This section will guide you through the configuration of expenses. The following terminology is used:
- Expense Types. Typically you would have a small number of expense types. They define whether the expense is payable and/or chargeable. They have a pay element code.
- Expense Templates. These are the types of expenses that a contractor can claim. For example, your expense template might say that a contractor can claim travel and materials. #zzz At the moment, this topic doesn't contain any information about expense templates. Is that within the scope of this documentation? If so, we'll add it!!#
The expense template is selected on the placement. This allows you specify which expenses are claimable for each of your placements. If the contractor cannot claim expenses then you would choose "No Expenses Paid" on the placement.
If you have contractors working through their own Limited Company's then you need to consider the impact of VAT when you set up your expense templates. You may wish to have one expense template for workers who are VAT registered and one for workers who are not VAT registered. You should seek professional advice if you require assistance in this area.
Mileage
You would typically configure mileage to allow a certain amount per mile. The contractor would then enter the number of miles travelled. The configuration for this can be seen below
In this example:
- The expense is chargeable
- The value claimable per mile is 42p. Locked indicates that the 42p cannot be changed when the expense is entered.
- There is no tax included in the expense
- It can only be paid in the pay currency of the placement.
When the contractor makes a claim the following would be seen.
You can create different types of expense, for example mileage and food allowance, and specify which ones workers who are on placements are allowed to claim.
For example, some placements might allow workers to claim accommodation whereas other will not. Some types of expense might be chargeable, and some will have a special tax category.
In order to specify whether a placement allows certain types of expense to be claimed by the worker, you first have to define expense types and expense template groups.
- An expense type is the individual expense, such as mileage.
- An expense template group is the range of expense types that are applicable to the placement.