General Information on Daily Allowances
Domestic Daily Allowance
Adding Meal Compensation
Adding Night Travel Compensation
Foreign Daily Allowance
Example - Travel to One Country
Example - Travel to Multiple Countries
General Information About Daily Allowances
In the daily allowance section, we will discuss the formation of domestic daily allowances on travel expense reports when the salary type selected is full daily allowance, meal compensation, overnight travel allowance, and when it concerns foreign daily allowances.
The instructions below follow the guidelines provided by the tax administration regarding daily allowances. If you have another cost compensation practice in place, the guidance below may not correspond to the values given in it.
The travel expense software of Heeros is preset to use the tax authority's confirmed basis for tax-exempt travel compensations. The guidance provided by the tax authority is automatically updated whenever the guidance changes, and no actions are required from users for the update.
Domestic daily allowance
- Click the Daily Allowance button
- Complete/edit the information related to the daily allowance using the form that opens
- Save the information regarding the daily allowance with the Save Row button.
Complete the information on the left side of the daily allowance form:
- Days
- Clock
- Salary code (if necessary)
- Accounting objects
- Billable expenses (Cost can be billed)
- Comments
Country
Select from the dropdown menu the country to which the daily allowances apply. The default is Finland. You can access the instructions for adding foreign daily allowances here.
Number of Free Meals – Fill in Meals
By clicking the checkbox in the field, the number of free meals affecting the daily allowance amount will be automatically filled for all travel days. When the checkbox is unchecked, the automatically filled number of meals for each travel day is 0. This information can be edited on a daily basis after the creation of the rows.
When the daily allowance items are created on the travel invoice, each travel day appears as its own line. You can add/edit the number of free meals received for those lines. The program will automatically recalculate the total if the meals reduce the amount of the daily allowance.
The impact of free meals on the daily allowance amount
The full daily allowance decreases if you have received two or more free meals during the full daily allowance period.
The partial daily allowance decreases if you have received one or more free meals during the partial daily allowance period.
Attachments
You can add attachments related to daily allowances (one or more) using the Browse button in the respective field.
Summary
The right side of the form updates with the details of the daily allowance as values are added to the fields.
Travel time in days
The field information indicates the total full days spent on the journey.
Extra Hours
The field information indicates the hours spent on the trip that are not included in the previous field Travel Time in Days.
It also shows how many of each type of daily allowance accumulates from this trip:
- Daily allowances
- Reduced daily allowances
- Partial allowances
- Reduced partial allowances
- Total
Adding Meal Compensation
- Add meal compensation to the open travel expense report by clicking the Daily Allowance button
- Complete the information in the window that opens
Days
Select the start and end dates of the trip by clicking on the calendar fields or type them manually into the respective fields.
Clock
Select the starting and ending time of the trip by clicking the clock icon in the fields or enter the times in the respective fields.
Salary Code
Select meal compensation from the dropdown menu for the salary code. The salary type can be freely named, so please verify the correct name of the salary code if necessary. Salary codes must be set up in the settings (Registers – Salary Codes).
Account
The account is set by default from the payroll category settings. If necessary, select the account to be used (dropdown menu). Accounts must be defined in the settings (Registers – Chart of Accounts). The list only shows the accounts that are permitted with the specified payroll category.
Cost Unit/Project or other Accounting Object
Select the cost unit/accounting object to be used (dropdown menu). Cost units/accounting objects must be defined in the settings (Registers – Cost Units/Accounting Objects).
Costs to be billed – Yes
The selection of Yes for this field is an additional information field indicating that the costs should be billed additionally. This information is only visible on the travel invoice.
Additional Information
You can write an additional explanation related to the meal allowance in the Additional Information field.
Amount of Meal Compensation
Enter the number of meals in the specified field.
Attachments
You can add attachments related to the meal compensation (one or more) using the Browse button in the corresponding field.
Summary
On the right side of the window, a summary of meal compensation is completed; unit price and total amounts.
- Save the meal compensation details by clicking the Save row button.
