Danielle Nicholson, Author at Capture Expense

Per Diem Meaning, Examples, and Rates for 2025

Business travel comes with its fair share of perks—new destinations, fresh opportunities, and a break from the usual routine. But once the trip’s over, the paperwork begins… and no one enjoys wrestling with receipts. That’s where per diems come in. This handy system offers a simple, predictable way to cover employee travel expenses like meals, transport, and accommodation—without the admin headache. Let’s take a look at what per diem really means, a real-world example, and the rates for 2025.

What does per diem mean?

Per diem is a daily allowance provided to employees to cover expenses such as meals, accommodation, and travel costs when they’re away on business. It simplifies the reimbursement process by offering a fixed amount rather than requiring itemised receipts for each expense. Per diem rates are often regulated by government guidelines and can vary depending on whether the travel is domestic or international.

What are the per diem rates for 2025?

Here are the UK per diem rates for 2025, based on HMRC’s meal allowance guidelines:

Minimum journey time	Maximum allowance
One meal and up to 5 hours of travel	£5
Two meals and 5–10 hours of travel	£10
Three meals and 10–12 hours of travel	£15
24-hour period	£25

You can claim a meal allowance if

You’re travelling for work – either as part of your job or to a temporary workplace, not just commuting as usual.

You’re away from your normal place of work or home for more than 5 or 10 continuous hours.

You’ve bought a meal (food or drink) during your journey and have evidence of the expense (like a receipt or card statement).

You can’t claim a meal allowance if

You didn’t actually buy a meal or drink during your trip.

The meal didn’t create any extra cost – for example, if it was something you would’ve eaten at home anyway.

You had the meal at home before leaving or after returning.

The meal was provided for free as part of a training course, event, or conference.

You received a free meal on a train or plane, included in the ticket.

The meal included alcohol (that’s not covered under HMRC’s rules).

A real-world scenario

Meet Peter. He works for a tech consultancy based in Manchester and is heading to London for a two-day client workshop. His company has opted to use per diem allowances to make travel expenses easier for everyone.

Instead of collecting every receipt for coffees, lunches, and taxi rides, Peter receives a fixed daily allowance based on HMRC’s approved rates (see above). On day one, he leaves home at 7am and doesn’t return until after 9pm, so he qualifies for the £25 meal allowance. The company already booked and paid for his hotel and train in advance using the company card—so his per diem just needs to cover meals, snacks, and the odd travel cost like a Tube ride.

Peter grabs breakfast at the station, picks up lunch near the client site, and finishes the day with dinner close to his hotel. He doesn’t need to keep receipts for each meal because the allowance is a flat rate, but he does make a note of where and when he ate, just in case HR asks for evidence the meals were during the business trip.

He avoids alcohol (as that’s not covered under HMRC rules) and doesn’t try to claim for the theatre ticket he bought for the evening—he knows that’s a personal expense.

The next day is a shorter one, so he qualifies for the £10 meal allowance before heading back north.

Are you looking to reduce admin, speed up reimbursements, and stay fully HMRC compliant?

Managing travel expenses and subsistence allowances can quickly become a hassle—especially when you’re juggling receipts, HMRC rules, and the risk of duplicate claims. That’s where Capture Expense comes in. It helps you streamline the whole process by automating approvals, flagging suspicious claims, and making sure your per diem rates are applied correctly and consistently. Book a personalised demo today to see Capture Expense in action. 

Danielle Nicholson In General

Trips: Capture Expense’s New Travel Management Functionality

We’re thrilled to introduce Trips—our new and improved travel expense management functionality designed to give you more control, visibility, and accuracy to every journey.

From managing mileage to setting time-based allowances, Trips is built for finance teams that want to guarantee policy compliance, instantly access in-depth reports, and customise the way their teams spend across journey types.

Let’s look at what Trips can do!

What does Trips do?

Trips improves how you manage employee travel expenses by setting time-based spend limits across multiple categories for each trip you create. And as you’re creating these limits on a per-trip basis, you’ll see greater compliance with your internal policies and have greater control and visibility of spend.

We’ve broken trips down into four key features that tackle the most common problems you face when managing travel costs:

Subsistence rates

Trips allows you to set subsistence and travel allowances that align with the trip duration and destination, so expenses are accurately capped according to your company policy.

Mileage

Easily track and manage mileage by recording travel distance, duration, and any specific journey notes for each trip. It also allows your travellers to map routes with waypoints and stops, optimising each trip while automatically calculating mileage for distance-based expense reporting.

Time-based spending limits

With time-based spend limits, Trips gives you way more flexibility than managing a daily or monthly budget. You can apply these limits across various categories, guaranteeing that spending remains in line with policy throughout each trip.

Policy compliance

Trips enforces your spend policies automatically, so all travel stays within designated limits and reduces the risk of unauthorised expenses. With real-time compliance alerts, any spending outside set limits is flagged immediately.

