Overall, compensation costs, the largest expense item for investment banks, were down 6 percent.

Of the $712 million, the report states that $577 million (81 percent) represented "expense items in the capital budget."

It has also decided to expense items such as sleeves, labels and packaging; these were previously included in stocks.

Second, regulators must determine the value of those expense items.

Over the short term, travel is one of the few expense items you can control.

But for the most part, what is donated are capital expense items that might not otherwise make it into the budget.

The Governor put in an expense item of $10 billion.

The hitch: the rule has yet to be applied to expense items.

Once again, capital funds are being used for expense items.

The accounts staff then key each expense item into the company's finance system before filing the claim and receipts away.