Neither a borrower nor a lender be...or something

March 7, 2008 9:39 AM

I'm feeling guilty about a personal monetary transaction I made with my boss, that ended up being way in my favor by accident (miscalculation on my part). He said he was fine with it at the time, should I try to make amends anyway or just leave it?

My boss just returned from Europe with a wallet full of Euros he doesn't need. I am headed to Europe next week and offered to buy the Euros from him with dollars, thinking I'd save a little on the currently-abysmal exchange rate. However, when he asked how much they were worth, I gave him the wrong number (about $20 less than the actual amount). Of course, this colored the negotiation, and I discovered later that I got the Euros for about $1.20 rather than the $1.50 or so they are currently worth.

He doesn't know about the error, but was fine with the cash I gave him. Still, I feel guilty and don't want it to be an issue in the future so I was considering giving him a little more cash just to even things out. Should I make amends? Does the fact that it's my boss change the situation?

Yes, yes, I know that I shouldn't have even gotten into a money situation with my boss in the first place but he offered, and it seemed like a good idea at the time...

posted by cabingirl to work & money (19 comments total)

Do the calculation in excel (using the exchange rate from the day you did the transaction), print it out, and show it to your boss when you had him the extra US dollars that make up the difference. Best case, he says "don't worry about it" and appreciates your honesty, worst case he takes the money (that you owed him anyway) and appreciates your honesty.
posted by inigo2 at 9:42 AM on March 7

Unless your job is in finance or mathematics, it doesn't matter at all that this involves your boss. This is really pretty simple.

"Say, Joe, thanks for letting me buy those euros from you. I realized I miscalculated the amount. Here's the $20 difference. Sorry about that!"

No normal person would be upset by this.
posted by desjardins at 9:43 AM on March 7 [6 favorites]

Can't hurt to offer. Looks like you can just say "Hey, turns out I got the exchange rate wrong and owe you a bit extra," while holding out a $20 bill. He might take it, he might not, but you stop feeling guilty either way.
posted by Partial Law at 9:44 AM on March 7

I meant that if your boss is a normal person, he will not be upset.
posted by desjardins at 9:44 AM on March 7

$20? Very small price to pay to assure your boss doesn't feel like you've ripped him off. Really. Pay him exactly what the euros are worth. As inigo2 says, whether he accepts it or not, he will appreciate your honesty. But, you should assume he will accept it.
posted by mumkin at 9:46 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]

You haven't provided any good reason for not making amends.
posted by vacapinta at 9:48 AM on March 7

As everyone has said, just tell him about your mistake. If for whatever reason he says "Don't worry about it" and won't accept the money, insist on buying him lunch or something like that to make up for it.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:52 AM on March 7 [1 favorite]

Either give him the cash or buy him something worth the value of the difference while you are in Europe.
posted by ml98tu at 9:53 AM on March 7

There's no downside to giving him an extra $20. You'll prove trustworthiness, he'll think more positively of you, and you lose the cloud over your head.

And, frankly, you weren't wrong for doing the transaction in the first place. You actually were neither a borrower or a lender. Sounds like you have a good relationship with your boss, anyway. There's some saying about a mountain and a molehill that comes to mind for me. Be happy that you found a good source of Euros, be happy that you found your mistake now, and be happy that it's easy to fix.
posted by sachinag at 9:55 AM on March 7

You're right, vacapinta, and it really should have been a no-brainer anyway. But I hate getting into those situations where one person tries to force money on someone else who doesn't want it, or people fight over who pays the dinner check to a ridiculous degree. There's always a point at which it becomes uncomfortable.

I guess I was looking for the most graceful way to handle it, and should have phrased the question that way.
posted by cabingirl at 9:55 AM on March 7

I know what you mean, cabingirl, but it doesn't have to go that way. Be armed with the $20, and just say, "Hey boss, I screwed up the exchange rate. Here's the difference." After you give him the money, you can discuss exactly what went wrong. Then he doesn't really have a chance to wave it off.
posted by muddgirl at 10:00 AM on March 7

Walk in looking nervous.

Boss? Can I talk to you for a minute? I just noticed.... I just noticed *gulp* that I screwed up a financial calculation earlier, aaaaaand there's a problem with money.

(At this point he should put down his pen and expect very bad news, like you're not actually going to make any money on the Henderson account or something)

Yeah, I had the exchange rate wrong when I bought those euros from you. I owe you another twenty bucks.

(warning: not funny if you've made boo-boos before)
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:03 AM on March 7 [2 favorites]

In a certain sense, you did your boss a favor by letting him get out of needing to go back to the bank to convert the Euros back to dollars. So I don't think you were wrong at all for entering the transaction.

Having said that, absolutely offer to pay him the mistaken difference - desjardins nails it. This is not a big deal, $20 is not a huge amount, walk in, say, "Hey, I made a mistake on the conversion and actually owe you this much. Sorry about that." and hand him a $20. Problem solved.
posted by fuzzbean at 10:13 AM on March 7

Yeah, desjardins and muddgirl have the tone right -- it doesn't have to be awkward. Just treat it as a no-discussion errand, like returning someone's book: "whoops, I have something that's yours, here it is, thanks, bye!" You could even drop it in his mailbox or leave it on his chair while he's out.
posted by salvia at 10:13 AM on March 7

If I were your boss, I'd assume that I'd learned something about your level of either honesty or detail-orientedness ($20 is cheap to learn something like this about your employee); and I'd be perfectly cognizant that I'd just given you a $20 bonus. I'd also prefer to let my employee rip me off on the exchange rate, rather than some bank.

Offer him the $20 like desjardin suggested. If he refuses, that's the end of it.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:14 AM on March 7

write a note, place note and $20 in envelope, leave on boss's desk when he's not there. problem solved, no awkwardness.
posted by PercussivePaul at 10:15 AM on March 7

desjardin is right. You don't want your boss realizing the discrepancy, and thinking that perhaps you ripped him off on purpose.
posted by crickets at 12:57 PM on March 7

Thanks everyone for your responses. I gave him the $20, told him I had miscalculated, he took it and laughed it off, so it's all good now. As some of you suggested it was really no big deal, I guess I was overthinking things.
posted by cabingirl at 1:41 PM on March 7

I gave him the wrong number (about $20 less than the actual amount). Of course, this colored the negotiation, and I discovered later that I got the Euros for about $1.20 rather than the $1.50 or so they are currently worth.

By my math that works out to 67 euros which you paid $80 for. Since you talk about 'negotiation' I assume you worked out a little juice for yourself to save him the hassle of converting it, so I concur with everyone else - just walk up and hand him a $20 and tell him why.

And I concur precisely with ikkyu2. In your boss's shoes I'd refuse the $20 out of graciousness and in recognition that you saved me some hassle.
posted by phearlez at 1:48 PM on March 7