Rules and examples of calculating average earnings for a business trip

Calculation of travel allowances in 2021

A business trip (business trip) is a trip by an employee by order of the employer for a certain period of time to carry out an official assignment outside the place of permanent work. The order is issued in writing, for example, in the form of an order.

The following are not considered a business trip:

• travel as part of traveling work;
• work on a rotational basis.

Calculation of average earnings

The subordinate leaves his official workplace to achieve a production or business goal, and therefore receives payment in the amount of average earnings.

To calculate the average daily earnings, it is necessary to divide the income received over the previous 12 months by the number of days worked during the same time. The total is multiplied by the number of business trips. The result is the amount of remuneration for a person on a work trip.

In any mode of operation, the average salary of an employee is calculated based on the salary actually accrued to him and the time he actually worked for the previous 12 calendar months

When an employee was hired less than a year ago, the time worked at the time of departure is used for calculation. If a person who has just completed a contract is sent on a business trip, payment is made according to the official salary.

Table: determining average daily earnings for a business trip

What is not included in the calculation of average earnings

When calculating average earnings, periods and amounts paid for them must be excluded from the calculation period if:

• the employee retained his average earnings in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, with the exception of breaks for feeding the child;
• the employee received temporary disability benefits or maternity benefits;
• the employee did not work due to downtime due to the fault of the employer or for reasons beyond the control of the employer and employee;
• the employee did not participate in the strike, but due to this strike he was unable to perform his work;
• the employee was provided with additional paid days off to care for disabled children and people with disabilities since childhood;
• in other cases, the employee was released from work with full or partial retention of wages or without payment in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

The time spent on sick leave is not included in the calculation period of average earnings, and payments for it are not taken into account

Example of calculating average earnings

The employee was hired by the organization on October 22, 2015. The date of departure for the business trip is 09/06/2017 (Wednesday). Return date is 09/15/2017 (Friday). The company operates on a standard five-day week.

The period for calculating payment for business trips is from 09/01/16 to 08/31/17. Not included:

• 10 days of vacation at your own expense (from 06/01/2017 to 06/10/2017);
• 28 days of main leave (from 08/01/2017 to 08/28/2017);
• 5 days of sick leave (from 09/01/2016 to 09/05/2016).

During the specified 12-month period earned:

• salary - 465,000 rubles;
• vacation pay - 33,000 rubles;
• sick leave - 3,800 rubles.

Estimated amount = 465,000 rub. (sick leave and vacation pay are not taken into account). Days worked = 204 (the days of the periods indicated above are subtracted from the working days according to the schedule).

Daily average earnings = 465,000 rubles. / 204 = 2,279.41 rub.

Travel days for payment = 7 (weekends are not paid, since no work tasks were performed).

Average earnings during a business trip = RUB 2,279.41. *7 = 15,955.87 rub.

Calculation of daily allowances

Per diem is an additional expense associated with living outside your place of permanent residence. The employee is entitled to daily allowance for all days of his stay on a business trip. Weekends and non-working holidays, travel time (including forced stops) are also paid. Daily allowances are not accrued for one-day business trips within Russia.

To calculate the daily allowance, you need to determine the duration and distance of the trip. If a person from a business trip can come home every day, per diem is not paid. This possibility is determined by management depending on the remoteness, transport accessibility, the nature of the assigned task, and the need for conditions for the subordinate to rest.

The amount of daily allowance is not limited by law, but must be regulated by a collective agreement or other local act. In addition, maximum amounts not subject to taxation have been approved. And from 2021, funds exceeding the norm will be charged not only personal income tax, but also insurance fees. The norms are:

• no more than 700 rub. for each day you are on a business trip in the Russian Federation;
• no more than 2,500 rub. for each day you are on a business trip abroad.

Daily allowances are paid for every day, even for incomplete ones, that is, if an employee’s train leaves at 23:50, then he is also entitled to daily allowances for that day

For example, a person went on a business trip on Sunday 02/04/2018 and returns on Saturday 02/10/2018. For 7 days of business trip with the established amount of 500 rubles. per day, the total amount of daily allowance will be equal to:

500 rub. * 7 = 3500 rub.

To send an employee abroad, in addition to the basic rules, you need to take into account certain specifics. The local document establishes different amounts for travel time for the territory of Russia and for other states. When crossing the border from Russia, daily allowances are paid in foreign currency, as when staying abroad. On the day of return to Russia - in rubles.

For example, an employee is sent on a business trip from Moscow to Paris. The plane departs from Moscow on April 8 at 19.45 and arrives in Paris on the same day at 21.40. The daily allowance for April 8 must be paid to the employee in foreign currency.

If an employee flew on April 8 at 19.45 from Paris to Moscow, the daily allowance would have to be paid in rubles.

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If a person travels to two countries (or more), the daily allowance for the day of crossing the border is paid in foreign currency in the amount required for the place of arrival.

For example, the local regulatory act of the organization establishes the following daily allowance: 2,000 rubles. — for business trips to the CIS countries, 2,500 rubles. – on business trips to European Union countries. The posted worker flies to Berlin from Moscow on April 8, and to Minsk from Berlin on April 9. For April 8, he is paid daily allowance in euros in the amount equivalent to 2,500 rubles, and for April 9 - in Belarusian rubles in the amount equivalent to 2,000 rubles.

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Border crossing is tracked using marks in the employee’s international passport. Daily allowances in foreign currency are issued at the current exchange rate on the day the daily allowance is calculated.

Video: daily allowances in 2021

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Lp2Zkee2UAQ

Paying sick leave on a business trip

If an employee falls ill on a business trip, the task is suspended until the person is ready to work. In such a situation, the trip needs to be extended.

