Travel expense reporting

You've either just come back from your first business trip or you're about to head out on one. And now comes the part that almost everyone finds a little confusing at first: claiming it all back. Maybe you're wondering right now: Do I have to pay for everything myself? Which receipts do I need? And how do I even file the claim? Don't worry. It looks more complicated than it is. And here's the most important thing right up front: the company takes care of a lot of it for you. That's exactly what this video is about. We'll give you the big picture. By the end, you should understand how it all fits together. No tax knowledge. No jargon.

Just the basics: who pays for what and what you actually need to take care of yourself. This is the overview video. In the next one, we'll go through our tool together, step by step, and fill out a real expense claim just like in the other tool videos. Today is about understanding. The next video is about filling it in. Let's start with the most important point. There are two ways the money gets paid. The first way: the company pays directly. The flight. The train. The hotel. Often the rental car, too. Most of the time this is booked centrally for you. You never even see these invoices. You don't have to pay anything up front. And you don't need to collect any receipts for it.

Exactly what the company books is laid out in our travel expense policy on the learning platform. The second way: you pay for something yourself. This is the smaller part. A taxi. A parking fee. A toll. The occasional meal. And there's one special case: if you travel in your own car, you always claim that yourself. You get a fixed amount for every kilometer you drive. And one thing almost always stays with you, no matter how much the company has booked: your meals. That's a fixed daily allowance for each day of travel. The company can't simply pay it for you. So you'll almost always file a small claim even if it's just for your meals and your mileage.

To help you keep track, every expense claim is built the same way. It always consists of four parts: travel costs, meals, accommodation, and other anything else that comes up along the way. That's all there is to it. Every expense belongs in one of these four parts. We'll take a close look at each of them in the next videos. And don't worry: you don't have to calculate anything. The tool and the accounting team do that for you. But there are three things you do need to remember. They're the most important part of the whole topic. First: collect your receipts. Without a receipt, getting reimbursed is always difficult.

Second: note down the times of your trip. When you left, when you got back. Those determine your meal allowance. Third: get your trip approved beforehand. And submit your claim on time. That's the whole picture. The company pays for the big things. You claim back what you've paid yourself and the meal allowance you're entitled to. And every claim consists of the same four parts. In the next video, we'll get fully practical. We'll open the tool and fill out a real expense claim together step by step. So that nothing is left open for you, and your money is back in your pocket quickly.