Prices on the lunch menu at Maloney & Porcelli are typical of restaurants in its segment: You can start with appetizers like the $14 tuna-and-avocado tartare or the $20 crab cake; a mixed-green salad goes for $10: and one of the eatery's signature filet mignons will cost at least $39.

As the recession continues to put the squeeze on corporate expense accounts, however, many regulars have found themselves on budgets that no longer allow for Maine lobster at $25 a pound.

The intrepid New York City restaurant has responded with a tongue-in-cheek tool at its Expense-a-Steak Headquarters. The simple form reads, "Now you can eat at Maloney & Porcelli as often as you like and never worry about your expense report raising any eyebrows. Simply type in you bill total below and the expense report generator will do the rest."

We decided to invite several colleagues for our hypothetical meal, which cost a grand total of $850. The tool instantly generated a PDF that looks like a photocopy of several receipts taped to a piece of paper.

Included are receipts for four cab rides, and a few plausibly priced meals at "Panini Experience" and "Crabapples." Sure to cause some trouble, however, is a tremendous $710.97 bill from "Office Supply Hut." Apparently, we played office manager while we were out and bought 26 cartridges of toner.

Maloney & Porcelli delivers Marketing Inspiration with its playful response to diminished expense accounts—and probably earned some first-time customers in the process. Just remember this tool has gone viral, so don't try to pull a fast one on your accounting department.

More Inspiration:
Paul Barsch: Going for Growth … in China
Elaine Fogel: James Arthur Ray: Is He a Marketing Wizard Gone Awry?
Ted Mininni: 'Simple' Sells

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