THE GREAT FAPIAO MYSTERY

BY GINGER HUANG (黄原竟)

THE GREAT FAPIAO MYSTERY

BY GINGER HUANG (黄原竟)

A subtle guide to getting the money (and documentation) you're owed

在中国公司里，报销常常都是一个陷阱重重的闯关游戏

It is something everyone eventually runs into in China. You come out of a subway station, and the entrance is blocked by several furtive middle-aged women. When you come close enough, they glance sideways or stare at their shoes, murmuring in a listless whisper, “Fapiao,fapiao. Do you wantfapiao? Realfapiao.”

If you don't understand the word, you'd be forgiven for thinking they were trying to sell you drugs, but what they are selling is less fun and probably more precious: the elusive invoice (发票 fāpiào). A popular online joke saysthat Chinese folks are so obsessed withfapiaothat in the red light districts of Europe, prostitutes lure in potential Chinese clients with the simple greeting, “Hello. We can give youfapiao. (你好，有发票。Nǐhǎo, yǒu fāpiào.)”

It's hard to overestimate the importance of the invoice, i.e.fapiao, if you work in China. It is an important way for the Administration of Taxation to monitor a company's costs and revenue. Therefore, if you spend money on business matters and expect reimbursement (报销 bàoxiāo) from your company, you have to get the right invoice. However, most places will bend over backwards to keep you from ever getting near afapiao, so it's important to know a few tricks.

First, you need to know the difference between afapiaoand a receipt (收据 shōujù), a mistake expats in China can all-too-easily make. Often a receipt looks deceptively like afapiao; the difference being that afapiaohas its own very particular stamp,发票专用章 (fāpiào zhuānyòngzhāng). It is an oval-shaped red stamp that catchily says “Standard Invoice Stamp Nationwide” (全国统一发票监制章Quánguó Tǒngyī Fāpiào Jiānzhìzhāng) in the upper line and “Supervised by State Administration of Taxation/Local Municipal Off i ce of SAT” (国家/地方税务局监制 Guójiā/Dìfāng Shuìwùjú Jiānzhì) on the bottom line.Fapiaohave various forms. Printedfapiao(机打发票 jīdǎ fāpiào), the most common, state the payer and the payee. To encourage people to ask for afapiao(so that the tax bureau doesn't lose money) a lot offapiaoinclude a scratch prize (刮奖 guājiǎng) in the top right corner. Another kind offapiao, a rarer one, is called a “ripped”fapiao(手撕发票 shǒusī fāpiào), which is pre-printed with fi xed sums and is ripped off from its binding. No matter what they look like, make sure yourfapiaohas the SAT stamp.

Train and plane tickets are the exceptions. Train tickets arefapiaothemselves, no stamp needed. With fl ights, however, the fl ight ticket is useless; you need to ask for a paper called 行程单 (xíngchéngdān, literally“itinerary sheet”) from the airline of fi ce or your agency, which is also sanctioned by SAT as valid for reimbursement.

If you ask forfapiaoafter dining in a restaurant, the conversation often goes something like this:

DIFFERENT COMPANIES HAVE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTANTS, AND ACCOUNTANTS HAVE THEIR OWN TASTES; MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE

Diner: I need afapiao.

Wǒ xūyào fāpiào.

我需要发票。

Waitress: Here it is.

Zhè jiùshì.

这就是。

Diner: No, it doesn't have thefapiaostamp. It is just the receipt. What I need is afapiao.

Zhè méiyǒu fāpiào zhuānyòngzhāng, zhǐshì shōujù éryǐ. Wǒ yào de shì fāpiào.

这没有发票专用章，只是收据而已。我要的是发票。

Waitress: If you don't have afapiao, you can have a free drink.

Rúguǒ nǐ bù kāi fāpiào dehuà, kěyǐ sòng nǐ yǐ nliào.

如果你不开发票的话，可以送你饮料。

Diner: Ok, make it a treble scotch.

Nà hǎo ba, gěi wǒ láige sān fèn de Sūgélán wēishìjì.

那好吧，给我来个三份的苏格兰威士忌。

Ok, the last line is a joke, but conversations will play out like this because restaurants are simply reluctant to give outfapiaoas they are taxed on their revenue. If you do insist on getting yourfapiao, the waitress will give you a pen and paper.

Waitress: What is the title, please?

Qǐng wèn táitóu xiě shénme?

