Travel expenses

Travel expenses arise when technicians travel for service calls (travel, accommodation, etc.) and include all expenses incurred during the trip. In field service, travel expenses often account for a significant portion of service costs, especially for distant customer calls or international service. It is therefore important to record these costs correctly and, if necessary, charge them to the customer or evaluate them internally.

Travel expenses typically include the following categories:

• Travel costs: Costs for travel to and from the destination, e.g., mileage allowances when using a company car, train or plane tickets, and much more.
• Accommodation costs: Hotel costs or other accommodation costs if an overnight stay is necessary.
• Incidental travel expenses: Various minor expenses incurred during the trip, e.g., telephone costs, internet fees, work equipment, visa fees, entertainment of customers.
• Additional meal expenses: Colloquially referred to as expenses. These are flat rates for meals to which employees are entitled if they are away from their normal place of work for more than a certain period of time. In Germany, these flat rates are legally defined according to the length of absence and the country.

After completion of such an assignment, the data is entered into the travel report. The supervisor or accountant checks this and approves it. Depending on internal rules, the expenses are then either paid to the technician and the costs posted internally or, if contractually agreed, invoiced to the customer. Some service contracts allow travel expenses to be billed in addition to the service price. In this case, the recorded costs are transferred from the invoicing module to the invoice.

Travel expenses are an important KPI for service organizations. For example, you want to know what percentage of total costs are travel expenses, or whether certain customers incur very high travel expenses. The FSM system allows you to generate relevant statistics (travel expenses per customer, per month, per technician, etc.).

Another aspect is transparency towards customers: accurate recording allows you to provide customer reports on how travel costs were incurred (verifiable with receipts). This avoids disputes in invoicing.

The system also helps with administration: the usual tedious travel expense reporting is simplified. Technicians no longer have to keep Excel lists or fill out paper forms. They do everything in the app, and the system calculates automatically according to stored rules. The travel report can be digitally archived after completion, which is also important for auditing or compliance.

In summary: Travel expense management in FSM means clearly recording, correctly billing, and evaluating all travel expenses incurred during a service call. Innosoft FSM supports this with integrated functions and reports, which benefits both the company and the technicians.