The per diem ceiling calculation occurs in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen. It can be performed for all expense types identified as either "Meals" or "Lodging" in Maintain Expense Types. (You can identify expense types as either "Meals" or "Lodging" by entering "Y" in the Meals and IE (Incidental Expenses) Flag field or the Lodging Flag field in the Link To Travel Account Group subtask of the Maintain Expense Types screen.) Because per diem ceilings are established only for meals and lodging, only these types of expenses should be entered in the Expense Detail subtask. If an expense type is not identified as either "M&IE" or "Lodging," data entry in the Expense Detail subtask will not be permitted for that expense type.
Use the Link To Travel Account Group subtask of the Maintain Expense Types screen to assign a default ceiling method (the Ceiling Applied Code field in the subtask) to each expense type. This default can be overridden in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen as necessary. Examples of ceiling methods include the following:
"J" - This indicates that the Joint Travel Regulation (JTR) is typically applied to the expense report for daily maximum rates.
"M" - This method is only applicable for partial days. It is the same as the "J" method, except that meal schedules are used (instead of quarters of a day) for calculating partial-day ceilings. (Note that the "M" ceiling method cannot be selected as a default in the Link To Travel Account Group subtask of the Maintain Expense Types screen; it can be selected only for an individual expense line in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen.)
"A" - This indicates that the "Alternate Maximum" rate is typically applied to the expense report for daily maximum rates.
"C" - This indicates that a "Company Maximum" rate is typically applied to the expense report for daily maximum rates.
"N" - This indicates that no ceiling is to be applied.
Per diem ceilings, or per diem rates, can be imported from the per diem rates provided monthly by the United States Federal Government. If you are required to adhere to the JTR rates, they are predetermined by the Federal Government and posted monthly on the Internet. The Web URL is http://www.dtic.mil/perdiem/pdrates.html
Both the CONUS (Continental U.S.) and OCONUS (Outside Continental U.S.) rates can be uploaded through the Update Per Diem Rates screen. (For more detailed information regarding uploading files from the Internet, please see the documentation for the Update Per Diem Rates screen.) When using a rate schedule in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen, expenses for meals and lodging should be assigned a Ceiling Method code of "J" or "M."
Clients who use their own internal per diem rates must initialize these rates manually. Internal rates can be initialized in one of three ways:
Fixed Internal Rates - Clients who allow a fixed standard rate per day should establish these ceilings in the Maintain Expense Types screen. Each expense type supports a daily maximum, such as a $38 meal allowance or $110 lodging allowance. This ceiling does not depend on the trip location. Whenever this expense type is charged, the same ceiling rate is applied. In the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen, if this rate schedule will be applied, the expenses for meals and lodging should be assigned a Ceiling Method code of "C."
Internal Rates Used as a Substitute JTR - Clients who are not required to use the federal JTR, but must adhere to established daily rates by trip location, should add these rates in the Maintain Per Diem Rates screen. This type of ceiling is a substitute used in place of the JTR. An example of this includes the use of state per diem rates. In the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen, if this rate schedule is the schedule that will be applied, expenses for meals and lodging should be assigned a Ceiling Method code of "J." Even though the JTR is not being used, the calculation is the same under the substitute JTR.
Internal Rates Used as a Percentage of the JTR - Clients who establish a per diem ceiling that is a fixed percentage of the JTR rate should enter that percentage in the Maintain Per Diem Rates screen. This form of internal ceiling is used by clients who hold travelers to the JTR ceilings when on contract or government travel, but may have indirect travel ceilings that are a fixed percentage (such as 110%) of the JTR. Clients can identify this internal fixed percentage when they upload per diem rates from the Federal Government, or they can enter it manually. In the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen, if this rate schedule will be applied, the expenses for meals and lodging should be assigned a Ceiling Method code of "A" for "Alternate Maximum Rate." The expense report will still be using the per diem rate table that stores the JTR; however, different daily rates will be used in the evaluation.
The final option in the Expense Detail subtask is to assign a Ceiling Method code of "N" or "None." This disables the ceiling calculation for the transaction being entered.
The following per diem detail validation takes place for the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen:
Start and End Dates - You must enter the start and end dates for this component of the trip. The end date must always be greater than the start date. Once entered, the system calculates the number of days in preparation for the ceiling calculation. A range of dates can only be entered for full days. These dates are used to determine the per diem rate in effect for the trip.
