Travel expense report form, printable with a filled example
Quick answer
A travel expense report form has three parts: trip details (who, why, where, when), an expense log with one row per receipt (date, purpose, category, receipt, amount), and a summary that totals each category and subtracts any advance. In the filled example, nine rows come to $833.20, and after a $200.00 advance the traveler is owed $633.20.
Key points
- A report has three parts: trip details, an expense log with one row per receipt, and a summary by category.
- In the example, nine rows total $833.20, and a $200.00 advance leaves $633.20 owed to the traveler.
- Check the report two ways: the category totals and the rows of the log must add up to the same number.
- Mileage is miles times the rate your organization states, so leave the rate blank until you know it.
- Costs you paid for other people are a separate question for the approver, and the shared part can be tracked outside the report.
On this page
How to use this template
Fill in the trip details, log each expense on its own row on the day it happens, and complete the summary last. The tables print as they are and copy into Excel or Google Sheets.
- Fill in the trip details, including any advance you received.
- Log one row per receipt: date, what it was for, category, whether you have the receipt, amount.
- Fill in the mileage block only if you drove your own vehicle. Miles times the rate gives the amount.
- Complete the summary. Total each category, add them together, then subtract the advance and anything the organization paid directly.
- Check it two ways. The category totals and the rows of the log must add up to the same number. If not, a row is missing from the summary, counted twice, or has a category that does not match.
The example is a hypothetical three-day client workshop with nine log rows and a $200.00 advance.
The template
Trip details
The header block holds who, why, where and when. Blank cells in the example stay blank on purpose.
| Field | Entry | Field | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traveler | Approver | ||
| Purpose | Client workshop | Destination | Chicago |
| First day | Nov 10 | Last day | Nov 12 |
| Advance received | $200.00 | Report date |
Expense log
The nine filled rows add up to $833.20. A “No” in the Receipt column is a line to explain in a note under the table.
| Date | What it was for | Category | Receipt | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 10 | Flight to Chicago | Airfare | Yes | $286.40 |
| Nov 10 | Taxi, airport to hotel | Ground transport | Yes | $52.00 |
| Nov 10 | Dinner, one person | Meals | Yes | $38.75 |
| Nov 11 | Breakfast | Meals | No | $11.50 |
| Nov 11 | Client lunch, 3 people | Meals | Yes | $64.20 |
| Nov 11 | Parking at client site | Ground transport | Yes | $18.00 |
| Nov 12 | Hotel, 2 nights at $149.00 | Lodging | Yes | $298.00 |
| Nov 12 | Taxi, hotel to airport | Ground transport | Yes | $47.50 |
| Nov 12 | Lunch at the airport | Meals | Yes | $16.85 |
Mileage
Leave this block empty unless you drove your own vehicle. The rate is whatever your organization states.
| Date | From and to | Miles | Rate per mile | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Summary
After the $200.00 advance, the example report asks for $633.20. Ground transport is 52.00 plus 18.00 plus 47.50, which is $117.50.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Airfare | $286.40 |
| Lodging | $298.00 |
| Ground transport | $117.50 |
| Meals | $131.30 |
| Mileage | $0.00 |
| Other | $0.00 |
| Total expenses | $833.20 |
| Less advance received | $200.00 |
| Less paid directly by the organization | $0.00 |
| Owed to the traveler | $633.20 |
If the advance had been $900.00, the last line would work out to a negative $66.80, which means the traveler returns $66.80.
What to agree on with the approver
Receipts
Your organization decides which costs need a receipt, so write that rule at the top of the form before you travel. A lost receipt still gets a row, marked No, with a note under the log.
Mileage and daily meal amounts
Mileage is miles times the rate your organization states. Say the rate is $0.50 a mile (a number chosen only to show the arithmetic): a 36-mile round trip is 36 times $0.50, or $18.00. If your organization pays a fixed amount per day for meals in place of receipts, replace the Meals rows with the number of days times the daily amount, and ask the approver what that amount is.
Foreign currency
For a cost paid by card in another currency, enter the amount in your own currency that the card was charged. For cash, enter the foreign amount times the one rate your organization tells you to use. Say a hotel night costs 120.00 euros and the rate is 1.08 (both numbers made up): 120.00 times 1.08 is $129.60. If you split a trip with other people across two currencies, splitting expenses in two currencies without converting covers that side.
Costs you paid for other people
If you paid a team dinner or a shared taxi, ask the approver whether the full bill goes on the line or only your own share. When friends or colleagues owe you their part, EvenOut can hold that side: add the dinner as an expense you paid, choose who shared it, and the Balances block shows who owes you what, so the report and the debts stay separate. The group trip expense spreadsheet does the same on paper, and how to track group trip expenses covers the routine for a whole trip.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do if I lose a receipt?
Keep the row, mark the Receipt column No and write a short note under the log with the date, the seller, the amount and how you paid. The approver decides whether a cost without a receipt is accepted, so tell them before they find it. A card statement line showing the same amount is something you can offer with the note.
How do I get the category totals in Excel or Google Sheets?
Keep Category in one column and Amount in another, then use SUMIF. For Meals, with categories in C2 to C30 and amounts in E2 to E30, type =SUMIF(C2:C30,"Meals",E2:E30). Total expenses is =SUM(E2:E30). Add the category totals together and compare: the two numbers must match.
What do I write in the 'What it was for' column?
Write what the cost was for in a few words that someone who was not there would understand. 'Client lunch, 3 people' tells the approver more than 'Lunch'. Add the number of people to any meal, and the start and end of any ride.
Is there an app that builds travel expense reports?
EvenOut is for splitting costs between people and keeping track of who owes whom. It does not build expense reports and has no data export, so keep the report in a form like this one and use EvenOut for the part of a trip that other people share.
Keep reading
- Template Group trip expense spreadsheet (printable) A printable group trip expense spreadsheet: an expense log and a settle-up block, plain-words formulas for Excel or Sheets, and a filled two-currency example.
- Guide How to track group trip expenses as you go A routine for tracking trip expenses as they happen: what counts as shared, logging at the till, an evening check and a charts review at the end.
- Guide Split expenses in two currencies without converting Track a €300 hotel and a £120 dinner as two balances, then settle each one or agree a rate once. Also what Splitwise and EvenOut do with currencies.
- Template Group trip budget template (printable, with a per-person cap) A fill-in group trip budget with lines for lodging, travel, food and activities, deposits and a per-person cap, plus a worked example for 6 people.