Field notes
Per-diem versus actuals in the same month
Mixing per-diem and actual meal claims in one period creates duplicate-risk in travel expense applications.
Some travel policies allow per-diem for domestic trips and actual receipts for overseas meals — or the reverse. Confusion starts when a traveller uses both methods in the same journey. During financial audit of travel expense applications, we map each meal day to either per-diem or actuals, never both.
Classic exceptions include a per-diem claim for a day that also has a client-dinner receipt marked reimbursable, or actual breakfast receipts on days when hotel breakfast was already bundled into a lodging package. Neither pattern is always intentional; both inflate meal totals.
A practical control is a daily meal method field on the application form. Approvers who see “per-diem” selected should not also see restaurant images attached for that date. When we design samples, mixed-method months receive extra weight precisely because these overlaps are common.