fallinasleep

When talking about "per diems" is it generally true that it is essentially a cash subsidy that does not need to be supported with receipts (as long as it is below the per diem)?

So, if you decide to stay at your brother's downtown apartment in New York, does one just pocket the $200 or so?

Similar scenario is going out for dinner with clients and the clients insist on taking care of the bill (or you just decide to eat a lot of fast food), is the meal allowance yours to keep?

Besides consulting and government travel, what industries widely use per diems versus straight expense reimbursement?

What are the tax consequences of receiving the per diems? I'm assuming your employer includes it on your w2. Do you have to itemize your expenses?

I may finally be understanding how everyone pays for their mileage runs

Pismocrab

Non-NonRev: All travel has to be booked through our agency so we can't use another vendor, air/hotel Web site, priceline, etc. unless we can document savings of $500+. G'luck. With airfare we can't book anything but coach, and hotels can't exceed the cap at booking. Theoretically I could upgrade either on my own dime as a seperate transaction, but that could get dicey - on top of being very expensive.

fallinasleep: Our expenses are reimbursed at the actual cost with the exception of meals which is a flat $35 day reimbursement. So, if I bought a box of cereal for $4 and drank tap water, I could pocket $31 per day. Yum! Never happen with me though, as one of the pleasures of biz travel IMO is enjoying the local cuisine. I have heard of companies however, who give employees a flat amount per day - say $200 - and let them keep the difference if they spend less. I just don't work for one of 'em.

sxf24

Fortune 100 Company

Lodging - Cheapest contracted rate (typically Hilton or Marriott families), no reservations for suites, executive or concierge floors.

Flights - Must be within $200 of lowest available airfare (typically contracted with preferred carriers). Upgradeable fares can be purchased for round trips 1,500 miles or more.

Meals - $35 per day

ElmhurstNick

Our consulting company (200 employees, 95% government agency clients) has relatively few rules. For client travel when we're getting paid cost+fee, we use their agency travel policies but get documentation so we can get government rate at hotels on site. For lump sum projects or internal stuff, consultants generally aim for a nice 3* hotel under $150 except in NYC (or a 4* via Priceline), a quick lunch, and dinner depends on what you're doing and who is with you.

fimo

My company doesn't have a per diem system, but we have rather generous policy caps for travel-related expenses.

Lodging: US$270
Meals: $25-BF, $50-LU, $100-Dinner
Airfare/Car rental: All booked through corporate travel

We also have a small gift allowance if during a trip we stay with a friend or relative.

Pickles

The majority of our consulting contracts have a +15-20% actual expense tack on top of our fees. Sometimes we negotiate all-in, but most of the time the expenses can go as high as 15-20% of billed fees. When you are talking a 4-month, million dollar project staffed with 6 of my guys, 4 of which are local, $200,000 goes a long, long way. We try to be "reasonable", but the word "reasonable" can be pretty elastic in my business.

Any expense below $10 or so, I don't even bother to submit. Too much work for that, when your airfare was $9,000 and each hotel night is $500.

UA_Eagle

I'm in the midst of relocating to join a major consulting company. Off my head, I think my hotel per diem is $100 a night plus about $50 per day for meals. Just a data point...

whirledtraveler

Small consulting company ~10 people, no limits. We practice "open book management", so we all see how we spend money each month and adjust accordingly.

Comicwoman

I work for a multi-national non-US based firm. For US travel, we get $50 per diem. That amount is reduced if you receive any company paid meals. For us, and for most others, the per diem covers your meals, cleaning/laundry, misc tips, and evening cocktails. Hotels and air must be booked by Travel. Hotels are in the Marriott RI class. Even the president of the North American operation stays at the RI (so I have been told).

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In Minnesota, a walk in freezer is also called a backyard.

HomelessScientist

Just to give you high-powered consultants a feeling for how we in the academic world travel...most of my travel is to a lab in Switzerland. We get rooms at a CHF30/night hostel on-site and a USD15 meal subsidy. You can eat three meals from the on-site cafeteria (and the food is actually pretty tasty) for about CHF30, so this isn't so far off. Airfare is the lowest available, spending considerable time looking at consolidators as well as published fares. We go for at least a few weeks at a time, since the airfare is a large expense. Local travel is by public transit and/or bike--used bikes purchased out-of-pocket, that is. This is basically the deal whether you're a new grad student or a full professor.

Our funds (from Department of Energy Office of Science and/or National Science Foundation grants) are not by any means unlimited, and every dollar that we spend on travel is a dollar that is not available for building a better experiment. I think that most of us are very mindful that the grant money doesn't belong to us but to all taxpayers, and you have a right to expect that we manage it prudently and get results.

Pickles

Well, from that angle (and only from that angle), you should have been a b-school professor instead. At HBS, the faculty is allowed to fly biz class across the ponds when going on research or for conferences.

BigLar

Yes

No - lodging is a separate category and must be supported by receipts. It also must be at or or below government maximums. No 5* hotels for ol' BigLar.

Yes

The per diem does not show up anywhere; certainly not on a W2.

redbeard911

Similar situation here. During a review I made a point of telling my supervisor that I travel very frugally. I don't mind the Hampton Inn or variant, and I don't drink alcohol. I don't mind public transportation in cities where there is a good system, even though taxis are always acceptable expenses. So, if I'm travelling, and I want a hot dog, and that hot dog happens to be in a major league ballpark that requires a ticket to get in, don't bounce my expense report for what comes in total to a $20 dinner, when TGI Fridays with a cocktail can be $30-40 easy. I have never had a problem. Same thing with the occasional upgrade to a convertible when somewhere sunny.

lensman

At my current company, we go with "use your best judgement" for most expenses. The company recommends using the corporate travel agency unless you think you can get better deals by doing your own searching online and being flexible. All travel is in coach/economy. I'm not sure what the hotel limits are, but we don't like paying more than $200 a night.

We must submit receipts over $25 and have a company-paid credit card.

Oh. The company has around 250 employees.

At my previous employer, an investment bank, we traveled business class internationally and stayed at what I thought were pretty nice hotels at around 300 USD. My boss complained that we were too cheap compared to her previous bank.

oldpenny16

Update for 2004. Our per diem is now $206, down for $240. That includes all meals, hotel (plus taxes), small personal expenses and local transportation including to and fro airports. The evidence for the reduction is a general lowering of hotel prices. The past policy of giving an advantaged cash draw has been suspended in favor of reimbursement.