Allowance Rule

Per diem allowances are created to account for partial days of travel. This applies only to meals per diem and max per diem (not to lodging per diem). Allowance deductions will apply only to the first day and last day to which per diem is charged an expense report. For example, if a rate for a particular city is 50 dollars a day and the traveler only spends half a day on the day he arrives and on the day that he leaves, then the traveler will get 25 dollars for the 1 ^st day, 25 dollars for the last day, and 50 dollars for all the other days in between.

To set up the per diem allowance deductions for partial days:

Expand Expense.
Expand Per Diem Setup.
Click Allowance Rule.
Click the Add button.
In the Effective Date field, enter a date from which this allowance will be effective.
If the allowance applies to one home operating unit, select the Operating Unit. Otherwise, leave this field as All
(V8.3 and higher) If the allowance applies to one home Department, select the Department. Otherwise, leave this field as All
(V8.3 and higher) If the allowance applies to one home Location, select the Location. Otherwise, leave this field as All
If the allowance will only apply to one country, enter the Country. Otherwise, leave this field as All
If the allowance will only apply to one state in the selected country, enter the State. Otherwise, leave this field as All
If the allowance will only apply within one city in the selected country/state combination, enter the City. Otherwise, leave this field as All
In the Out Of Office field:
- Select 1/4 Day if the allowance is applied when the employee is out of the office for 1/4 of the day
- Select Half Day if the allowance is applied when the employee is out of the office for half of the day
- Select 3/4 Day if the allowance is applied when the employee is out of the office for 3/4 of the day
- Select All Day if the allowance is applied when the employee is out of the office for all day
In Per Diem Type:
- Select Max Per Diem Rate if this allowance will apply to the max per diem rate
- Select Meal Per Diem Rate if this allowance will apply to the meals per diem rate
Make a selection from the Rate Type field drop-down
- Select Percentage of Per Diem if the allowance is calculated as a percentage of a daily per diem rate
- Select Absolute Value specified with a currency if an allowance is a specific amount. You must select a currency with this selection.
If the rule is based on a specific amount, then specify a currency in the Currency field.
In the Value/Percentage field, enter a specific amount of money or a percentage that will be allowed by the terms of this rule.
In the Pocket Money (%) field, enter the percentage of pocket money user should receive. This will be added to the per diem base rate.
Click Save

Example 1 - Allowance Rule

Transcontinental Consultants, Inc. (TCI) uses meals per diem. TCI pays first and last travel day per diem based on quarter days. For every quarter of the day in which the employee is Out of Office (ie., in travel status), he receives 25% of the meals per diem rate. For example, if the employee is out of the office during three quarters of the day, he will receive 75% of the meals per diem rate.

The table below illustrates the deductions for the first day and last day of a per diem charge, based on a per diem rate of $50.

Out of Office	Allowed	Deducted	Amount to User
Full Day	100%	0	$50.00
3/4 Day	75%	25%, or $12.50	$37.50
Half Day	50%	50%, or $25.00	$25.00
1/4 Day	25%	75%, or $37.50	$12.50

Example 2 - Allowance Rule with Pocket Money

Transcontinental Consultants, Inc. (TCI) uses meals per diem. TCI pays first and last travel day per diem based on quarter days. For every quarter of the day in which the employee is Out of Office (ie., in travel status), he receives 25% of the meals per diem rate. For example, if the employee is out of the office during three quarters of the day, he will receive 75% of the meals per diem rate. TCI also pays an additional 20% of pocket money for meals per diem.

The table below illustrates the deductions for the first day and last day of a per diem charge, based on a per diem rate of $50.

Out of Office	Allowed	Deducted	Pocket Money	Amount to User
Full Day	100%	0	20%, or $10.00	$60.00
3/4 Day	75%	25%, or $12.50	20%, or $7.50	$45.00
Half Day	50%	50%, or $25.00	20%, or $5.00	$30.00
1/4 Day	25%	75%, or $37.50	20%, or $2.50	$15.00

Setting Up the Example (As Illustrated in Example 1)

Allowances will depend on which of the four quarters of the day travel began and ended, therefore three allowances will be set up for the first day and three for the last day, one for each quarter. No allowance will be needed for travel in all four quarters, since there will be no deduction.

Since in our example, employees travel only in the U.S., and making no selection in the Country field applies the allowance to all countries, there will be no input in the Country, State or City fields, which will be absent from the tables.

In travel status during one quarter of the first day

Field	Selection	Reason/Effect
Effective Date	Any date before the travel	Effective date must be before travel to be applied.
Out of Office	1/4 Day	The employee is in travel status for 1/4 of the day or less.
Per Diem Type	Meal Per Diem	Company uses meals per diem.
Rate Flag	Percentage of Per Diem	Company a percentage of the per diem.
Value/ Percentage	25.00	User will receive 25% of the per diem if in travel status only during one quarter of the day.

In travel status during two quarters of the first day

Field	Selection	Reason/Effect
Effective Date	Any date before the travel	Effective date must be before travel to be applied.
Out of Office	Half Day	The employee is in travel status for Half of the day of the day or less, but more than 1/4 of the day
Per Diem Type	Meal Per Diem	Company uses meals per diem.
Rate Flag	Percentage of Per Diem	Company a percentage of the per diem.
Value/ Percentage	50.00	User will receive 50% of the per diem if in travel status only during two quarters of the day.

In travel status during three quarters of the day first day

Field	Selection	Reason/Effect
Effective Date	Any date before the travel	Effective date must be before travel to be applied.
Out of Office	3/4 Day	The employee is in travel status for more than half a day but less than 3/4 of a day
Per Diem Type	Meal Per Diem	Company uses meals per diem.
Rate Flag	Percentage of Per Diem	Company a percentage of the per diem.
Value/ Percentage	75.00	User will receive 75% of the per diem if in travel status only during one quarter of the day.

Effect on Expense Report

Employee Action	Per Diem Rate	Allowance's Effect	Employee Sees on Report
Enters a (meals) per diem expense with a beginning date of 01/01 and selects 3/4 Day Out of Office. He enters an ending date of 01/04 and selects Half Day Out of Office	Meals-50	01/01 is reduced by 25%, or $12.50 because travel began in the 2^nd quarter. 01/04 is reduced by 50%, or $25 because travel ended in the 2^nd quarter.	In the per diem expense detail, there will be a per diem total of $200 ($50 x 4), and a deduction field showing "-37.50." Clicking the amount of the deduction produces a screen explaining the two daily deductions of $12.50 and $25.
Enters a lodging per diem expense with a beginning date of 01/01 and ending date of 01/04.	Lodging-$100	No allowance applies to lodging per diem.	Employee sees lodging per diem of $300 ($100 x 3), since the dates for lodging per diem represent check-in and check-out.

Variation

Allowances can be a specific amount instead of a percentage of the per diem rate. To create such an allowance rule:

In the Rate Flag field choose "max per diem" or "meals per diem"
Select the employee's Currency.
In the Value/Percentage field, enter the amount of money