Adding Night Travel Allowance
- Add a night travel allowance to the open travel invoice by clicking the Daily Allowance button
- Complete the information in the window that opens
Days/Time
Select the usual start and end dates of the trip along with the times.
Salary code
Select "Night travel allowance" from the field's drop-down menu as the salary code. The payroll type can be freely named, so check the correct name of the salary code if necessary. Salary code must be established in the settings (Registers – Salary code).
Account
The account is set by default from the payroll item settings. If necessary, select the account to be used (dropdown menu). Accounts must be defined in the settings (Registers – Chart of Accounts). The list will display only those accounts that are permitted for the specific payroll item.
Cost unit/Project or other accounting object
Select the cost unit/accounting object to be used (drop-down menu). Cost units/accounting objects must be defined in the settings (Registers – Cost Units/Accounting Objects).
Costs billable – Yes
The selection of Yes in this field is an additional information field indicating that the costs should be billed further. This information is only visible on the travel invoice.
Additional Information
You can write an additional explanation related to travel allowances in the Additional Information field.
Amount of Night Travel Allowance
Enter the number of night travel allowances in the corresponding field.
Attachments
You can add attachments related to the night travel allowances (one or more) using the Browse button in the respective field.
Summary
On the right side of the window, the summary of the Night Travel Allowance fills out; unit price and total amounts.
- Save the night travel allowance details using the Save row button
Foreign Daily Allowance
The guidance below follows the daily allowance instructions provided by the tax administration. If you have another expense reimbursement practice in use, the guidance below may not apply. Note! All times must be recorded on the travel invoice in Finnish time (not in the local time of the country).
Short Foreign Trips
If the time is less than 10 hours, select Country as Finland and fill in the other details as per domestic daily allowance.
Longer Foreign Trips
Foreign trips lasting more than 10 hours. Exception if the trip continues in Finland at the end of the foreign trip.
Example – Trip to a Country
- The person departs from home in Finland on a business trip on October 1, 2024, at 6:45 AM
- Arrives in the Netherlands on the same day at 11:10 AM (Finnish time)
- There is a client meeting in the Netherlands on the same day from 12:30 PM to 8:00 PM, as well as the following day, October 2.
- The next day, October 3, the person departs for home at 10:00 AM
- Arrives in Finland at the airport at 1:05 PM and is home (the trip ends) on October 3 at 1:00 PM:
Create a daily allowance line with the Daily Allowance button or a travel expense report using quick creation. Select the start and end dates of the trip in the Days field, as well as the times in the Time fields.
Select the country where the most days are spent in the Country field.
Once the row is saved (Save row), the trip information can be edited.
NOTE! On the last travel day, if the return to Finland occurs more than 2 hours after the travel day ends, the country visited will be recorded as the foreign country. In the example, the travel day ends at 6:45 AM and the return to Finland occurs at 1:05 PM (exceeding 2 hours, and the country recorded is the Netherlands). Remember to add any free meals if necessary.
Example – Trip to Multiple Countries
- Person leaves home in Finland for a business trip on October 1, 2024, at 12:05 PM
- Arrives in Germany on the same day, October 1, at 7:45 PM (Finnish time)
- Stays overnight in Germany and continues the trip to Belgium on October 2, arriving the same day at 7:00 PM
- Departs from Belgium for the return trip on October 3 at 8:00 AM and arrives in Finland the same day at 1:15 PM
- Continues the journey within Finland and arrives home the same day, October 3, at 7:00 PM (trip ends).
Create a daily allowance line using the Daily Allowance button or quick entry for the travel expense quick entry.
Select the start and end dates of the trip in the Days field and the times in the Time fields.
The Country field should indicate the country where most days are spent.
The correct Country information must be updated for the created rows. Select the country based on the end date and time of the travel day.
NOTE! On the last travel day, if the return to Finland occurs more than 2 hours after the travel day, the country where the visit took place will be left as the country. In the example, the travel day changes at 12:05 and the return to Finland occurs at 13:15 (the 2 hours is not surpassed, so the country changes to Finland). Remember to add free meals if necessary.