Using Per Diems in Expenses

This chapter provides an overview of per diem processing in Expenses and discusses how to:

Set up Expenses for per diem processing.
User per diem processing in Expenses.

Understanding Per Diem Processing in Expenses

Per Diem means the daily amount authorized to be spent in one day for an employee.

Expense amount defaulting and controls are defined by location in conjunction with expense type. The Expense Location and Expense Types pages must be set up appropriately to have the amount defaulting and controls.

Setting up Expenses for Per Diem Processing

This section discusses how to set up Expenses for Per Diem Processing.

Pages Used to Set Up Expenses for Per Diem Processing

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Installation Options - Expenses	INSTALLATION_EX	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Install, Installation Options, Expenses	To use overage accounting for amounts exceeding per diem amounts, select Allow Overage Accounting
Expense Types 1	EX_EXPENSE_TYPES1	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Product Related, Expenses, Purchase, Expense Type Travel and Expenses, T and E Administration Center, Define Expense System, Accounting Data, Expense Type	Define usage and requirements for an expense type.
Expense Types 2	EX_EXPENSE_TYPES2	Click the Expense Types 2 tab on the Expense Types 1 page.	Define accounting distribution defaults for the expense type's billing codes. Also define the accounts that are used for overage amounts. For example, if an employee charges an amount that is greater than the per diem amount, the overage/unallowable amount can be booked to a different account.
Expense Types 3	EX_EXPENSE_TYPES3	Click the Expense Types 3 tab on the Expense Types 1 or Expense Types 2 page.	Define parameters for per diems, preferred merchants, or both.
Expense Location Amount	EX_LOC_AMOUNT	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Product Related, Expenses, Location, Expense Location Amount Travel and Expense, T and E Administration Center, Define Expense System, Locations and Rates, Expense Location Amount	Establish spending limits for business travel in a particular location.
Per Diem Range	EX_PER_DIEM_RANGE	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Product Related, Expenses, Location, Per Diem Range Travel and Expenses, T and E Administration Center, Define Expense System, Locations and Rates, Per Diem Range Click the Per Diem Range Setup link on the Per Diem Amount page.	Allows organizations to set up hourly or daily ranges to define per diem reimbursement percentages.
Per Diem Amount	EX_PER_DIEM_AMT	Set Up Financials/Supply Chain, Product Related, Expenses, Location, Per Diem Amount Travel and Expenses, T and E Administration Center, Define Expense System, Locations and Rates, Per Diem Amount Click the Per Diem Range Setup link on the Per Diem Range page.	Sets the amount that an employee is reimbursed within a per diem range.

Setting Up Expenses for Per Diem Processing

To set up Expenses to handle per diem processing:

If you allow employees to override the per diem amount to enter an amount greater than the allowed amount, select the Allow Overage Accounting option on the Installation Options - Expenses page to enable Expenses to record amounts exceeding a specified per diem to a different accounting line. When you set up an expense type, you can select a billing code parameter called Overage for that expense type.

Selecting this option activates the Overage column on the Expense Types 2 page, which allows you to charge a different account for the amount spent over the per diem.
Select Location in the Required Fields group box on the Expense Types 1 page to require employees to enter where charges occurred for the expense type.

See Defining Expense Type Usage and Requirements.
Select Per Diem or Per Diem Lodging in the Expense Type Edit group box on the Expense Types 1 page.

Select Per Diem to prompt for input of times that include the start and end of the business day. This activates a per diem information button in an expense report, enabling the employee to select meals that another party, such as a vendor or lodging establishment, provides. Expenses can then deduct the appropriate amount from the per diem for that day.

Select Per Diem Lodging to indicate lodging where an employee stays with a family or a friend while on a business trip.

See Defining Expense Type Usage and Requirements.
Select Overage on the Expense Types 2 page if you want amounts exceeding a per diem amount to be booked to a different set of ChartFields.

See Defining Accounting Distribution Defaults.
Set up per diem deductions on the Expense Types 3 page.

See Defining Per Diem and Merchant Parameters.
Set up amounts for locations subject to per diem processing on the Expense Location Amount page using the per diem expense type as a key.

See Setting Up Expense Locations and Amounts.
Set up hourly or daily ranges to define per diem reimbursement percentages on the Per Diem Range page.

See Setting Up Per Diems.
Set up on the Per Diem Amount page amounts that employees are reimbursed within a per diem range.

See Setting Up Per Diems.

Using Per Diem Processing in Expenses

When you create an expense report, you use the per diem expense type that you defined in Step 3 and use a location that you defined in Step 6. This brings the Per Diem defaults into the expense report when you select Retrieve Per Diem Amount.

Note. An employee will still be able to enter an amount over the per diem amount defined if the option to override per diem is enabled for the business unit; however, the employee needs to provide an explanation for the overage. The per diem amounts are available as defaults only and the limit is not strictly enforced.