A per diem rate is the amount an organisation approves for each day of business travel to a specific city, country, or region. Zoho Expense stores per diem rates at the policy level and applies them automatically when an employee logs a trip. Rates can vary by destination, job grade, or trip type.
Administrators set per diem rates under the per diem configuration section in Zoho Expense settings. You can define rates for domestic and international travel separately, set different rates for partial days, and specify whether the rate covers meals only, accommodation only, or a combined daily allowance. Once configured, the system applies the correct rate every time a matching trip is created.
Organisations in India often align per diem rates with their HR or travel policies, specifying amounts for metro versus non-metro cities. Zoho Expense enforces these rates consistently across all employees under the relevant policy, reducing disputes and ensuring audit-readiness.
Yes. Zoho Expense supports multiple expense policies, and you can assign different per diem rates to different employee groups or job bands. Employees are automatically subject to the rate defined in the policy assigned to them.
If no specific rate exists for a destination, Zoho Expense falls back to a default rate defined in the policy, or the system may require the employee to claim actual expenses with receipts instead of per diem.
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