Travel Order Documents

Travel order functionality enables us to create travel orders before going on a trip, enter any costs and daily allowances, post, calculated the tax amounts and print of Travel Orders. The following topics will describe complete usage of travel orders in Business Central.

Creation of Travel Orders

Create New Travel Order

By searching for the term Travel Orders, the list of Travel Orders will be open. Created Travel Orders can be open with double click on the row, or by choosing the function New a Travel Order will be created.

The fields on the Travel Order card will be explained below:

Tab General

• No. - the system assigns travel order numbers automatically from the defined No. Series
• Status - this field shows status of the Travel Order. It can be: Open, Issued, Pending Approval, Pending Prepayment, Posted, Reversed. The status depends on what has been done travel order
• Vendor No. - the employee number who is sent to a business trip. When the employee number is selected, the system automatically transfers to the travel order the dimensions entered for specific employee
• Name - full name filled in automatically by entering the employee number
• Address - filled in automatically by entering the employee number
• Document Date - the system enters the date when the document was created (processing date)
• Posting Date - this field is filled in when the document is being posted
• Posting Description Codes - here could be selected Travel Order as the description code, so system will fill in the posting description automatically
• Posting Description - filled in automatically by selecting the posting description code, but it remains editable according to needs
• Travel Purpose - should be entered manually, as text
• Planned Travel Start - planned date when the employee should travel. This field doesn't have to represent when the trip really started and it is for informational purposes only
• Planned Travel End - planned date of the employee's return from the business trip. This field doesn't have to represent when the trip really ended and it is for informational purposes only
• Vehicle Type - transport type which is chosen on a business trip. It can be: Official Car, Private Car, Fellow Traveler, Bus, Train, Plane, Taxi
• Registration Number - registration number of the official car license plates, if is used that type of transportation for the trip
• Currency Code - this field determines currency code of the travel order. If the value is provided here, on posting the system will throw error if in travel order lines is defined currency other then the value here or LCY (local currency). If you omit this field, the system will allow posting of travel order lines with different currencies

Tab Lines

In the rows, the relations are filled first. It is possible to put several routes in one travel order, if there is one employee that travel through several countries on business trip. Also, it's necessary to enter the date and time for each route when the employee left and the date and time of the end of the trip on that route. Based on the entry of the date and time, the system automatically calculates how many hours is spent on the trip and wages for it. Here's the right way to fill in the rows on a travel order:

• Type - here select the type of the row and you can choose: Cost, Wage or Relation
• No. - is automatically filled in by selecting the Type
• Description - enter a more detailed description of chosen type. If a Relation is selected, different routes can be specified in the description (Dubai, Belgrade - Dubai, Belgrade - Border, Border - Vienna, etc.)
• Travel Starting - in case of the Type Relation here can be defined when the trip really started for this particular route
• Travel Ending - in case of the Type Relation here can be defined when the trip really ended for this particular route. Also, if fields Travel Starting and Travel Ending are defined system will calculate the Quantity for the Relation
• Unit of Measure - enter the Unit of Measure for the selected row type
• Currency Code - the Currency Code should be entered depending of the country where an employee is traveling. If the field is left blank, the system automatically takes the LCY as currency
• Unit Price - enter the price per unit of measure. If the type is Relation, the price should be left blank
• Quantity - enter the number of wages to be paid or days of an accommodation. When the Type of the row is Relation, it's not necessary to enter the quantity, the system will automatically count the hours spent on a business trip
• Amount - the system calculates the amount, and it's obtained by multiplying the values in the Quantity and Unit Price fields
• Amount (LCY) - in this field the amount is converted and showed in the local currency
• Discount Code - if there is a daily allowance reduction for included meals, it can be chosen a combination of meals on the basis of which the reduction of the daily allowance will be calculated
• Invoice No. - in case of travel expenses which doesn't have Paid by Employee field set to true, to have accurate statistics, this field should be filled with the incoming invoice number to which this record refers
• Line Discount % - discount on wages based on the provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be done by choosing defined Travel Order Discount from list in Discount Code field. This field will be validated from Discount Code automatically

Create Expense from Resource No.

To create expense from entered number of resource on the travel order line the option on Travel Order Setup Create Expense from Resource No. should be set to true.

With this option checked you can create an expense by entering any resource no. on the travel order line you would like. The system will ask to create new expense or select existing one.

If you choose to create a new expense card for your resource code, you will be asked to choose resource template in case you have any defined in Travel Order Resource Templates, otherwise the blank resource card will be open.

Wage Calculation Functionality

Step 1: When rows with Relations are defined, the action can be initiated to calculate wages. On the Travel Order under the Functions click on the Calculate Wage action.

Step 2: The system will automatically calculate and add a row to tab Lines for each pre-defined Relation.

Step 3: And only after wages has been calculated, the costs should be entered in the Travel Order Lines.

Posting Prepayments for Travel Orders

Setting up Prepayment

At the Travel Order Setup card can be found Apply Different Posting Group and Default Prepayment Posting Group. To be able to post a prepayment and connect it with a Travel Order, it's necessary to set these fields.

Set Default Prepayment Posting Group to desired posting group you want to use when posting a Prepayment. This field is useful if you need the group for posting to be different for posting prepayment for traveling employees. Remember, this field will affect prepayments for Traveling Employees only.

Set Apply Different Posting Groups field to true, so to be able to apply prepayment along with posting of Travel Order.

Posting Prepayments

There are two ways of posting prepayment for Travel Orders: posting through electronic payment and posting right on the Travel Order.

1. Posting Prepayment Through Electronic Payment

Search for the term General Journal at the search bar. When you choose a batch and template for the journal, the fields should be entered for the particular travelling employee.

