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Fixed Costs (One-time)

Daily Costs (Per Night/Day)

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About

Corporate travel managers and employees use this tool to estimate the total cost of business trips before booking. Unlike standard travel calculators, this tool integrates a policy compliance layer. Users can define daily spending limits for hotels and meals, and the system instantly flags budget overruns. This proactive approach reduces rejected expense reports and ensures alignment with company travel policies.

The calculator supports complex multi-leg trips involving different currencies. Whether you are paying for a train in Euros, a hotel in Yen, or a client dinner in Dollars, the tool standardizes all costs into a single base currency for accurate reporting. It serves as a vital pre-approval document for finance departments, breaking down costs into fixed expenses (flights, rail) and variable daily expenses (lodging, per diems).

business travel expense report budgeting per diem corporate finance

Formulas

The Total Trip Cost Ctotal is the sum of fixed costs F and daily variable costs multiplied by the duration D (days).

Ctotal = ni=1Fi + (D × mj=1Vj)

Where Fi represents flight, rail, or visa fees, and Vj represents accommodation and per diems. Policy compliance is checked by comparing each Vj against a limit Lj.

Status =
{
FAIL if Vj > LjPASS otherwise

Reference Data

RegionAvg Hotel $Avg Meal/Day $Transport $Risk Level
New York, USA35010040High Cost
London, UK3209035High Cost
Tokyo, Japan2008025Medium
Singapore2508520Medium
Berlin, Germany1807020Medium
Bangalore, India1204015Low Cost
Sao Paulo, Brazil1405020Low Cost
Dubai, UAE28011030High Cost

Frequently Asked Questions

This tool uses a simplified base currency approach. Enter your local currency values for simplicity, or manually convert foreign expenses before entry. For estimation purposes, adding a 5% buffer to foreign transactions is recommended to account for bank fees and rate fluctuations.
Fixed expenses occur once per trip regardless of duration (e.g., Round-trip Flight, Conference Ticket, Visa Fee). Daily expenses multiply by the number of days (e.g., Hotel Nightly Rate, Per Diem, Local Commute). Separating these ensures that changing the trip duration updates the budget accurately.
A Per Diem is a fixed daily allowance given to employees to cover meals and incidentals. Using a Per Diem simplifies expense reporting as receipts for small items (coffee, snacks) are often not required, provided the total stays within the allowance.