Per Diem

Per Diem records record the per diem details related to lodging, meals, and incidental expenses. A Per Diem record is required if the Trip Details was for a Per Diem Expense Type. If the Per Diem Type is Lodging, a separate Per Diem line is generated for every day specified within the Start Date to End Date range, excluding the End Date. If the Per Diem Type is Meals and Incidental Expenses, a separate Per Diem line is generated for every day specified in the parent record’s Start Date to End Date range. One exception to meals is when the Allow Meals for Single Day Travel is false for the travel policy, per diem is not allowed for travel that only spans one day.

A breakfast expense on the first day of travel is not allowed if the Travel Start Time is after the Latest Breakfast Time, as defined on Travel Administration. A dinner expense on the last day of travel is not allowed if the Travel End Time is before the Earliest Dinner Time, as defined on Travel Administration.

The following field details have been provided for the fields that are not self-evident and for some that may be but there are important details to note.

Field InformationField Information

Field Name

Required?

Field Description

Travel Per Diem

Source ID

Per Diem Location

Required

Each per diem expense required a Travel Per Diem rule that can be defined by one of the following sources: General Services Administration (GSA), Department of State (DOS), Department of Defense (DOD), or Other. The last is for exception rates established locally. These rules are established on the M&IE Breakdown (TRMIEB) page and Travel Per Diem (TRPDM) pages.

Per Diem Amount

The total per diem amount for eligible expenses for a particular day.

For Lodging: the Per Diem Amount is set to the Lodging Rate. If actual lodging expenses are less than the Per Diem Amount, the traveler is not allowed to keep that difference. Instead, the traveler is reimbursed up to the actual expenses.

For Meals and Incidentals:

If all the non-lodging (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Incidentals) are yes and the Travel Per Diem field is populated, the Per Diem Amount will be set to the M&IE Rate from the specified Travel Per Diem table record. If the Per Diem record's Date is equal to either the Travel Start Date or the Travel End Date, the applicable rate will be multiplied by the First Day/Last Day Percentage from the effective Travel Administration record, regardless of what time the traveler departs or returns. If only a subset of the non-lodging indications is yes, the system determines how much of the M&IE Rate is allowed. This is determined in one of the following ways:

For GSA and DOS per diem rates, the Per Diem Amount is calculated by adding up the breakdown rates on M&IE Breakdown for the indications set to yes.
For DOD per diem rates, the M&IE Rate on Travel Per Diem is used to determine the Proportional Meal Rate. Regardless of how many indications are yes, the Per Diem Amount field is that Proportional Meal Rate. If the Per Diem record's Date is equal to either the Travel Start Date or the Travel End Date, the applicable breakdown rate is multiplied by the First Day/Last Day Percentage from the effective Travel Administration record.