Once you have used the Per Diem Schedules screen to create a per diem schedule that uses government per diem amounts, you can use Time & Expense with ESS import processing to import per diem information directly into the schedule whenever the government publishes new per diem information. However, it is recommended that you instead use the Per Diem Preprocessor utility to keep your schedules up to date. Using the utility has several advantages over importing data directly into your schedules:
You are not required to locate the import files in a particular system location. You can import them from any location accessible to the computer on which you are running the utility.
The utility checks for error conditions (missing M&IE information, for example) and highlights the affected location lines so you can identify and correct the problem.
The utility checks for locations in the actual per diem schedule that do not exist in the government file being imported and highlights those locations. You can then decide if you want them to remain active or, if they are no longer valid, to be marked as terminated and removed from the lookup lists of valid per diem locations.
You can delete location lines imported from the government files that you don't want in your per diem schedule.
To open the Per Diem Preprocessor screen, click Utilities » Per Diem Preprocessor on the Time & Expense with ESS main menu.
To use the Per Diem Preprocessor to update a per diem schedule, do the following:
Download import file from the government Web site and unzip or extract its contents.
On the Time & Expense with ESS main menu, click Utilities » Per Diem Preprocessor.
In Per Diem Schedule, select the per diem schedule you want to update.
Click 
Save.
Click 
Import to open the Import dialog box. (For more information on using this dialog box, see Import Dialog Box.)
If File in the CONUS group box is available, enter the path and file name of the import file containing the CONUS per diem location data. In Type, indicate if you want civilian locations only, military locations only, or both.
If File in the OCONUS group box is available, enter the path and file name of the import file containing the OCONUS per diem location data. In Type, indicate if you want civilian locations only or both civilian and military.
Click OK to import the contents of the files and display them in the Per Diem Preprocessor screen.
Review the per diem information in the table, and resolve any error or warning conditions. If you prefer to review the information using a report, click 
Print to generate the Per Diem Preprocessor Report in .PDF format. You can then review it at your computer or print it.
If you want to override the per diem amounts for any of the locations or add amounts for locations not included in the imported data, click Add Location, and add a new line containing those amounts.
If you want to change the location descriptions for one of the imported lines, check the box for that line to select it and then click Edit Location.
If you want to delete any of the lines so they will not be posted to the per diem schedule, check the boxes next to those lines, and click Delete Location.
When you are ready to update the per diem schedule with the preprocessed data, click 
Post. When the confirmation message appears, click the Post button.
Use these screen functions to select per diem schedules for preprocessing, import new per diem information for those schedules, review the new information, and post the changes to the actual per diem schedules:
Click 
New to clear the screen and all selections made using the 
Search function, and set the screen up to import and post location per diem information for another per diem schedule.
When you open the Per Diem Preprocessor utility, it is "new" mode by default.
After you use Per Diem Schedule to select the per diem schedule for which you are running the Per Diem Preprocessor utility, click Save to create the temporary files used for preprocessing.
This is the only time you use the Save function. As you add or edit data in the Per Diem Preprocessor screen, your work is automatically saved.
Click Delete if you want to remove the temporary preprocessing information for the currently displayed per diem schedule.
This function only affects the preprocessing information. It does not remove the actual per diem schedule itself.
Click Search to select one or more of the per diem schedules for which preprocessing information exists.
Post function to post updated per diem information to the actual per diem schedule, the preprocessing information for that schedule is deleted and thereafter cannot be selected using the Search function.Click Import to import per diem information for the selected per diem schedule from the files you downloaded from the government Web site.
Click Print if you want to print the Per Diem Preprocessor Report. This report shows all of the information currently displayed in the Per Diem Preprocessor screen.
When you click Print, the report is generated in .PDF format. You can then review it online or print it.
Click Post to update the actual per diem schedule using the information in the Per Diem Preprocessor screen.
When you post, the utility does the following:
Updates the currently selected per diem schedule with the new per diem information
Removes the preprocessing data for the currently selected per diem schedule
To begin preprocessing, select, in Per Diem Schedule, the per diem schedule for which you are preprocessing imported data, and click Save.
The only schedules available for selection are active schedules set up with CONUS, OCONUS, or CONUS/OCONUS in Source in the Per Diem Schedules screen.
When you click Import and use the Import dialog box to import government per diem information, that information is displayed in the table in the Per Diem Preprocessor screen.
