Travel is the biggest expense in field service after salaries, and the one most often settled by guesswork. A fixed travelling allowance format, filled daily and approved weekly, ends the argument. Download the CSV for Excel below.
Travelling allowance format: columns
- Date and employee name
- Job no. / customer visited
- From and to
- Kilometres
- Mode: own two-wheeler, company vehicle, bus, auto, cab
- Rate per km or actual fare
- Other: parking, toll, courier of parts
- Amount
- Receipt attached (Y/N)
- Approved by and status
Set a simple policy
- A rate per km for own vehicle, by vehicle type. Example (illustrative only): Rs [x] per km for a two-wheeler.
- Actual fare with receipt for bus, auto and cab; cab only with approval.
- Parking and tolls with receipt.
- Claims filed by [day] every week, paid with salary or weekly.
Check claims against the work
- Every row must match a job done that day.
- Kilometres should match the route between sites, roughly.
- Approve, reject or query, and note the reason.
Plan routes to cut travel: group jobs by area. A dispatch board showing each technician's day helps.
Common problems
- Claims for days with no jobs.
- Round numbers every day (always 40 km).
- Claims filed months late, impossible to check.
Expenses with approval in software
ServicePilot records expenses by category and type, with receipts attached and a status for approval, so travel and fuel are recorded the day they happen and checked by a manager. The dispatch board shows each technician's jobs for the day. See the technician daily report format.
