40% of small and medium-sized companies in the UK have lost money as a result of inaccurate expense claims from staff, according to new research from networking site LinkedIn.

Around a quarter of the businesses polled admitted to having no idea regarding the state of their employees expenses and only 50% said that they were confident that staff weren't taking company funds not entitled to them.

"Most of us claim honest expenses from costs we pay through our day-to-day jobs, but it seems that a significant proportion of UK businesses are suffering as some employees push the boundaries of what should and should not be claimed," said Cristina Hoole, European Marketing Director at LinkedIn.