Travel expenses

General information

Once the business trip has been completed, the user has the option of filling the travel expense statement with the actual costs incurred and travel times. 

The travel request that has been "suspended" until the end of the business trip is transferred to the list of open expenses of the user as a template for Travel Expenses, who then adjusts it accordingly.

You can also use this menu option to request settlement directly for employees who do not require approval for a travel request.

The following descriptions refer to the standard version of Business Trip Accounting. Due to the possibility of individualizing these, there are sometimes differences in the displayed fields / possible entries for the respective user.

Business trip expense accounting

Business trip expense accounting comprises 7 steps, whereby the steps relating to travel data, costs and files are already known from the business trip request. 

Here is a comparison of the travel request and the travel expense statement. 

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• travel data
  The data entered in the travel request in step 1 is transferred unchanged to the accounting (step 1 - travel data) and can be adjusted if necessary.
• Calculated costs
  The costs estimated in the mission application in step 2 can now be compared with the actual calculated costs incurred (step 5 - calculated costs). 
• Files
  Scanned supporting documents attached in step 3 of the mission request are also included in the accounting (step 6 - files). If necessary, receipts can be removed or new receipts added here. 

1. - Travel data

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The actual total duration of the trip must now be entered in this input mask. Based on the entries in from date, to date, from time and to time, the due daily allowance is calculated. The Overnight allowance and Number of meals paid by company fields only refer to the domestic part of the business trip.  

Overnight allowance: If necessary, enter the number of private overnight stays (that is, not in a hotel; without an invoice; for example, for relatives/friends) in Germany. These overnight stays are usually compensated with a lump sum that depends on the respective collective agreement. 

Number of meals paid by the company: Enter the number of meals paid by the company (only meals received domestically). 

2. - Stages abroad (only available for trips abroad)

In this step, those parts of the trip that took place outside the domestic region must be recorded in time. This is crucial in order to calculate the daily allowance correctly, since it varies in each country.

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By clicking on Add travel stage, all stays abroad in the respective countries can be recorded according to the travel route. 

Under Region you can select the corresponding region (country).

The from and to dates as well as the from and to times are important here so that the pro rata daily allowances are calculated correctly. 

For flights, the times of departure and landing at the domestic airport must be recorded. Periods of the business trip that are not covered by international stages are automatically domestic stages and not to be recorded separately. 

The number of days on which the employee received lunch AND dinner abroad must be entered under daily allowance deductions. If the employee has not received both, the international diets are not reduced. 

By clicking on , foreign stages can be removed again.

Overnight allowances: The number of private overnight stays (i.e. not in a hotel; without invoice) in the respective region (country) may have to be entered here. These overnight stays are usually compensated with a lump sum which depends on the respective collective agreement. 

Since 1 January 2008, per diem allowances for trips abroad have been calculated in the same way as per diem allowances for domestic business trips. The amount the employee is entitled to for a full-day business trip depends on the employment contract and the country of residence.

3. - Kilometer allowances

Entitlement to kilometer allowance arises when a private motor vehicle is used on a business trip. 

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If the journey extends over several days, the distances covered must be recorded individually for each day, specifying the route. The principle is similar to a logbook. As an option, it is also possible to enter the number plate of the respective employee in the Mileage allowance tab - evaluations can then be created for each number plate (=car). The maintenance of the number plates can be carried out by the employee himself.

The kilometer allowances to be charged are automatically calculated by entering the kilometer reading at the beginning (from kilometer) and end (to kilometer) of the business trip (tax requirement). Optionally, only the number of kilometers driven can be entered.

The starting point of the business trip is the place of employment or the place of residence if this is closer to the destination. 

Passengers carried (number of passengers) must be recorded to the extent of the actual number of kilometers (number/km of passengers).

The official records for mileage allowance or passenger allowance per kilometer are taken from the EStG and stored in the system. By paying the kilometer allowance, all incidental costs (tolls, parking fees, garage, and so on) are covered for tax purposes. A separate settlement of these additional costs is therefore not permitted - unless the trip was started with the company car (which eliminates the entitlement to mileage allowance).

 4. - Receipts

The costs of the individual documents are entered here. 

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In the case of Mrs. Fröhlich, a toll voucher amounting to 15 euros and a parking ticket amounting to 5 euros and additional remarks were entered.

Also the input in other currencies is possible. The exchange rates are entered into the system on a daily basis. 

A list of the currently supported currencies can be found under the following link: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/exchange/eurofxref/html/index.en.html

5. - Calculated costs

In the 5th step, all data recorded by the employee is evaluated and clearly displayed. 

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Diets 
The daily allowances calculated by the system (according to the valid PPA) are displayed here.

Kilometer allowances
Since Mrs. Fröhlich used the company car, she is not entitled to mileage allowance. If necessary, this is calculated on the basis of the difference between the mileage before and after the start / end of the business trip (car: 0.42 euro / kilometer; for each passenger, a further 0.05 euro / kilometer must be paid to the employee).

Receipts
The costs recorded, including the optional comments, appear here.

Total
All amounts (in euros) totaled.

6. - Files

In the 6th step, the applicant can scan files (such as scans of paid train/plane tickets, toll invoices, parking tickets, etc.) and send them to the... ) via the buttons Add attachment -> Select add file.

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7. - Time corrections

With this last step, the employee can correct the working time that has not yet been credited due to the missing time bookings. 

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In connection with one-day business trips, the time correction for the duration of the business trip (entered under 1. - Travel data) can be calculated automatically with the selection. In connection with (one-day or) several-day business trips, the manual correction of the time booking must be carried out manually with the selection - this has happened in the case of Mrs. Fröhlich. 

Also the difference between

• aktive: in case of work performance on instruction during the journey or while driving a car

and

• passive: travel movement itself, including controls, waiting time and passenger car, flight, train, etc.

Travel time can be mapped in the system.

Start / cancel / save / abbort approval workflow

Save and Forward: After the business trip accounting request has been completed, it can be saved by clicking on this field and the workflow can be started at the same time - i.e. forwarded to the superior for processing (approval) (to his open tasks).

Cancel: By clicking on this button, the business trip accounting can be cancelled. 

Save: The entries made are saved as a draft and can be edited later under Open Tasks. 

Back: Clicking this button will exit Travel Accounting.