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:

1. The boss should always pay.
2. When someone offers to pay, graciously accept.
3. When no one else picks up the check, you should.
4. 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.
5. The person receiving a favor should pay. If you are being coached or helped out, pick up the tab.
6. Avoid squabbles over who ate what and who owes what.          

— Adapted from “Business Etiquette: Who Should Pick Up the Check?,” Steve Tobak, Inc.