Note: The article discusses the 'old' Travel Expense policies. The following article discusses the new and improved travel policies.
Please follow the steps below to create a Travel Expense Policy:
1. Log into the platform as an Admin/Pro or as an Employee with the Travel Manager permissions.
2. Navigate to the upper left side, click on your company, and then on the Company Settings link. Scroll down to the Travel section, and click the Manage Travel Policy button.
Alternatively, you can navigate to the upper right corner of the Travel page, click on the three-dots icon, and then on 'Manage travel Policy' and
3. If travel expense policies have been not added yet, click on the 'Add An Expense Policy+' button.
4.A travel policy has several sections, including Policy Type, Policy Details, Budget (i.e., availability, type, and guidelines), and Receipts/Memo policy. Populate data in the various sections of the travel expense policy as detailed below.
a. Policy Type
There are predefined categories which tend to be the most popular. However, it is possible to create additional policies that fit the company's needs. To add an additional category (e.g., COVID test), select the Custom option.
b. Policy Details
Enter the name of the policy. Please note that the policy name will be used when classifying the various expenses related to the travel.
Select the owner that is going to be responsible for the budget associated with this policy.
- The Travel Manager is tasked with the pre-travel expenses (e.g., flights, hotels, car rentals, conference fees, etc. )
- The Traveler is responsible for paying for the expenses incurred during the business trip (e.g., meals, customer entertainment, local transportation, and per diem to name a few).
Note: If you plan to assign a Travel Manager during trip creation, you should assign at least one policy to that person. This will enable the Mesh platform to create a card/budget for the employee.
c. Budget
Enter the budget details, including Availability, Type, Amount, and Policy Guidelines (i.e., guidance and regulations).
The options under the drop-down lists of Availability and Budget Type are described below:
Availability
- Upon Travel Creation - The travel card is available as soon as the travel is created and approved on the platform.
- A week before travel - The travel card is available a week before the travel starts.
- For the duration of the travel - The travel card is available on the day the travel starts.
Budget Type
- Duration-based budget - An amount per each day of the trip. Total amount equals the number of days x the daily budget. The travelers receive the amount in a bulk and can use it as they see fit.
- Daily budget - An amount per each day of the trip. Total amount equals the number of days x the daily budget. The travelers receive a daily allowance which they can use throughout the day. Their budget for the following day is replenished with the same daily amount.
- Fixed budget - The travelers receive a bulk allowance that is not related to the amount of days spent during the trip.
Policy Guidelines
Under the policy guidelines, it is possible to provide a brief description and if needed, a hyperlink to a more detailed document.
A few examples of policy guidelines are depicted below:
d. Receipts And Memo
The final section of the travel expense policy pertains to receipts and memos. You can require receipts and memos for transactions made with the payment method specified in the policy and determine whether a receipt/memo is necessary for all transactions or only for those exceeding a certain amount.
5. When all the sections of the travel policy have been completed, click the Save button to save the details of the expense policy.
6. If expense policies have already been added, you will see a list in the Travel section of the Company Settings. You will also see the names of the travel managers, as well as a link to the employee page to assign additional travel managers.
For each existing policy, you can use the toggle button to enable or disable it as well as to edit its content.
In addition, at the top of the page, you can choose whether to display disabled policies by checking or unchecking the Show disabled policies checkbox.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.