This article is for: admins and finance teams.
Rates let Factorial calculate mileage and per diem reimbursements for you. Employees enter the distance or the days, Factorial applies your company's rate, and nobody has to work out the amount by hand.
Mileage rates
Overview
A mileage rate is an amount per kilometre or per mile, for example £0.30 / km. You decide who can use each rate: everyone in one or more legal entities, or specific people. You need the Can access expense settings permission.
How to use
- Go to Settings > Expenses.
- In the menu on the left, under Configuration, click Rates, then Mileage rates.
- Click New rate.
- Fill in the Name employees will see (for example Car or Motorbike), the Rate and Unit (Kilometers (km) or Miles (mi)) and the Currency (any of your legal entities' currencies).
- Under People, choose Legal entities (everyone in them, or Select all legal entities) or Manual selection (specific employees).
- Click Save. You'll see "Saved successfully", and the rate appears in Active rates.
Per diem rates
A per diem rate is a fixed daily allowance, for example Domestic travel: £50 a day. Create one rate for each allowance your policy has:
- Go to Settings > Expenses > Rates > Per diem rates.
- Click New rate.
- Fill in the Name, the daily Amount, the Currency and the People (Legal entities or Manual selection), and save.
Per diem in Germany
Companies with legal entities in Germany can use the official German per diem rates (Bundesreisekostengesetz) and raise them, never below the official amount:
- Go to Settings > Expenses > Rates > Per diem in Germany.
- Select one or more countries or regions and click Edit rates.
- Choose Amount (EUR), Percentage (%) or Multiplier (x), check the Preview and save. The change applies to the full day, half day and overnight rates.
- To go back to the official amounts, select the rows and click Reset rates.
Tips and Best Practices
- To separate vehicles, create one mileage rate per vehicle type (for example Car and Motorbike), each with a clear name, and assign both to the same people. Give them different amounts if you want to tell them apart later: an expense keeps the rate's amount, not its name.
- Name rates the way employees think about them (Domestic travel, Abroad), not with internal codes.
- When an official rate changes, edit the rate: expenses already created keep the amount they were reported with.
- Related: How do I choose which types of expenses employees can create? · How do I choose what the expense form asks for? · How do I claim mileage? · How do I claim per diems? · How do I claim per diems in Germany?
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Troubleshooting
An employee doesn't see a rate.
Check that the rate is assigned to them (by legal entity or by name) and isn't archived. Also check that the expense type is turned on in Expense types.
An employee types their own mileage rate.
That happens when no mileage rate is assigned to them. Create a rate and assign it to them.
"Legal entities must have the same currency", or a legal entity is missing from the People list.
A rate assigned by legal entity can only cover legal entities that use the same currency: only legal entities that use the rate's currency appear in the list. Create one rate per currency.
An employee can't add two rates to one per diem.
All rates in a per diem must use the same currency ("These rates are in different currencies"). Each rate can only be added once.
FAQ
1. How do I separate cars in mileage rates?
Create one mileage rate per vehicle (for example Car and Motorbike) and assign them to the same people. Employees pick the right one on each trip.
2. I changed a rate. Will old expenses change?
No. Editing a rate only affects new expenses: expenses already created keep the rate they were reported with.
3. How do I edit, check or archive a rate?
In Settings > Expenses > Rates, on the rate's row menu, click Edit rate to change it (only new expenses use the new rate). Click the arrow on the rate's row to see who can use it; for rates assigned by Manual selection, you can remove people there. To archive, click Archive on the row menu and confirm: the rate moves to the Archived tab and can't be used for new expenses.
4. Can I restore an archived rate?
No. An archived rate can't be restored, so create a new rate with the same details. Expenses that already use the archived rate keep it.
5. Can one employee have several rates?
Yes. For mileage, they choose one from the Mileage rate list on each trip: this is how you separate cars, motorbikes or other vehicles. For per diems on the web, they can add several rates to the same per diem (for example two days at one rate and one day at another), as long as all the rates use the same currency.
6. Which currency is a mileage or per diem paid in?
The currency of its rate.
7. What does an employee see with one mileage rate, several, or none?
With one mileage rate, it's selected for them. With several, they choose one from the Mileage rate list on each trip. With none, they type the rate themselves. A mileage expense can't be saved without a rate value, but 0 is allowed.
8. Why are there mileage rates called Auto and Sonstiges?
When you add a legal entity in Germany, Factorial creates two mileage rates for it, Auto and Sonstiges. Edit or archive them like any other rate.
9. Do changes to German per diem rates affect per diems already submitted?
No. Changes to Per diem in Germany rates never affect per diems already submitted.