When Account Type is set to Vendor, you will be able to see Travelling Employee from the list at Account No. field. Then, it is necessary to select the field Prepayment to true.

After selected the right Vendor as Travelling Employee and selected Prepayment field to true, the system will transfer Posting Group from Default Prepayment Posting Group field on Travel Order Setup.

When all is set, post the journal.

2. Posting Prepayment from Travel Order

While creating a Travel Order, there is also a possibility to post prepayment for that particular Travel Order right away. Under Actions on Home tab click on the Post Prepayment for Travel Order.

The request page will be presented with fields to enter for prepayment. For this prepayment Vendor number (Travelling employee number) and Document Number are taken from the current Travel Order document. Balance Account Type is set to Bank Account.

After filling in all necessary fields for your prepayment, by clicking on OK the journal line is posted. The Approved Amount is updated on the Travel Order Header with posted amount as well as Currency Code of Approved Amount.

The posted prepayment will be automatically marked for applying with Travel Order Document Number as well. After this action no further action is needed to apply current Travel Order with the prepayment. So with posting of the Travel Order, these two amounts will be applied.

Applying Prepayment

Like it is said above, the prepayments posted from Travel Orders will be marked with Applies-to ID automatically. In case a prepayment is posted through electronic payment marking of it should be done in the following way:

If the employee already received some amount in advance, it should be marked under Applies-to Entries with the document number on which this advance should be placed. To do this, search for Vendors. By choosing Related on the Vendor's card, Vendor Ledger Entries will be presented. If the posted prepayment (advance) is on the list click on it and then under Application choose Set Applies-to ID. This action will mark the entry for applying and also fill in the Applies-to ID field with the User ID. Then choose again under Application - Apply Entries.

After clicking on Apply Entries, list of Travel Orders for chosen employee will be listed. Select the one for which you want to assign the advance.

After applying the prepayment to the document, the fields Approved Amount and Currency Code of Approved Amount on the Travel Order will be updated automatically as shown in the following picture. If the value was updated in these fields already, now the system will summarize those values with the newly applied prepayment.

Posting and Reversing of Travel Orders

Posting

If all was set and filled in right, the process of posting the travel order is straightforward. Under Actions on Home tab click on the Post action. Based on the information filled in the rows of the travel order, on posting the following will be done:

• Transactions will be created in general ledger according to the posting groups entered on the card of traveling employees who have been sent on a business trip
• Vendor ledger entries will be created for the employee
• Employee who has been sent on business trip will be debited by the amount he should receive for the business trip and approve prepayment (if there is one)
• If the prepayment was defined and it was smaller than total amount, by posting the system will apply the prepayment and the balance that remained to be paid will be reflected in Vendor's Ledger Entries for this traveling employee

Reversing

If a need arises to cancel a travel order that has been posted, this action is possible by using the function Reverse.

Under Related on the Travel Order card you can choose Posted Travel Orders, or you can search for the term Posted Travel Orders. On the list click on the document that needs to be canceled and click the Reverse action.

After clicking on it, the request page will be presented with prepopulated fields.

If you want to prepare the reverse posting in a journal, instead of directly posting it, uncheck Direct Posting field. By clicking on OK the request page will be closed and the document is reversed. All general ledger entries and vendor ledger entries with opposite signs are being created.

Tax Calculation for Travel Orders

If the region of business require wages above particular amount has to be taxed, the tax calculation provides that. This feature finds wage amounts according to the setup and filters you choose, and fill in the General Journal with the lines of calculated amounts.

Setting up amounts

On Travel Order Setup page under Tax tab you can find fields for setting up wage amounts that has to be taxed. By running the calculation report, every wage amount on a Travel Order which is above these amounts on Setup page, will be taxed.

• Wage Exception Amount (LCY) - here enter the wage amount above which tax will be calculated
• Wage Exception Amount (ACY) - fill in this field with the amount in additional currency if needed
• Default Exception Amount Currency - in case you defined the amount in additional currency, the Exception Amount Currency Code should be defined in this field
• Calculation Account No. - fill in the account number on which calculated amount should be posted
• Balance Account No. - enter the balance account number for posting as well

Running the Calculation

There are two ways the calculation can be run: by searching for it at the search bar and from opened General Journal.

1. Calculation Running from the Search

Search for the term Tax Calculation for Travel Orders at the search bar, and then click on the report. The request page will be run first with needed information.

• Document No. - this field should be filled in with the Document Number for creating of Journal Lines for calculation. If you omit this field, the system will create Document Number from Number Series of the selected Batch Name
• Template Name - select the template name for the General Journal in which calculated lines will be created
• Batch Name - select the batch name for the General Journal in which calculated lines will be created
• Posting Date - enter the posting date for journal lines that will be created
• Posted Travel Order - filter the posted travel orders by any field you need

2. Calculation Running from General Journal

Open the General Journal and select template and batch. Under Prepare on Home tab you can find Tax Calculation for Travel Orders action. By clicking on this action, the same request page will be presented as in the previous case, but with prepopulated Template Name and Batch Name from the current journal.

Reviewing Calculated Lines

After running the calculation, journal lines will be created in selected General Journal. Each line in the journal represents posted travel order that have wage above entered amounts in the setup. The amount in journal line is the difference between total wage amount on travel order and amount in setup. Also in the Description field on each journal line are entered info about the document number of particular posted travel order. This will ensure easy tracking of calculated amounts in posted general ledger entries.

Review calculated lines and post the journal.

Travel Order Reporting

This functionality provides printing a Travel Order as Travel Order Calculation and Travel Order Form.

Search for Travel Orders and open the desired travel order. Under Report tab you can find available reports for printing.