Table of Contents
- What is a harcırah bordrosu and how does it differ from the travel form?
- Which fields should a travel allowance statement contain?
- A harcırah bordrosu example: the calculation step by step
- How is the per diem set, and where does the tax exemption come from?
- Which columns should an Excel travel allowance statement have?
- Common mistakes on the travel allowance statement, and keeping records
- Conclusion
The tidiest way to settle what an employee is owed, or has to pay back, after a business trip is a travel allowance statement (in Turkish, harcırah bordrosu). This guide explains what the statement is, which fields it should contain, a worked example and which columns to use if you keep it in Excel. The rules described here are Turkish rules.
What is a harcırah bordrosu and how does it differ from the travel form?
A harcırah bordrosu is a settlement document that shows a business trip's number of days, per diem, transport and lodging costs, the advance received and the net amount due, all on one page.
The travel form (harcırah formu), in most companies, is the declaration or request filled in by the traveller: who went where, on which dates and for what purpose. The statement takes that information, turns it into amounts and closes the trip by offsetting the advance. In practice the two terms are often used interchangeably; what matters is that at the end of the trip there is a documented answer to the question "who gets paid how much, or who pays back how much".
In public institutions, travel allowances are calculated under Law No. 6245 on Travel Allowances (Harcırah Kanunu). Private companies set their per diem amounts and travel rules in their own travel policy; for tax purposes, the exemption limit described below is what counts.
Which fields should a travel allowance statement contain?
A good travel allowance statement shows the traveller's identity, the place and duration of the assignment, the per diem calculation, documented costs and the advance offset on separate lines.
| Field | What to enter | Why it is needed |
|---|---|---|
| Traveller details | Full name, employee number, department, title | Shows who is paid and which per diem tier applies |
| Destination and dates | City or country visited, departure and return dates | The basis for the number of days |
| Number of days | Days counted under the policy | The multiplier for the per diem |
| Per diem amount | Daily amount set in the policy | A fixed payment covering meals and small costs |
| Transport | Flight, bus, train, fuel | An actual cost backed by a document |
| Lodging | Hotel or guesthouse invoice | Included in the per diem or paid separately, depending on your policy |
| Other costs | Taxi, parking, visa and similar items | Documented extra costs related to the trip |
| Advance received | Amount paid before the trip | Needed for the offset |
| Payable / refund | Total costs minus advance | The net result that closes the trip |
The name of the approving manager and the approval date should also be added at the bottom. That way the document can be understood on its own by both the employee and the accounting team.
A harcırah bordrosu example: the calculation step by step
The example below only illustrates the calculation logic; the amounts are round example figures and do not reflect any official amount.
Scenario (example): A sales specialist spends 3 days in Izmir visiting a customer. The company policy sets the per diem at TRY 1,000 (example); lodging is not included in the per diem and is reimbursed separately against an invoice. An advance of TRY 5,000 was paid before the trip.
| Item | Calculation | Amount (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Per diem | 3 days × TRY 1,000 | TRY 3,000 |
| Transport | Return bus ticket | TRY 2,000 |
| Lodging | 2 nights × TRY 1,500 | TRY 3,000 |
| Other costs | Taxi receipts | TRY 500 |
| Total | TRY 8,500 | |
| Advance received | TRY 5,000 | |
| Payable | TRY 8,500 − TRY 5,000 | TRY 3,500 |
Because total costs exceed the advance, the company pays the employee TRY 3,500. Had the total been lower than the advance, the difference would have been collected back from the employee. Either way, the last line of the statement should show an offset that closes at zero.
How is the per diem set, and where does the tax exemption come from?
In private companies, the per diem amount is set by the company's own travel policy; the tax-exempt portion is tied to the highest per diem paid to civil servants.
A company can define different per diem tiers by job title or travel region. On the tax side, Income Tax Law No. 193 (Gelir Vergisi Kanunu) exempts from income tax the part of per diems paid to employees that does not exceed the highest per diem paid to civil servants. That highest figure is published every year in the (H) schedule annexed to the Central Government Budget Law (Merkezi Yönetim Bütçe Kanunu).
Keeping the following distinction visible on the statement makes life easier:
- Policy per diem: The amount the company pays the employee.
- Exemption limit: The relevant amount in that year's (H) schedule.
- Excess: Generally treated as wages and taxed through payroll.
Check the current figure in the (H) schedule every year; this article does not give a TRY amount. For quick calculators and templates, see the Masraff tools page. Confirm the tax and social security treatment with your financial advisor (mali müşavir).
Which columns should an Excel travel allowance statement have?
If you keep the harcırah bordrosu in Excel, each trip should be one row and each field one column; calculated columns use formulas, document-based columns are filled in by hand.
A practical column order could be:
- Trip number
- Full name and department
- Destination
- Departure date and return date
- Number of days (formula based on your policy)
- Per diem amount
- Per diem total (days × per diem)
- Transport
- Lodging
- Other costs
- Total costs
- Advance received
- Payable / refund (total costs − advance)
- Document number or receipt reference
- Approver and approval date
Keeping the exemption limit in a separate cell and adding an "amount above exemption" column shows the payroll team the taxable amount separately. Excel's weak spot is that receipts and approvals live outside the spreadsheet; as the file grows, tracing which row relies on which document gets harder.
Common mistakes on the travel allowance statement, and keeping records
The most common mistake is reimbursing, against a receipt, a cost that the per diem already covers; the second is forgetting to offset the advance.
Other points to watch:
- Counting days inconsistently: Write down in the policy how departure and return days are counted, and apply the same rule to every trip.
- Paying lodging twice: If lodging is included in the per diem, the hotel invoice should not be paid on top.
- Undocumented costs: Transport, lodging and other costs must be backed by an invoice or receipt.
- Unapproved statements: A payment made without manager approval leaves a record that is hard to explain later.
- Not updating the exemption limit: Update your calculation when the new year's (H) schedule is published.
Documents should be kept in line with the retention rules of Tax Procedure Law No. 213 (Vergi Usul Kanunu). Keeping the statement, the travel form, the invoices and the approval record in the same file or under the same record makes any audit easier.
Conclusion
The travel allowance statement is the document that closes a trip by bringing days, per diem, documented costs and the advance offset onto one page. Fixing the fields, tying the per diem to the policy and checking the exemption limit every year prevents most errors.
In Masraff, travel requests go through an approval process and trip expenses are linked to the related travel request; see the business travel management page for details. Employee advances are closed by attaching expense reports to the advance, and the advance closes when the balance reaches zero; you can explore this flow on the cash advance page.