How Trips supports Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR) in Ireland

Managing expenses in Ireland? Great news – Trips guarantees that all travel-related expenses are compliant with Revenue guidelines. With automated tracking and organised reporting, you can confidently meet ERR standards without the manual work, with functionality supporting three key areas:

Journey hours: In Trips, rates are based on the total duration of the work-related journey (e.g. less than 5 hours, between 5 to 10 hours, or more than 10 hours).

Expense categories: Only certain categories qualify for subsistence rates, such as meals, accommodation, and specific transportation expenses.

Revenue reporting: Detailed records can be generated for submission to Revenue, where all expense categories align with the predefined descriptions.

What’s so great about Trips?

Trips brings all your team’s travel expenses into one easy-to-use space, so there’s no need for manual processes like spreadsheets and lengthy email chains. Plus, travel managers can approve and manage bookings, attach relevant documents like tickets, and access real-time insights—all while keeping expenses within budget and policy.

Ultimately, Trips reduces admin work, improves your spend visibility, and gives you full control over your team’s travel spend without the high cost of complex travel management systems.

Get started improving your travel management

Trips is available within the Capture Expense app, making it easy to implement right away. Simply log in, navigate to Trips, and begin setting your travel allowances, spending limits, and tracking preferences.

If you’re new to Capture Expense, reach out to book a demo and start managing travel expenses with total control.

Danielle Nicholson In Resources

The UK’s 2025 Carbon Reporting Requirements

If you haven’t heard, the UK government has confirmed their intention to establish new sustainability reporting standards within the first quarter of 2025—with the aim of adopting IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (SDS) by July 2025.

Their goal is to improve transparency and accountability for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, and align the requirements with international standards. This means you’ll likely be required to provide more detailed information about your sustainability practices and climate related risks—a huge step in the right direction for climate change!

So, with that in mind, we’ll explain what we know about the new regulations so far, and how you can get ready to comply.

First of all, why a change in sustainability reporting?

Investors, consumers, and governments are increasingly demanding that companies be open about their efforts to tackle climate change, manage resources, and act responsibly when it comes to ESG.

That’s why, estimated to start in 2025, businesses will be required to align their reporting with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) frameworks as the UK government’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) are set to include these standards.

What’s the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)?

The TCFD was set up in 2015 to help businesses understand and share information about their climate-related financial risks. The framework encourages companies to disclose how climate change affects their operations, strategies, and financial plans to help stakeholders see how they’re handling climate risks and moving towards a low-carbon future.

The TCFD framework focuses on four key areas:

Governance: How the board and management oversee climate-related risks and opportunities.

Strategy: The actual and potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on the business, strategy, and financial planning.

Risk management: How the company identifies, assesses, and manages climate-related risks.

Metrics and targets: The metrics and targets used to assess and manage climate-related risks and opportunities, such as greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.

What’s included in the new 2025 reporting requirements?

While we’re still waiting on the latest announcements from the government about their plans, we can expect ISSB-aligned reporting requirements to cover key areas like:

Climate-related financial disclosures: You’ll be required to report on how climate change affects your business model, financial performance, and long-term viability. This includes risks from climate-related regulations, physical impacts of climate change, and market shifts towards greener technologies.

Carbon and emissions data: Up next is detailed information about carbon emissions, resource use, and environmental impact that must be disclosed. This includes your direct emissions and those from supply chains (Scope 3 emissions).

Sustainability strategy and governance: You’ll also have to show how you integrate sustainability into your corporate strategy and governance, including how boards and management oversee sustainability initiatives.

Who will be affected by new regulations?

Businesses must report carbon emissions if they meet one or more of these criteria:

Publicly listed

Issued listed debt instruments

Private company with a turnover exceeding £500 million and with more than 500 employees

Insurance company or bank

Similarly, LLPs that trade or have a turnover over £500 million and more than 500 employees also have to comply. Listed companies are subject to FCA Listing Rules on a ‘comply or explain’ basis, regardless of size.

Why are these changes important?

Mandatory sustainability reporting is a crucial step towards the UK’s climate goals. Businesses are under pressure to show they’re contributing to solving climate change—and the new requirements aim to provide greater transparency, making sure companies can’t overlook or downplay their environmental impact.

Plus, for investors, the new standards make it easier to compare businesses’ sustainability performance across industries, helping drive greener investment decisions. Companies that fail to comply could face reputational risks and miss out on investment opportunities as stakeholders, these days, tend to prefer ESG-friendly businesses.

Even if your business isn’t required to report, many companies track their carbon emissions voluntarily. Sustainability initiatives boost your brand reputation and attract investors; and companies that lead in sustainability are increasingly favoured by consumers, partners, and investors.

Automate your carbon reporting in Capture Expense

Capture Expense supports reporting of Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon emissions, helping you achieve your sustainability goals and showcase your commitment to environmental responsibility.

By tracking your carbon emissions in Capture Expense, you’ll be ready to comply with upcoming regulations and access valuable insights for improving sustainability. Find out more about how it works.

