Turn error-prone per diems into invisible expenses

A daily allowance, which is also known as per diem, is the limited amount of money an employee receives from their organisation to cover work-related expenses. Some examples of expenses include transportation or meals while traveling for business.

1. Customisable calculation: Companies can choose to follow our standard allowance calculation, or modify the rules to their unique needs.

2. In-house compliance team: When using the standard allowance template, our compliance team ensures that the rates meet the latest legal requirements for each country. Controllers can sit back and relax, knowing compliance is taken care of.

3. Easy trip entry: Users can enter the departure point, date, and time of travel. For multi-location trips, users can add multiple destinations and trips.

4. Automatic calculation: The daily allowance is automatically calculated based on the entered trip details.

5. Deductions: Companies can set policies for specific deductions from the original allowance. For example, breakfast may be deducted if included in the hotel price.

6. Quick review and reporting: Users can review the total trip calculation with a few clicks. The calculated allowance can be easily added to an expense report for approval.

• Ease of administration: Employees receive daily allowances without submitting detailed expense reports. This simplifies reimbursement and saves time for both employees and controllers.

• Increased cost control: Daily allowances reduce the need for extensive documentation, allowing controllers to maintain better oversight and ensure compliance with company policies.

• Better cost predictability: Finance teams can predict and budget for expenses more accurately with fixed daily allowances, providing financial stability for the organisation.

• Higher employee satisfaction: Daily allowances streamline the reimbursement process and provide transparency, making it convenient and clear for employees to understand their allowances.

Based on the given parameters, a per diem may vary. The rates differ between countries, and even cities. In the case of a per diem for food, the employee will only receive the full allowance if they have paid for all their meals themselves. If not, deductions must be made for the per diem to be compliant. This can happen for example if the meals are included in the cost of the lodging, or if the employee’s meal is paid for in another fashion (e.g. as part of an event, by a customer/supplier, etc.).

Up to date national and local per diem rates are uploaded in the system, along with a host of other features specific to German regulatory requirements. Our Compliance team proactively checks and maintains these rates and requirements, so that you don’t have to.

With Mobilexpense, the user enters the details of their trip (departure and return date and time, destination) and the system automatically calculates the appropriate per diem. The user can enter or edit these details either via our web app, or on our mobile app.

And if the user enters a separate claim for a meal during a trip with per diems, the system makes the appropriate meal deductions. At the end of the trip, the user submits their per diems for approval in a report with any other expenses related to that trip. Mobilexpense ensures the compliance of all expense items, and issues a warning in case of any deviation.