9.4 Mileage and Per Diem Policies, Oracle Maps and Cumulative Mileage

The published objective is Manage Expense Policies. Mileage and per diem are covered here because they work differently from the limit-and-tolerance policies in section 9.3: the application calculates the reimbursement from your rules.

Mileage policies

Create a mileage policy on Manage Policies by Expense Category by choosing Mileage. Mileage covers employees using personal, or company-provided, vehicles for business. Governments usually set the reimbursement rates. In the United States, the IRS business rate for 2026 is 72.5 cents per mile, raised to 76 cents from 1 July 2026 (Announcement 2026-11). Add the new rates in the spreadsheet with that start date.

Eligibility rules

Rate determinants

Vehicle type and fuel type values are lookup codes you define.

Add-on rates

The predefined add-on rate types are:

• Single rate per passenger, whatever the number of passengers;
• rates by mileage determinants, varying by vehicle category, type or role;
• rates by range of passengers, for example 0.25 USD per mile for the first three passengers and 0.20 USD after that;
• rate by mileage determinants and range of passengers;
• restrict number of passengers reimbursed;
• company-specific rates, such as 0.30 USD per mile for hauling a trailer or 0.50 USD on forest roads.

You can add custom add-on rate types as lookup codes of EXM_ADDITIONAL_RATES in Manage Standard Lookups. They then appear in the rates spreadsheet.

Oracle's Finland example

Oracle's worked example reimburses kilometers in euros:

• a car at 45 cents per kilometer for the first 5,000 km and 40 cents after that;
• motorcycles, motorboats and snowmobiles at their own rates.

Because the rate changes after 5,000 km in the year, the distance threshold is by period, which means the calculation uses cumulative mileage. Vehicle type and fuel type are determinants too. Add-ons include 3 cents per passenger and company-specific rates for trailers, caravans, heavy equipment and forest roads.

After the policy is defined

1. Complete and upload the mileage rate spreadsheet, or use the Create Rates dialog box for simple policies.
2. Activate the policy.
3. Set up cumulative mileage determinants when rates depend on distance over a period.
4. Assign the policy to mileage expense types.

Uploading cumulative mileage for a mid-year go-live

If rates depend on distance over a period and you go live during the tax year, upload each employee's mileage to date:

• Use Upload Cumulative Mileage from Manage Cumulative Mileage Determinants.
• The text file holds the person number, accumulated mileage, an as-of date and the vehicle category, type or fuel type codes the determinant needs. Reimbursement amount and currency are optional.
• Run it only once per business unit to avoid data corruption, unless you are correcting entries before employees submit more mileage.

Oracle Maps for trip distance

With Oracle Maps, employees enter a start location, stops along the way and a destination, and the application calculates the distance.

Mandatory setup:

1. Set Enable Oracle Maps to Yes on Manage Expenses System Options, for all business units or a specific one.
2. Create a mileage policy, optionally with a commute deduction rule, and assign it to an expense type.

Optional setup:

• Commute mileage deduction, optional or required. The formula is Trip Distance = Total Distance − Commute Distance. If home addresses aren't in HCM, employees can enter them in the Calculate Mileage dialog box.
• Preferred locations, such as offices and client sites, as lookup codes of ORA_EXM_MILEAGE_LOCATIONS. The meaning is the name shown and the description is the address. You maintain them in Manage Expense Report Auditing Lookup Types.

Managers and auditors can review the interim stops on the View Expense Report and Audit Expense Report pages. An auditor's View Map button opens Trip Details with every point and the trip distance.

Per diem policies

A per diem policy pays a calculated allowance per day of travel instead of actual costs. Oracle's per diem model offers these building blocks:

Scope and rates

• Policy type Generic, Domestic or Foreign.
• Rates entered by you, or uploaded from US government CONUS or OCONUS files.
• The allowance can include meals, optionally with incidentals, accommodations and other expenses.
• A rate formula:
  • a daily rate, multiplied by days or nights;
  • the sum of separate allowances;
  • a time-based version of either.
• Rates by location or zone, by role (such as job management level or salary), by season and by accommodation type (Hotel, No Receipts, Private, Private No Cooking, Private Cooking).

Time rules

• A per diem day runs Midnight to Midnight or Start Time Plus 24 Hours.
• Specific first and last day rates.
• Same-day travel, with a minimum number of hours. Its rates apply to trips under 24 hours or trips without an overnight stay.
• Weekend and holiday rates, with configurable weekend days, and long-term travel rules.

Eligibility

• A minimum trip duration.
• A minimum distance from home or office.
• Whether travel within the employee's home city qualifies.
• Time windows for breakfast, lunch and dinner allowances.
• Minimum night hours, or meals eligibility, before accommodations are paid.

Meals

• Meal allowance as a daily rate, rates by meal type or rates by number of meals.
• Free meal deductions as a daily deduction, by meal type or by number of meals, for example when a conference provides lunch.
• Free accommodation deductions.
• A minimum reimbursement guaranteed after deductions.

Most allowances use a calculation method of Rate, Percentage or Spreadsheet. A policy can also allow actual expenses instead of per diem.