illegal activity; advocate, promote, or assist any unlawful act; or create any risk of any harm, loss, or damage to any person or property.

(c)        Infringe Intellectual Property Rights. Infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, or other intellectual property rights of any other person.

(d)        Defamatory, Abusive, or Otherwise Objectionable Material. Contain any information or material that we deem to be unlawful, defamatory, trade libelous, invasive of another’s privacy or publicity rights, abusive, threatening, harassing, harmful, violent, hateful, obscene, vulgar, profane, indecent, offensive, inflammatory, humiliating to other people (publicly or otherwise), or otherwise objectionable. This includes any information or material that we deem to cause annoyance, inconvenience, or needless anxiety, or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarm, or annoy another person.

(e)        Promotion of Sexually Explicit Material or Discrimination. Promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age.

(f)        Fraudulent Information or Impersonation. Contain any information or material that is false, intentionally misleading, or otherwise likely to deceive any person including, without limitation, impersonating any person, or misrepresenting your identity or affiliation with any person or organization.

(g)        Commercial Activity. Involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes, and other sales promotions, barter, or advertising.

(h)        Endorsement by the Company. Represent or imply to others that it is in any way provided, sponsored, or endorsed by the Company or any other person or entity, if that is not the case.

Monitoring and Enforcement

We reserve the right at all times, but are not obligated, to:

(a)        take any action with respect to any User Content that we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion, including if we believe that such User Content violates the Content Standards or any other provision in this Terms of Use or our Privacy Policy, or creates liability for the Company or any other person. Such action may include reporting you to law enforcement authorities.

(b)        remove or reject any User Content for any or no reason in our sole discretion.

(c)        disclose any User Content, your identity, or electronic communication of any kind to satisfy any law, regulation, or government request, or to protect the rights or property of the Company or any other person.

(d)        Terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Services for any or no reason, including without limitation, any violation of this Agreement.

The Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to remove objectional content that does not conform to our Content Standards, but the Company cannot ensure prompt removal of questionable User Content. Accordingly, the Company and its affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees or agents, assume no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications, or content provided by any user or third party. The Company shall have no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or non-performance of the activities described in this Section.

Copyright Infringement (Digital Millennium Copyright Act Policy)

The Company respects the intellectual property of others and expects users of the Services to do the same. It is the Company’s policy to terminate the users of our Services who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights, including copyrights. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement and wish to have the allegedly infringing material removed, please provide the following information in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to our designated copyright agent:

(a)        a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf;

(b)        a description of the copyrighted work that you allege has been infringed;

(c)        a description of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled;

(d)        a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located;

(e)        your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and email address;

(f)        a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the objectionable material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or under the law; and

(g)        a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf.

Please note that pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any misrepresentation of material fact in a written notification automatically subjects the complaining party to liability for any damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees incurred by us in connection with the written notification and allegation of copyright infringement.

Designated copyright agent for the Company:

Auditopia LLC Copyright Agent 415 Boston Post Rd Ste 3-1198 Milford, CT 06460

[email protected]

Feedback to the Company

If you provide the Company with any feedback or suggestions regarding the Services (“ Feedback ”), you hereby assign to the Company all rights in such Feedback and agree that the Company shall have the right to use and fully exploit such Feedback and related information in any manner it deems appropriate. The Company will treat any Feedback that you provide to the Company as non-confidential and non-proprietary. You agree that you will not submit to the Company any information or ideas that you consider to be confidential or proprietary.

Reliance on Information Posted

The information presented on or through the Website is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the Website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.

This Website may include content provided by third parties and all statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided by the Company, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Company. We are not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties.

Changes to the Website

We may update the content on this Website from time to time, but its content is not necessarily complete or up-to-date. Any of the material on the Website may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.

Information About You and Your Visits to the Website

All information we collect on this Website is subject to our  Terms of Use  and our  Privacy Policy  located at www.auditopia.com/policy. By using the Website, you consent to all actions taken by us with respect to your information in compliance with the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy.

Other Terms and Conditions

  Additional terms and conditions may also apply to specific portions, services, or features of the Website. All such additional terms and conditions are hereby incorporated by this reference into these Terms of Use.

Linking to the Website and Social Media Features

You may link to our homepage, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval, or endorsement on our part without our express written consent.

This Website may provide certain social media features that enable you to:

• Link from your own or certain third-party websites to certain content on this Website.
• Send emails or other communications with certain content, or links to certain content, on this Website.
• Cause limited portions of content on this Website to be displayed or appear to be displayed on your own or certain third-party websites.

You may use these features solely as they are provided by us, and solely with respect to the content they are displayed with, and otherwise in accordance with any additional terms and conditions we provide with respect to such features. Subject to the foregoing, you must not:

• Establish a link from any websites that is not owned by you.
• Cause the Website or portions of it to be displayed on, or appear to be displayed by, any other site, for example, framing, deep linking, or in-line linking.
• Link to any part of the Website other than the homepage.
• Otherwise take any action with respect to the materials on this Website that is inconsistent with any other provision of these Terms of Use.

You agree to cooperate with us in causing any unauthorized framing or linking immediately to stop. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. We may disable all or any social media features and any links at any time without notice in our discretion.

Links from the Website

If the Website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. This includes links contained in advertisements, including banner advertisements and sponsored links, if applicable. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. If you decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to this Website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.

Disclaimer of Warranties

You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet or the Website will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES, OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.

YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER THE COMPANY NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMPANY MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER THE COMPANY NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMPANY REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT, OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE, OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, THE COMPANY HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

Limitation on Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL THE COMPANY, ITS AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, SUCCESSORS, ASSIGNS, OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, MEMBERS, OWNERS, PARTNERS, OFFICERS, OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE WEBSITES OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Company, its affiliates, licensors, and service providers, and its and their respective direct or indirect partners, owners, members, officers, directors, affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, suppliers, invitees, guests, clients of the Company, successors, and assigns from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms of Use, all documents incorporated herein by reference, including, without limitation, the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy or your use of the Website, any use of the Website’s content, services, and products other than as expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, or your use of any information obtained from the Website.

Governing Law

All matters relating to the Website and these Terms of Use, and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Delaware without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of Delaware or any other jurisdiction).

Arbitration

At the Company’s sole discretion, it may require You to submit any disputes arising from these Terms of Use or use of the Website, including disputes arising from or concerning their interpretation, violation, invalidity, non-performance, or termination, to final and binding arbitration under the Rules of Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association applying the law of the State of Delaware. The place of arbitration shall be Connecticut.

Limitation on Time to File Claims

ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OF USE OR THE WEBSITE MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

Waiver and Severability

No waiver by the Company of any term or condition set out in these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of the Company to assert a right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

If any provision of these Terms of Use is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms of Use will continue in full force and effect.

Entire Agreement

The Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Terms and Conditions constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and the Company regarding the Website and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties, both written and oral, regarding the Website.

Your Comments and Concerns

This website is operated by Auditopia, LLC.

All notices of copyright infringement claims should be sent to: [email protected].

All other feedback, comments, requests for technical support, and other communications relating to the Website should be directed to: [email protected]

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