Use these table functions to add, remove, or make changes to individual location lines in the per diem information table:
In Filter, indicate if you want the table to show all location per diem records, just those with an error condition, or just those with a warning condition.
Click Add Location if you want to add a location line to the table.
When you click Add Location, the Add Per Diem Location dialog box opens so you can specify the per diem information for the line.
If you want to change information for one of the table lines, first check the box for that line and then click Edit Location to open the Edit Per Diem Location dialog box.
If the source of the line is CONUS or OCONUS, you can only change the location descriptions, the location type, and the termination date.
If the source is User, you can change most of the line information.
If you want to remove one or more of the table lines, first check the box for each of those lines and then click Delete Location.
In the Per Diem Schedules screen, you cannot delete lines imported from government files. In this utility, however, you can delete such lines if you do not want them posted to the per diem schedule.
When you import government per diem information, the utility checks for any locations in the current per diem schedule that do not exist in the newly imported information. If it finds any such locations, it adds a line for them to the table, highlights that line using blue text, and displays a warning in the Error/Warning column.
Respond to a warning condition in one of these ways:
If you want to keep any of those lines as active lines in the schedule, check the boxes for those rows and then click Accept Location Warning. The warning color and text is then removed, and the per diem information for those locations will remain in effect.
If you determine that some or all of the highlighted locations are no longer valid and should not be available to employees to select for expense reports, check the boxes next to them and click Terminate Location. In the Termination Date dialog box, specify the date beyond which the location per diem information is no longer effective.
When you import government per diem information, the utility checks for any locations in the current per diem schedule that do not exist in the newly imported information. If it finds any such locations, it adds a line for them to the table, highlights that line with blue text, and displays a warning in the Error/Warning column.
Respond to a warning condition in one of these ways:
If you determine that some or all of the highlighted locations are no longer valid and should not be available to employees to select for expense reports, check the boxes next to them and click Terminate Location. In the Termination Date dialog box, specify the date beyond which the location per diem information is no longer effective.
If you want to keep any of those lines as active lines in the schedule, check the boxes for those lines and then click Accept Location Warning. The warning color and text is then removed, and the per diem information for those locations will remain in effect.
You can also select and use the Terminate Location function for lines that are not flagged with a warning if you want to assign the same termination date to those lines. (You can also set termination dates for individual lines using the Edit Location function.)
Click Add Location if you want to add a location to the per diem schedule (if you negotiated a special corporate rate with a hotel in a location, for example, and thus do not want to use the government lodging rate). Use the following controls in the Add Per Diem Location dialog box to specify the per diem information for the location:
In Country, enter a code and name for the country for which you want to add location per diem information. (The name you enter in Description is what appears in lookup lists when employees enter expense reports or expense authorizations.)
This field is available only if Country is selected for the per diem schedule in the Input Requirements group box on the Basic Information tab of the Per Diem Schedules screen.
In State/Province, enter a code and name for the state or province that you want to add location per diem information for. (The name you enter in Description is what appears in lookup lists when employees enter expense reports or expense authorizations.)
This field is available only if State/Province is selected for the per diem schedule in the Input Requirements group box on the Basic Information tab of the Per Diem Schedules screen.
In City, enter a code and name for the city that you want to add location per diem information for. (The name you enter in Description is what appears in lookup lists when employees enter expense reports or expense authorizations.)
This field is available only if City is selected for the per diem schedule in the Input Requirements group box on the Basic Information tab of the Per Diem Schedules screen.
In County, enter a code and name for the county that you want to add location per diem information for. (The name you enter in Description is what appears in lookup lists when employees enter expense reports or expense authorizations.)
This field is available only if County is selected for the per diem schedule in the Input Requirements group box on the Basic Information tab of the Per Diem Schedules screen.
In Source, use the drop-down box to select the source of the per diem information for the line. The valid values are CONUS, OCONUS, or User.
Normally, Source contains User for added lines, but you have the option to indicate that an added line contains CONUS or OCUNUS per diem information.
In Location Type, use the drop-down box to select the type of location for which you are entering per diem information. The valid values are Civilian, Military, Both, and User.
In Effective Date, click 
to select the date the per diem information for the location becomes effective.
In Season Start, use the drop-down boxes to select the month and day that the season starts.
Certain locations reimburse at a different rate at different times during the year. If the employee travels within the period defined by the season start and season end dates, he will be reimbursed at the different, typically higher, rate.
