Declaring mileage and per diem

This article is for employees who travel for work: it explains how to declare a trip made with a personal vehicle, with the distance and amount calculated for you, then how to declare a per diem, the flat-rate meal and overnight allowance for a business trip.

Before you start #

• To declare a trip, your role must hold the “Submit a mileage expense report” permission at the Execute level; for a per diem, the “Per diem — Submit (country/dates, auto amount)” permission. The All employees, Manager, HR Manager, Payroll Manager and Administrator roles hold them by default.
• The Add mileage button stays greyed out as long as your company has no active mileage category.
• Only the mileage rates valid on the trip date, and open to your department and office, are offered. Only the countries with a configured per diem rate are offered.

Declaring your vehicles #

A calculation based on a tax scale (fiscal horsepower, fuel) needs to know your vehicle. Declare it once:

1. In the Expense Notes tab of your profile, click My vehicles.
2. Click + Add a vehicle.
3. Fill in the Name (mandatory), Plate, Model, Fiscal horsepower and Fuel type (Thermal, Diesel, Electric, Hybrid).
4. Click Save. If you have several vehicles, mark the one you use most as the Default vehicle.

Declaring a trip #

1. Click Add mileage. The mileage category is chosen for you.
2. Give the trip a name and choose its Date.
3. Choose the Rate. A card summarises the selected rate: standard rate or tiered scale, vehicle group, annual cap and, where relevant, the country’s legal settings.
4. Under My vehicle, check the vehicle used: a single vehicle is pre-selected; with several, choose it from the list. The Manage link opens your vehicles.
5. Enter the route: the starting point under From, then the destination. Add another location adds a stop. Addresses are completed automatically and your Favorite places (home, work…) are offered.
6. The Distance (km) is calculated from the route. Enter the Occurrences (number of times you made this trip, 365 at most) and tick Round Trip if needed.
7. The Estimated Total is calculated for you. Add a project, comments (500 characters at most) and a receipt if needed.
8. Click Save Draft or Submit.

How the amount is calculated #

• The reimbursed distance is the route distance, doubled for a round trip and multiplied by the number of occurrences. If you correct the distance by hand, a “Distance changed” message reminds you that the route distance is the one reimbursed.
• A tiered rate “per expense” applies its tiers to each trip; a tiered rate “per year” takes into account the kilometres you have already declared that year with this rate (pending or approved expenses dated before this trip).
• If your company reimburses more than the country’s tax exemption threshold, the difference is a taxable benefit. The trip’s Tax breakdown then shows the tax-exempt part and the part subject to contributions, added to your payslip.

Approval of a trip #

A trip of 200 km or less is approved automatically when submitted; beyond that, it follows your company’s approval workflow. A trip whose exchange rate could not be determined always follows the workflow.

Declaring a per diem #

1. Click Declare per diem.
2. Fill in the Trip Name, Start Date, End Date and Destination Country. The Applicable rates box shows the country’s amounts: meal, half day, full day and night.
3. Choose the Trip Type: Half day, Full day or With overnight.
4. If your employer provided meals, enter how many under Meals provided by employer (number of meals to deduct). Turn on Accommodation provided if you did not pay for your night.
5. Add a Comment if needed, check the Estimated amount, then click Submit.

How the per diem is calculated #

• The number of days counts the first and last day; the number of nights is the number of days minus one.
• Half day: days × half-day rate. Full day: days × full-day rate. With overnight: days × full-day rate, plus nights × night rate, unless accommodation was provided.
• Each provided meal is deducted at the meal rate; the deduction cannot make the amount negative.
• The rate used is the one in force on the trip’s start date. Illizeo calculates the final amount when saving.

Good to know #

• A per diem is submitted as soon as it is declared: it has no draft. While it is “Pending”, you can delete it from the Per Diem tab; it can no longer be edited.
• A per diem follows the same approval workflow as expense reports.
• If no exchange rate exists for the date, a 1 to 1 rate is applied and flagged: check it after submitting.
• If the map and address autocompletion are unavailable, a banner tells you; contact your administrator.

FAQ #

The “Add mileage” button is greyed out #

Your company has no active mileage category. The administrator must reactivate it under Settings › Expenses › Categories.

No rate is offered for my trip #

Choose the date first: only the rates valid on that date, and open to your department and office, are shown. If the list stays empty, contact your administrator.

My destination country is not in the per diem list #

No active per diem rate is configured for that country. The administrator can add it under Settings › Expenses › Per Diem.