Capture Expense Brochure

Unlock the power of real-time spending insights across your entire organisation. Dive into our brochure to discover how you can stay on top of reimbursements, bills, and credit card transactions as they happen, ensuring smarter financial decisions.

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Danielle Nicholson In Resources

A Guide to Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR) in Ireland

Since the Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR) kicked in from January 2024, businesses in Ireland had to make some key changes to how they manage and report on expenses.

The new rules are all about improving transparency and making sure the right information is reported to Revenue, and they impact three key things; remote working allowances, small benefits, and travel expenses.

So, what does this mean for your business, and how can you stay fully compliant? Let’s break it down.

What are the Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR)?

ERR is a new way of making sure businesses in Ireland report specific employee expenses more accurately. If your company provides allowances for remote working, offers small benefits like gift cards, or reimburses employees for travel and subsistence, you need to report these more precisely to Revenue.

Here’s a closer look at what needs to be reported under Enhanced Reporting Requirements:

Remote working allowances: If your team is working from home—whether it’s full-time or hybrid—you might be covering some of their home office costs like electricity, heating, or broadband. ERR means you’ll need to keep track of:
- - How much you’re paying employees to cover these costs.
  - Whether the payments stay within Revenue’s tax-free limit (currently €3.20 per day).
  - Reporting any amounts over that limit, as they’ll need to be taxed
Small benefits exemption: Many businesses like to offer non-cash benefits—things like gift vouchers or rewards—as part of their employee perks. Under ERR, you’ll now need to:
- Report the value of any small benefits provided to your staff.
- Ensure the total value stays under the current exemption limit (which is €1,000 per year).
- If any employee’s benefit goes over the limit, the excess will need to be included in their taxable income.
Travel and subsistence: If your employees are on the road for work—whether it’s for meetings, conferences, or client visits—ERR changes how you report travel allowances. You’ll need to:
- Track and report the amounts paid for travel and subsistence, such as meals, mileage, and accommodation.
- Ensure the payments align with Revenue’s daily subsistence rates.
- Report any amounts above those approved limits, as they’ll be taxable.

Managing employee expenses has always been important, but now, with ERR, the stakes are higher. The key here is accuracy. If you’re offering remote working allowances or covering travel costs, you’ll need to get those details right and report them promptly. Not doing so can lead to compliance issues, tax liabilities, and even penalties from Revenue.

How to submit your ERR

All ERR reports need to be submitted through Revenue’s Online Service (ROS); the platform that allows you to upload your data and make sure it’s filed correctly. If you’re already familiar with ROS for other tax reporting, it’ll be a smooth transition to include ERR data here as well.

It’s worth noting that one of the key changes is the need for real-time reporting. This means you’ll need to submit the relevant data to Revenue every time you process remote working allowances, small benefits, or travel reimbursements.

How does ERR impact your business?

The biggest change is how closely you monitor and report these expenses. You’ll need to keep a detailed record of all qualifying payments and make sure they’re reported accurately each time. Whether your expenses are managed in-house or through an external provider, you’ll need to make sure your systems are up to the task of meeting these new reporting obligations.

Here’s three areas you can focus on to keep on track:

Tracking allowances and benefits: Every remote working allowance, travel reimbursement, or small benefit needs to be tracked. Make sure these payments fit within the limits set by Revenue, and any over-the-limit amounts are flagged as taxable.

Reporting in real-time: It’s no longer just about logging expenses for internal records; ERR means you need to report this information in real-time to Revenue. This helps makes sure all your spend is up-to-date and compliant.

Being prepared for audits: With the new focus on transparency, Revenue will have a clearer picture of how businesses handle employee expenses. This means audits could become more frequent, so having clean, accurate records will be key.

How to easily manage your Enhanced Reporting Requirements

To stay ahead of ERR, here’s what your business can do:

Review your current expense policies: Take a look at how you’re currently managing remote working allowances, small benefits, and travel expenses. Are they properly documented and within the allowable limits?
Upgrade your software: If you’re not already using digital tools for tracking employee expenses, now’s the time to invest. Automated systems can help you capture and report the required details accurately and efficiently, and automatically generate the reports for you.
Stay informed on Revenue guidelines: Revenue’s guidelines on tax-free limits and approved daily rates change from time to time. Make sure your team is up-to-date on the latest rules, so you can stay compliant without any surprises.
Educate your teams: Whether it’s HR, finance, or your employees themselves, everyone needs to understand the changes ERR brings. Ensure teams are trained on how to handle, track, and report expenses under the new rules.

Watch on-demand

Expense Management in Ireland

How to generate accurate ERR reports and comply with Revenue

30 minutes

Watch now

With Jonny Dowell

Business Development Manager

Struggling with ERR?

Capture Expense is built to manage your Enhanced Reporting Requirements, along with other features designed to keep you Revenue compliant across all areas like mileage and subsistence.

Automatically generate reports tailored specifically for Irish Revenue reporting, including all the necessary data across remote working allowances, small benefits, and travel expenses – so you have everything you need to stay compliant, without the manual work.

Capture Expense Ireland Brochure