If a location has different per diem rates for different times of the year, you must add a line for each set of seasonal rates. The seasons for a location in a per diem schedule must cover the entire calendar year without overlapping. If the location for which you are adding per diem information does not have different rates based on season, set Season Start to 01/01 and Season End to 12/31.
In Season End, use the drop-down boxes to select the month and day that the season ends.
Certain locations reimburse at a different rate at different times during the year. If the employee travels within the period defined by the season start and season end dates, he will be reimbursed at the different, typically higher, rate.
If a location has different per diem rates for different times of the year, you must add a line for each set of seasonal rates. The seasons for a location in a per diem schedule must cover the entire calendar year without overlapping. If the location for which you are adding per diem information does not have different rates based on season, set Season Start to 01/01 and Season End to 12/31.
In Lodging, enter the lodging per diem amount for the location. Enter this amount in the system's base currency.
In Total M&IE, use the drop-down box to select the total meals and incidental expense (M&IE) amount and source.
Normally you will leave Termination Date blank when you are adding a line. However, if you know the date after which the per diem information for the location will no longer be in effect, use the Calendar Lookup for Termination Date to select that date.
After the termination date, employees filling out expense reports or expense authorizations can no longer select the location when entering per diem information.
Click OK to add the location per diem information to the table.
Click Cancel to return to the Per Diem Preprocessor screen without adding a line.
If you want to make changes to a line in the per diem table, select the check box next to that line in the table and then click Edit Location.
For lines with CONUS or OCONUS as the source, you can only edit the location descriptions and the termination date. If User is the source, you can also change Location Type and the amounts in the Lodging and Total M&IE fields.
For details concerning individual fields in this dialog box, see the descriptions under Add Per Diem Location Dialog Box.
Once you have specified a per diem schedule and saved the preprocessing files, click Import Locations to open the Import dialog box and import the appropriate per diem information from the files you downloaded from the government Web site.
In File, type in the path to the import file containing the per diem information, or click the Browse button, navigate to the file, and select it. The import files can reside in any accessible location on your network or on your workstation drive.
If the source for the selected per diem schedule is CONUS, specify a file in the CONUS group box.
If the source is OCONUS, specify a file in the OCONUS group box.
If the source is CONUS/OCONUS, specify a file in both the CONUS and OCONUS group boxes.
In Type, indicate if you want per diem information for civilian locations only, for military locations only (available only for CONUS), or both civilian and military.
If the source for the selected per diem schedule is CONUS, specify a type in the CONUS group box.
If the source is OCONUS, specify a type in the OCONUS group box.
If the source is CONUS/OCONUS, specify a type in both the CONUS and OCONUS group boxes.
Click Import to import the information from the import files into the table in the Per Diem Preprocessor screen.
When you click Import, the utility first checks for the standard file name and displays a warning if the file name does not begin with the expected characters. However, if the file is the correct one, click Import again and the import process will continue:
If you specified a CONUS import file, the utility checks for "CONUSNM" if Type contains Civilian, "CONUSMIL" if Type contains Military, and "CONNOW" if Type contains Both.
If you specified an OCONUS import file, the utility checks for "OCONUSNM" if Type contains Civilian and "OCONUS" if Type contains Both.
As it imports the contents of the import file, the utility verifies that the required meal breakdowns exist in your database, and that the seasons specified in the import file are correct. If a location fails these validation checks, the text in that line is red, and the Error/Warning column in the table displays error text. You need to resolve all errors before you can post the contents of the table to the per diem schedule.
Once the import is complete, the utility also compares the locations in the table with those in the actual per diem schedule in Time & Expense with ESS. Any locations in the schedule that do not appear in the imported data are added to the table with blue text and a warning in the Error/Warning column. You need to resolve all warnings before you can post the contents of the table to the per diem schedule. To resolve them, do one of the following for each of these rows:
If you no longer want the locations to be used on expense reports and authorizations, select the lines, click Terminate Location, and enter a termination date
If you do want the locations to remain in the schedule and be valid selections for expense reports and authorizations, select the lines, and click Accept Location Warning.
Click Cancel to close the Import dialog box without importing any per diem information.
For more information on setting up per diem schedules and importing government per diem rates, see the following:
Deltek Expense Getting Started Guide
Deltek Time & Expense with ESS Technical Guide