请问抬头写什么？

Here comes the second largest obstacle: the “title”. It refers to whom thefapiaois addressed, i.e. the name of your company. Because it is a Western business term, the Chinese word 抬头 (táitóu) is actually a phonetic translation of “title”. This can be tricky; if you get a single character wrong, you won't get reimbursed. No matter how well you know your company, never be over-con fi dent that you know its full legal name. So, make sure to con fi rm with the company's accountant on this, and memorize it well or print it out and put it in your wallet.

After nailing the title, she may ask for another speci fi c:

What kind of invoice do you want?

Nín yào kāi nǎ yí lè i fā pià o?

您要开哪一类发票？

Here, you need to choose the“genre” of yourfapiao. Most frequently, these include: catering (餐饮 cānyǐn), food (食品 shípǐn), sports equipment (体育用品tǐyù yòngpǐn), stationary (办公用品 bàngōng yòngpǐn), books (图书túshū), and boarding (住宿 zhùsù). Different companies have different accountants, and accountants have their own tastes; make sure you know what they are.

I want it to be “catering”.

Wǒ yào kāi “cānyǐn”.

我要开“餐饮”。

Now, I'm sure we can all agree that whoever designed thefapiaosystem deserves a thorough and endless beating or perhaps a little light torture, but getting the rightfapiaois only the fi rst tiny step in getting reimbursement. Next is getting it signed by everyone necessary.

I need to have myfapiaosigned by four superiors.

Wǒ de fāpiào xūyào sì gè lǐngdǎo qiānzì.

我的发票需要四个领导签字。

And then, fi nally, you must come face to face with the almighty Chinese accountant who, like everywhere else in the world, ranges from a fi nicky jobsworth to a borderline megalomaniacal fascist. With a few lucky exceptions, getting reimbursement from the accountant is going to be a long, long wait for a variety reasons.

I submitted the invoice to the accountancy department a month ago. Why isn't my reimbursement here yet?

Fāpià o yí gè yuè qián jiù jiāogěi cá iwù le, wèishénme xiànzài hái méiyǒu bàoxiāo?

发票一个月前就交给财务了，为什么现在还没有报销？

In response, you're sure to hear a litany of excuses:

You can't have it because the amount on yourfapiaois bigger than the company's allowance.

Yīnwèi nǐ de fāpiào shù'é chā ochūle wǒ men de guīdìng, suǒyǐ bào bù liǎo.

因为你的发票数额超出了我们的规定，所以报不了。

Because there is something misspelled in the title.

Yīnwèi táitóu lǐ yǒu yí g è cuòbiézì.

因为抬头里有一个错别字。

Because we cannot reimbursefapiaofor the “electronic appliances” genre.

Yīnwèi w ǒmen bùnéng b àoxiāo “jiā diàn” lèi de fāpiào.

因为我们不能报销“家电”类的发票。

If you fi nd yourself in any of these situations, remember this adage:

You can offend anyone in your company, but never the accountant.

G ōngsī lǐ nǐ shuí dōu kěyǐ rě, d ànshì bié rě kuàijì.

公司里你谁都可以惹，但是别惹会计。

The stereotype of a Chinese accountant is a mean, middle-ageddamawho specializes in delaying all kinds of payments and creating obstacles for your work. It is understandable; the accountants are often the least paid workers in the company, and many of them are not professionals in their fi eld. But, they need to deal with extremely complicated, thankless work for which they are held legally liable. As a result, they are very meticulous and often irritable. When you have problems, try to meet all the accountant's requirements.

How can I fill out the reimbursement form correctly?

Qǐng w èn wǒ gāi zěnyàng zhèngquè de tiánxiě bàoxiāodān?

请问我该怎样正确地填写报销单？

Are there any papers missing here?

Zhè há i quē shénme dānjù ma?

这还缺什么单据吗？

If you have made all your efforts to perfectly prepare the papers and fi nd weeks later that yourfapiaois still in the accountant's drawer, then try to get your boss to nag the accountant a little bit.

Manager, I wish we could have a smoother reimbursement procedure.

Jīnglǐ, wǒ xīwàng wǒmen de bàoxiāo liúchéng kěyǐ gèng kuài.

经理，我希望我们的报销流程可以更快。

The low efficiency of the accountancy department has created troubles for our work.

Cáiwù bùmén de dīxiào gě i wǒmen de gōngzuò tiānle hěnduō má fan.

财务部门的低效给我们的工作添了很多麻烦。

In short, everything in China is against you getting reimbursement: the company doesn't want to lose money, the accountant doesn't want to give you the money, the issuer doesn't want to give you an invoice, and thefapiaosystem itself could not possibly be designed any worse. So, arm yourself with these tips and get ready for afapiaobattle to the bitter end.