Creating a Per Diem Expense Category - GSA Table of Rates

"Per Diem" is a daily allowance an employee is given for expenses incurred during business travel. The amount is typically a fixed amount. Nexonia has Per Diem expense categories available for use. This article will cover how to set up a per diem category with rates automatically generated from the United States General Services Administration (GSA) table of rates.

To configure other per diem source options, please consult the following articles:

• Managing a Per Diem Expense Category - Fixed Rate

 Note: if you need to use both the domestic and international rate tables, you'll need to create separate expense categories for each.

Creating a Per Diem Expense Category

Logged in to Nexonia on the web:

1. Click on the Settings icon
2. Navigate to the Company > Expenses > Categories
3. Click the Add button to add the new category and enter the details for category.

 Note: for Intacct or NetSuite integrated accounts: create the new expense type(s) in your ERP, and run the Nexonia configuration sync to automatically create the new Nexonia expense category.

When configuring a Per Diem category, the main required setting is Type. Choosing either Per Diem: Meals or Per Diem: Lodging will expose the per diem settings for the category.

The Per Diem related settings are:

Name: name of the expense category visible to the users.

Number: optional identifier for the category, typically an internal ID or description.

Type: for Per Diem, choose either:

• Per Diem: Lodging allows you to set a rate (fixed, manual, or GSA table) for Lodging
• Per Diem: Meals allows you to set a rate (fixed, manual, or GSA table) for Meals

Memo Requirement: if you want to ensure the expense submitter includes comments on the per diem, make the memo "Required".

Per Diem Rate Mode: this is how you define what rate will be used for the expense:

Automated: amounts are pulled from public databases automatically for foreign and governmentally required amounts. United States rates are populated automatically from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA):

• Domestic (GSA): allows users to select state and county for accepted governmental per diem amounts
• Foreign (GSA): allows users to select country and city for accepted governmental per diem amounts

Travel Day Option: for Per Diem: Meal type, enables a percentage allocation based on a portion of the trip not being business related.

Meal Breakdown: for Per Diem: Meal type, enables percentage allocation based on meal types to represent meals related to business.

Receipt Default Value: if no receipt or documentation is expected for this type of expense, switch the default value to "No".

Once you've completed the configuration for the per diem category, scroll to the bottom of the menu and click the Apply button to save this category and its settings.

Here's how a Per Diem expense item would look to the expense submitter when added to an expense report - once they select the Per Diem category, they select the State and Destination for Domestic or the Country and Location for Foreign. The rate will automatically populate: