Who should pick up the tab? 6 tips
Have you ever been in the awkward position of eating out for business and wondered who should pay? Invisor Consulting Managing Partner Steve Tobak offers six guidelines:
- The boss should always pay.
- When someone offers to pay, graciously accept.
- When no one else picks up the check, you should.
- The vendor should pay. Unless the vendor is from a smaller company or traveled a long distance to be there, his or her company is benefiting from the interaction.
- The person receiving a favor should pay. If you are being coached or helped out, pick up the tab.
- Avoid squabbles over who ate what and who owes what.
— Adapted from “Business Etiquette: Who Should Pick Up the Check?,” Steve Tobak, Inc.