Start and End Time - The system will default in "0:00" as the starting time and "23:59" as the ending time. This is the start and end time of an entire day. Values should only be overridden if partial per diem is being captured, and the traveler has recorded less than one full day of expenses. If you selected "M" as your Ceiling Method in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen, you do not need to enter start and end times.
Whether or not edits can be made to the start and end times is determined by the Partial Per Diem checkbox in the Travel Settings screen. The Partial Per Diem checkbox must be selected if you want to be able to edit these times and to calculate per diem based on quarters of a day or on meals. If the checkbox is selected, and you chose "J" as your Ceiling Method, a partial per diem will be calculated based on quarters of a day, using the starting and ending times you enter. If the checkbox is selected, and you chose "M" as your Ceiling Method, partial per diem will be calculated based on the meals schedule. Although you can enter starting and ending times in this instance, these times will not be used for the partial per diem calculation. If the Partial Per Diem checkbox in the Travel Settings screen is not selected, the system will disable edits to the start and end dates, and will perform a calculation based upon a full day of per diem.
If the traveler has been on a trip for more than one day, but requires a partial-day calculation, then his/her per diem will have to be captured on more than one line in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen. The per diem related to whole days can be recorded as a single line with the trip start and end dates reflecting the number of whole days. The day or days of partial travel should be recorded individually to allow the start and end times to calculate the number of quarters (for quarter-day calculations), or to apply the meal schedule limitations (for meal schedule calculations).
The system will calculate and store the number of quarters entered. The clock is divided as follows: 0:00 - 6:00 = quarter number 1; 6:01 - 12:00 = quarter number 2; 12:01 - 18:00 = quarter number 3; and 18:01 - 24:00 = quarter number 4. The time that you enter is then rounded upward to the nearest quarter. For example, if you enter "0:00 to 8:00" as the time period, it indicates that the traveler was on a trip from midnight to 8 a.m. The system allows two quarters of per diem. A start time of "6:01" and an end time of "21:00" would allow for three quarters of per diem. If the start time was changed to "6:00," a whole day of per diem would be allowed.
Ceiling Method - The valid ceiling method values are "A," "J," "C," "M," and "N." The value in the Ceiling Applied Code field from the Link To Travel Account Group subtask of the Maintain Expense Types screen is the default, but you can override this. If "A," "J," or "M" is entered, the system will retrieve the ceiling from the per diem table. If "C" is entered, the system will go to the Vendor Travel Info screen first for a ceiling override, and second to the Maintain Expense Types screen. If "N" is entered, the system will apply no per diem ceiling.
Country, State, Locality, City - If "C" is entered as the Ceiling Method, the system now has enough information to perform the calculation, and the country, state, locality, and city do not need to be entered. If "A," "J," or "M" is selected, you must also enter a country, state, locality, and city. If you type in a country and state, you can use Lookup to find the locality and city.
Expense Amounts - Finally, enter a total expense amount. Alternatively, if meals are being tracked and meal ceilings are used (Ceiling Method = "M"), you must enter breakfast, lunch, dinner, and incidental expenses amounts, instead of a total expense amount.
Once all of the aforementioned data has been entered, the system is ready to calculate over-ceiling amounts.
If a "C" ceiling method is selected, the system looks at the Vendor Travel Info table based on the Vendor ID entered on the Enter Expense Report screen. The system also looks at the Vendor Travel Accounts table to search for an override record. An override record will exist if the expense type code from the line on the main form exists and is active for the start and end dates entered. If a ceiling rate is located by the system, it will be retrieved and used in the calculation. If it is not located, the system looks at the Expense Type Account table based on the expense type code. If more than one record exists in the Expense Type Accounts table, the correct record is retrieved based on the start and end dates of the trip. The ceiling rate from this record is used in the calculation. Again, this is only if Ceiling Method "C" has been selected in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen.
If Ceiling Method "A," "J," or "M" is selected, the system looks at the Travel Per Diem table based on the country, state, locality, and city entered. The record with the latest effective date less than or equal to the entered start date is used. If more than one record is found in the Travel Per Diem table for this effective date, a comparison of the seasonal dates is made. Each per diem record may optionally contain seasonal dates for the rate in addition to the effective date of the record. Only locations where per diem rates fluctuate widely will contain seasonal records (e.g., a seaside resort city). In this instance, the rate assigned to the season in effect for the start and end date of the trip is used. Again, this is a date comparison performed between the start and end dates on the per diem record and the start and end dates of the trip line.
