Free Tool
Business Trip Budget Calculator
Calculate a business trip budget, the amount the company pays directly and the employee's advance request from transport, accommodation, meals and local transport. Download the result as a file that opens in Excel; free, no sign-up required.
| Item | Amount | Who pays? |
|---|---|---|
Travel budget
Default values are examples, not market averages or recommendations. Enter your own amounts. The downloaded file opens in Excel and includes signature lines for the requester and the approver. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to any server. This tool is for information only.
Budget and advance
A travel budget answers two questions: how much in total, and how much as an advance
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Keep what the company pays apart from what the employee pays
Tickets and accommodation are often paid directly by the company; meals and local transport are what the employee spends on the road. When you choose who pays for each item, the tool shows the trip's total budget and how much of it should be requested as an advance, separately.
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The advance is closed against actual expenses on return
On return, the advance given before the trip is compared with the expenses the employee claims. Any unspent amount is refunded to the company; expenses above the advance are paid to the employee. The Advance Settlement Calculator walks through this closing step by step.
In Masraff's Travel module, you create a Travel Form with or without an advance; through this form the employee gets approval to travel as well as expense approval. The Advance module manages advance requests through an approval flow and reconciles the approved advance against the trip's expenses.
Turn the travel budget into an approved travel form
In Masraff's Travel module, you create a Travel Form with or without an advance, and the travel process runs through the expense app. Advance requests go through approval and are reconciled against actual expenses on return.
Frequently asked questions
How is a business trip budget calculated?
Each item is multiplied by its own unit: transport tickets by the number of people, accommodation by nights and people, daily meals and local transport by days and people. Other costs are added as a total amount. For example, on a trip for 2 people, 3 days and 2 nights, a $100 ticket per person comes to $200, $90 per night of accommodation to $360, $25 a day for meals to $150, and $10 a day for local transport to $60.
How large should a travel advance be?
The advance should cover the items the employee will pay out of pocket during the trip. Amounts the company pays directly, such as tickets and hotels, are not part of the advance. This tool calculates the advance request by adding the contingency share you choose to the total of the items the employee pays; your company policy sets the rate.
Why is the contingency share added only to the advance?
Tickets and accommodation paid directly by the company are known before the trip. The uncertainty lies in the meals, local transport and similar costs the employee pays on the road. That is why the share applies only to these items; any unused portion is refunded to the company when the advance is closed.
How is foreign currency handled for trips abroad?
This tool does not convert currencies. Convert costs in foreign currency to USD at the rate your company uses, then enter them. Your company policy and your country's rules set per diem amounts for trips abroad.
Is this tool free, and is my data sent anywhere?
Yes, it is completely free and needs no sign-up. Everything is calculated in your browser; the amounts you enter are not sent to any server. The file you download is also created in your browser.
How can I manage travel and advances in Masraff?
In Masraff's Travel module, you create a Travel Form with or without an advance, and the travel process runs through the expense app; through this form the employee gets approval to travel as well as expense approval. The Advance module manages advance requests through an approval flow and reconciles the approved advance against the trip's expenses.
Other free tools
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Advance Settlement Calculator and Closing Form
Compare an advance with the accepted expenses; get the amount to refund or pay and the closing form.
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Mileage and Vehicle Expense Calculator
Calculate the vehicle cost of a business trip with a per-km rate or from fuel consumption.
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Expense Policy Template Generator
Create a sample expense policy tailored to your company size.