Expense policy
- Expected reimbursement per month
- $1,530
- Expected reimbursement per year
- $18,360
- Claims to approve per month
- 18
- Receipt threshold in the policy
- $75
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs you enter, by the method stated below it. The only rates PerDiemDesk supplies are the published IRS and GSA ones, named and linked where they are used: the defaults for meals, hotels and supplies are a worked example to replace with your own.
The figures above start from a worked example ($1,530). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Expense policy worked example (CSV)
This drafts the numbers an expense policy has to state and shows what the policy implies for the business. The receipt threshold, the claim deadline and the return period default to the federal figures so the policy starts inside the accountable plan rules; the mileage rate and daily meal allowance default to the published IRS and GSA rates; the approval limit is yours. Enter how many people claim, how often and for how much, and the page shows the reimbursement the policy will be paying out per month and per year, and how many claims someone has to approve.
The three figures that keep reimbursements out of wages
An accountable plan needs a business connection, substantiation and the return of excess within a reasonable period. 26 CFR 1.62-2 gives a fixed-date safe harbor: an advance within 30 days of the expense, substantiation within 60 days, and return of any excess within 120 days. A policy that writes those deadlines down, and a workspace that dates every claim against them, is the difference between a reimbursement and a taxable payment. The defaults on this page are those figures; shorten them if you like, but lengthening them takes the policy outside the safe harbor.
Set the receipt threshold at the rule, or below it
26 CFR 1.274-5 requires documentary evidence for any single expense of $75 or more and for lodging at any amount. A policy may require receipts for everything, and many do because it is simpler to explain, but it cannot require less than the rule and still substantiate. The page defaults to $75 and lets you lower it; the number it prints is the one your team will read.
Rates are policy, and the policy should say them
The mileage rate and the meals allowance are the two numbers a claimant most wants to know and most often gets wrong. The IRS standard business mileage rate is 76 cents per mile from July 1, 2026, and the GSA standard meals and incidentals rate is $68 a day. A policy can pay those, or less. What it must not do is leave them unstated, because then every claim is a negotiation. The expected monthly and annual figures at the top are what the policy commits the business to at the volume you entered, which is worth knowing before it is signed.
Expense policy: common questions
Is this a free expense policy template?
Yes: set the figures, read the policy numbers back, and print the page with no account. PerDiemDesk Pro saves the policy against your business with your name on it, applies the same rates in the report tools your team uses, and tracks every claim against the deadline the policy sets.
What should an expense policy include?
Who can claim, what is claimable, the receipt threshold, the deadline for submitting a claim, the rates paid for mileage and meals, who approves what amount, and how and when reimbursement is paid. This tool drafts the numbers; the prose around them is short and yours.
Why does it ask how many people claim?
Because a policy is a spending commitment. Six people making three claims a month at $85 is $1,530 a month and $18,360 a year, and eighteen claims for someone to approve. Seeing that before the policy is issued is the point of the field.
Can I set a lower mileage rate than the IRS figure?
Yes. The IRS rate is a ceiling for substantiation without vehicle records, not a floor. Many businesses pay it because it is easy to justify; a business that pays less should say so in the policy, which is what this tool prints.
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Where the rates in this tool come from
26 CFR 1.62-2(g)(2)(i): the fixed date method. The 30, 60 and 120 day figures the deadline fields default to.
26 CFR 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii): documentary evidence. The $75 receipt threshold the policy defaults to, and the lodging rule.
IRS: Standard mileage rates. The 76 cents per mile business rate from July 1, 2026 that the mileage field defaults to.
GSA: M&IE breakdown, standard CONUS rate. The $68 daily meals and incidentals rate the allowance field defaults to.
Cite or embed this figure
Expense policy (Expected reimbursement per month): $1,530, PerDiemDesk, worked example.
Cite as: "Expense policy, PerDiemDesk", updated 2026-09-02, https://perdiemdesk.com/tools/expense-policy/.