First of all, the sick person must contact a medical institution to record his condition and receive a confirmation certificate. Temporary disability benefits will be paid in the usual manner and only after the company’s accountant has been provided with sick leave.

For sick days, average earnings are not calculated, but benefits are paid.

For the sick enterprise:

• reimburses money for rented housing if he was not treated in a hospital;
• pays per diem for all days, even when he is unable to complete a task or return home.

Travel expenses and vacation pay calculation

The calculation of vacation pay does not include periods of employee absence provided by average earnings. A business trip is excluded from the calculation of vacation pay, because a person leaves his workplace, albeit for work needs.

Video: paying for a business trip on a day off

https://youtube.com/watch?v=czbTsEskspY

Business trip at someone else's expense

Travel expenses can be covered by the host party if an appropriate agreement has been concluded between it and the employer. At the same time, the employer still arranges the trip, accepts reports on the business trip and payment of expenses in this situation.

The receiving party will reimburse:

• living expenses (hotel, hostel, rental housing); the fact of renting housing should be confirmed with documents (checks, receipts);
• expenses for means of transportation - depending on its type (bus, plane, train). If the secondee has chosen personal vehicles, then payment for fuel is made on the basis of the waybill submitted to the accounting department and receipts from the gas station. Taxi services are not refundable.

Daily allowance, as well as average earnings, as well as third-party expenses of the employee (communications, visa, etc.) are provided by the employing organization, unless other provisions are approved by a pre-concluded agreement.

What are the reimbursement rates for business travel?

For an employee sent on a business trip, the employer fully reimburses expenses (Article 168 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) for transport, accommodation and other expenses agreed with the employer.

A special type of travel expenses is daily allowances, which are reimbursed according to the standards established by the employer’s local regulations. At the same time, at the legislative level, limits are set for accepting daily allowances as expenses without charging personal income tax and social contributions (clause 3 of Article 217, clause 2 of Article 422 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

• in the amount of 700 rubles - for business trips around Russia;
• 2500 rubles - for business trips abroad.

The employee receives funds for all types of specified expenses before the business trip in one amount - in the form of an advance. Upon returning from a trip, the employee reports on it.

If the employer’s funds issued in the form of an advance are not enough to pay for transportation expenses, accommodation and daily allowances (within limits), then the company will fully compensate for the employee’s forcedly spent personal money.

If, according to the advance report, the amount of money spent by the business traveler on transport, accommodation and daily allowances (in the amount of the limit) is less than the advance payment issued, then the employee must return the corresponding difference to the cash desk.

Help - calculation of travel allowances

The calculation certificate provides primary accounting documentation. It is written out so that there is an additional legal basis for fixing specific amounts of travel expenses.

There is no statutory standard for an accounting statement. It is better for organizations to draw it up themselves, taking into account individual business subtleties and differences in office work, and approve it by an act of the head of the company or accounting policy.

As a rule, only the company’s accountant is responsible for filling out the accounting certificate form.

To issue a travel allowance certificate, you need to indicate in it the details provided for primary documents in Art. 9 of the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ:

• Title of the document;
• date of compilation;
• name of the organization or individual entrepreneur;
• type and amount of travel expenses;
• Full name of the person who compiled the document.

Results

The employee is paid the average salary for all working days of the business trip. In addition to this, labor legislation also guarantees compensation for expenses for transportation and accommodation. Separate agreements may assign part of the responsibility for reimbursement of travel expenses to the employer's counterparties. Contracts with contractors may contain conditions for compensation of certain expenses by the customer.

You can learn more about the features of cash payments during employee business trips in the following articles:

• “Advance report for business trip in 2021 - sample”;
• “We pay personal income tax on travel expenses in 2017”.

You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

For which organizations is it valid?

A note-calculation on calculating average earnings was developed for use by public sector organizations:

• authorities;
• local government;
• off-budget funds;
• other recipients of budget funds.

This is the primary document that serves as an accounting register for wages (vacation pay and other payments) for government agencies - based on its results, the accounting department makes entries in the debits and credits of the corresponding accounting accounts.

Despite the fact that the form approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of March 30, 2015 No. 52n is relatively new, when filling it out one should, among other things, be guided by Government Decree on the calculation of the average salary No. 922 of December 24, 2007 - this is confirmed by the letter of the Ministry of Finance dated October 27, 2017 No. 02-06-10/70870.

conclusions

A business trip that begins in one month and ends in the next is considered a rolling trip.

Due to the peculiarities of payment for the time spent by employees on business trips, the average earnings of posted workers are calculated in two calculation periods corresponding to the start date of the business trip and the first day of the month to which part of such a work trip began.

Remuneration for employees assigned to perform their labor functions at another enterprise (organization) is made on the days of payment of wages to all employees, as provided for in the collective labor agreement.

How to fill out form 0504425

The form consists of 3 parts:

• The first (header) indicates the name of the organization and its affiliation, and the personal data of the employee.
• The second part (substantive): section 1 contains information that serves as the basis for further calculations - the number of days, accrued amounts, billing period, and so on; Section 2 - the calculation of average earnings and the derivation of the final amount to be paid to the employee.
• The third (formal) – the signatures of the responsible persons are required; in this form, not only the last sheet of the document is drawn up, but also the data given in section 1 of the second part (since it is from them that the funds due to be paid to the employee will be calculated).

Return or Refund Procedure

Payment for travel allowances in 2021 is carried out on the basis of the provided payment documents. Payment documents confirming expenses are provided to the accounting department. This category includes the following: travel cards (tickets, receipts), invoices from the hotel (or an analogue confirming the fact of payment for accommodation), checks and receipts confirming other expenses.

Important! When traveling in a personal vehicle, upon prior agreement with the employer, an official and explanatory note must be attached to the payments.