T&E expense report
- Reimbursement due
- $880
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- Lodging
- $298
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- Meals and incidentals, full days
- $68
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
- Meals and incidentals, first and last day
- $102
- Computed on this page from the inputs below
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.
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The figures above start from a worked example ($880). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the T&E expense report worked example (CSV)
This produces the T&E expense claim for a trip the way federal travel is reckoned: travel and entertainment expenses on one report, priced from the published rates. Lodging is nights at the rate on the hotel bill, because lodging is always a receipt line. Meals and incidentals are a daily rate: full days at the whole rate and the first and last day of the trip at three quarters, which is how the GSA tables pay it. Mileage is miles at a cents per mile rate, fares are what was paid, and any advance comes off at the end. Every rate is an input; the defaults are the published federal figures with their sources below.
Per diem is a rate, not a stack of meal receipts
A per diem for meals and incidentals replaces the receipts for those meals with a published daily amount. The GSA standard rate for the continental United States is $68 a day, made up of set amounts for breakfast, lunch, dinner and incidentals, and the first and last day of travel are paid at $51, three quarters of the full day. A business may use the federal rate, a higher city rate where GSA publishes one, or its own lower figure; the tool takes whatever the policy says.
Lodging is the one line that always needs the bill
26 CFR 1.274-5 requires documentary evidence for lodging while traveling away from home at any amount, which is why this report takes lodging as nights at the billed rate rather than as an allowance. The federal lodging per diem exists for government travellers; a private business reimbursing actual lodging needs the folio, and PerDiemDesk Pro attaches it to the line.
Mileage on a trip is the same rule as mileage anywhere
If the traveller drove their own car, the miles are paid at a cents per mile rate and no fuel receipt is needed. The IRS standard business rate is 76 cents per mile from July 1, 2026 and was 72.5 cents per mile for the first half of the year, so the date of the trip decides the default. Airport parking and tolls are fares, not mileage, and go in the fares line with their receipts where they cross $75.
T&E expense report: common questions
What is the standard per diem rate? The GSA standard CONUS rate for meals and incidental expenses is $68 a day, with $51 on the first and last day of travel. Many cities have a higher published rate. This tool defaults to the standard rate and takes any other figure as an input.
Do I pay per diem on the day of travel? Federal practice pays the first and last day of a trip at three quarters of the daily rate, which is $51 against $68. The tool follows that: full days at the rate, first and last days at three quarters. A private policy can do otherwise, and the fields allow it.
Can I use this for a multi-city trip? Yes, at one rate. Enter the total nights, days and fares and one meals rate. If the cities carry different published rates, run the report per city or enter a blended rate; Pro saves each as its own claim.
What happens to the advance? It comes off the trip total and the report shows the balance due to the traveller, or, if the advance was more than the trip cost, the amount to be returned to the business, which the safe harbor gives 120 days for.
Where the rates in this tool come from
GSA: M&IE breakdown, standard CONUS rate. The $68 daily rate the meals field defaults to, and the $51 first and last day figure the tool applies at three quarters.
IRS: Standard mileage rates. The business rate the mileage field defaults to: 76 cents per mile from July 1, 2026; 72.5 cents per mile for January to June 2026.
26 CFR 1.274-5(c)(2)(iii): documentary evidence. Why lodging is taken as billed nights rather than an allowance.