Definition, list of business expenses and examples
We offer you the basics of expense management:
- definition of expenses,
- list of business expenses,
- and examples to help you understand them better.
Bonus: a few tips on how to manage them easily, the different reimbursement methods, Urssaf scales and professional tools to help you.
Urssaf definition of business expenses
Professional expenses are expenses incurred by an employee in the performance of his or her duties, which the employer is obliged to reimburse.
Business expenses are therefore incurred by the employee in a professional capacity, at the request and with the approval of his manager, in order to carry out the tasks entrusted to him.
The employer is obliged to reimburse the sums advanced, generally on presentation of an expense claim accompanied by proof of expenditure.
The sums reimbursed are not subject to Social Security contributions or CSG-CRDS.
List of professional expenses and examples
- Mission expenses: all out-of-pocket expenses incurred by a civil servant on a given mission, when traveling away from his or her administrative residence (usual place of work) and family residence (home). They include meal, accommodation and travel expenses.
- Transport costs: for example, streetcar, metro, bus or train passes, plane tickets, etc.
- Meal expenses: these may include meals purchased outside canteen opening hours for on-call assignments, during training periods, or night work, but also lump-sum meal baskets, or meals in a restaurant with a client.
- Accommodation costs: hotel, AirBnB, etc., incurred when traveling for several days, sometimes abroad. They can also include rental expenses incurred when you're transferred to another company, and therefore have to move while you wait for a permanent home. In this case, the expenses are referred to as "business travel" or "long-distance travel", incurred as part of professional mobility.
- Mileage-based expenses, for journeys made with a personal vehicle for business purposes, be it a car, motorcycle or bicycle.
- Expenses related to teleworking or mobile working - expenses related to NTIC (new information and communication technologies): when an employee needs to equip himself to be able to work from home or on the move in satisfactory conditions: furniture, Wifi box, second screen, ergonomic chair, smartphone, etc.
☝️ All these examples of business expenses must be reasonable and justified.
How to manage business expenses?
Here are a few tips and tools to help companies manage their expense reports:
- Use our expense report template to provide your employees with clear documentation, so that they can claim reimbursement of their business expenses on an actual basis, within the limits of the Urssaf scales.
- Or opt for compensation in the form of a lump-sum allowance, the maximum amount of which is set each year by the Urssaf via scales, for professions often faced with professional expenses.
- Or apply a specific lump-sum deduction for certain professions, such as sales representatives or construction workers.
- You can also :
- create a customized form to standardize the entry of business expenses, in complete mobility, with Kizeo Forms ;
- dematerialize the management of business expenses from A to Z, and guarantee legal archiving, with N2F.
- To calculate business expenses, particularly mileage expenses, consult the applicable Urssaf scales, or use tools such as Izika to automate and save precious time.
☝️ What about transferring business expenses to pay slips? These solutions generally communicate with your HR tools. - Finally, another option is to avoid advances on business expenses and provide your employees with a capped bank card, via the Spendesk solution for example.
To find out more, browse through our magazine and discover all our articles on expense management.