The Travel Per Diem table contains both a meal and a lodging rate. Expense types are established in the Maintain Expense Types screen. If "A" is selected as the Ceiling Method and the expense type is a meal expense, the ceiling calculation is as follows:
If per diem is being calculated on a per-day basis - The system multiplies the number of days in the trip date range by the daily maximum rate you established as the alternate rate to arrive at the allowable amount. This is compared to the total amount you entered for the expense.
If per diem is being calculated on a partial-day (quarters) basis - The system divides the alternate per diem ceiling by four and multiplies by the number of quarters to arrive at a pro-rated daily amount. This is compared to the total amount you entered.
If "J" is selected as the ceiling method and the expense type is a meal expense, the calculation is similar to the calculation for Ceiling Method "A." The ceiling calculation is as follows:
If per diem is being calculated on a per day basis - The system multiplies the number of days in the trip date range by the daily maximum JTR rate to arrive at the allowable amount. This is compared to the total amount you entered for the expense.
If per diem is being calculated on a partial day (quarters) basis - The system divides the per diem JTR ceiling by four and multiplies by the number of quarters to arrive at a pro-rated daily amount. This is compared to the total amount you entered.
If Ceiling Method "M" is selected and the expense type is a meal expense, the full day calculation is not applicable, and the partial day calculation is different. The ceiling calculation is as follows:
If per diem is being calculated on a partial-day basis, you must enter the individual meal expenses separately in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen. The system compares the individual meal costs you entered to the individual meal cost ceilings per the applicable meal schedule. This is further discussed in the section on "Meal Ceilings."
Meal ceilings are an alternate method of calculating partial per diem. The use of the M&IE schedule is extremely rare. A meal schedule is used only when calculating ceilings for a partial day of travel on a "meal-by-meal" basis, instead of on a "quarters of a day" basis. With this type of calculation, each meal must be evaluated on an individual basis against the meal schedule. If any meal is over the scheduled rate, the excess becomes unallowable, even if the traveler is under the total per diem ceiling for that day.
If the M&IE Schedule column in the Travel Per Diem Rates table (Maintain Per Diem Rates screen) is not blank and this is a "Meal" expense type, a separate ceiling calculation is needed. You can allocate a maximum per diem meal rate in the per diem table across all meals through the use of a meal schedule. Meal schedules are established in the M&IE Schedule table. Using a schedule allows you to take the per diem ceiling calculation and break it down on a meal-by-meal basis. Cross-application logic requires the sum of meal amounts in the M&IE Schedule table to equal the per diem rate for the locality that it is assigned to in the Per Diem Rates table. In order to apply meal ceilings properly, you must also specify a Ceiling Method of "M" in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen.
The system looks up the meal schedule in the M&IE table, using the M&IE Schedule code found in the Per Diem Rates table for the locality of the trip. The system retrieves maximum values for each of the meals and incidentals. You must enter meal expenditures by meal on the expense report in order for the system to calculate the ceiling. Note that individual meal ceilings are only calculated if the traveler was on travel for less than a full day.
The expense report's Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen contains optional columns for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and incidentals that must be used if this calculation is to take place. Once this information is entered, the meal schedule amounts are used to determine the maximum amount for each meal. For example, a traveler attended a conference for the first half of one day, and ate breakfast on the trip. Assume the breakfast amount for the meal schedule is $10; this is the total allowable breakfast amount. If the cost of the breakfast was $12, then $2 is the over-ceiling amount. The same calculation is done for lunch, dinner, and incidentals, where applicable. The allowable amount for each meal is compared to the values you enter in the columns, and then an over-ceiling amount is derived by meal. The over-ceiling amounts are then added together and displayed in the Amount Over Ceiling column for that line in the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen. Over-ceiling amounts are not stored by individual meal.
When you complete your entry into the Expense Detail subtask of the Enter Expense Reports screen and select "OK," you are returned to the main form. A line is automatically added to the expense report for the over-ceiling amount. This reduces the amount charged to the maximum daily rate, and records the amount in excess to the over-ceiling account specified in the Maintain Travel Account Groups screen.