Things to notice about travel invoices in Mini
- In order to be able to create a travel and expense invoice in Procountor Mini, user must have user rights for creating travel and expence invoices. In addition to this, the information of the person making the travel/expense invoice must be filled in the person register.
- When the user is added to the person register, user's username must be linked to person register. This is necessary in order to enable user to create travel invoices in Procountor.
- As for travel invoices, the Procountor Mini application follows the Finnish Tax Administration’s decision on tax-exempt allowances for travel expenses.
- Mini has a GPS positioning feature so it can automatically retrieve the current location for the travel invoice. It should be noticed that the GPS does not continuously calculate the distance, but marks the place where it was switched on.
- With the automatic kilometer function, Google APIs can be used to calculate the kilometers for automatic kilometer allowances.
- If you want to create travel invoice for another person, this can be done only in Procountor.
Creating a new travel invoice
1. Creating a new travel and/or expense invoice can be started by clicking on the + button on the front page of Mini.
2. Select the New travel invoice button.
3. Enter the Departure place of the journey. In Mini, you can also enter invoice data without an online connection to make it easier to fill out the travel invoice information. Please note that the travel invoice will only be sent to Procountor once you return online. The listing of places during the travel is retrieved directly via the Google API.
4. Enter the start time of the journey in the Departure time field. Also add the time zone which you were in at the beginning of the journey.
5. If you want to apply for the daily allowance, activate the Claim daily allowance option.
6. With the + button, you can add the next entry in the travel invoice timeline. At the top of the timeline view, you can see the current sum of the travel invoice in the accounting currency. You can add expenses, places, kilometers and meal allowances to the travel invoice. Instructions for adding the previously mentioned entries to the travel invoice will be listed further in this article.
7. Add all necessary entries.
8. Mark the trip ended by clicking the + button and selecting the Travel end button.
- If you do not click the Travel end button in the travel invoice, Mini uses the last set location entry as the journey end location.
- The time of journey’s end has effects on the calculation of daily allowance.
- At the top of the travel invoice timeline view, you can see the sum of the travel invoice in the accounting currency of your Procountor environment.
9. With the Finish button at the top right corner of the timeline view, you can end recording the data for the journey and go to the last phase of the travel invoice. Check the journey data in this finalization view.
10. Enter an explanation of the trip in the Purpose of travel field. Completing the field is mandatory.
11. Activate the Charge expenses from customer option, if necessary. If the option is activated, the following text is added to the travel invoice notes in Procountor: Charge travel invoice from customer as well as the travel invoice departure and return time data.
12. If you activate the Send as unfinished option, the travel invoice is submitted to Procountor in the Unfinished state when you click the Send button in Mini. After this, the travel invoice can still be edited in Procountor.
13. If you do not activate the Send as unfinished option but directly click the Send button, the travel invoice is submitted to the first approver in accordance with the approval circulation. If there is no approval circulation, the invoice is marked in the Received status.
14. A notification is displayed in the Mini homepage that sending the invoice succeeded. After this, you can begin creating a new travel invoice.
After the Send button has been clicked, the invoice can no longer be edited in the Mini application.
Adding an expense to the travel invoice
1. Travel invoice products come directly from Procountor. To add an expense, click the + symbol and select the Expense button.
2. Add the expense Product type.
3. Add the expense Price and Currency. You can record the sum in the currency used in the purchase. Mini converts it into the accounting currency of your environment.
4. Add the Date of purchase. The purchase date is needed for the currency conversion. The expense is converted into the accounting currency at the exchange rate for the date of purchase or the previous day.
5. Select the VAT rate of the expense in the VAT field.
6. If necessary, add a Comment.
7. Add attachment/attachments. You can take a photo of the attachment with your phone when making the travel invoice with the Take photo button and attach it to the invoice or search for an image from the phone’s image files by clicking the Photo library button.
8. You can delete a created expense entry with the trashcan icon. It is not necessary to separately save the expense. The entry is saved automatically in Mini while you are making it. You can exit the expense view by clicking the Done button or clicking the X button at the top right corner.
Adding a place to the travel invoice
1. You can add a new place by first clicking the + button and selecting then the Place button.
2. Select the Location where you have arrived. Please note that your phone should be online to be able to add a location from the location list. The listing of location data is retrieved directly via the Google API.
3. Select the Time of arrival and Time zone.
4. You can delete a created location entry with the trashcan icon. It is not necessary to separately save the entry. The entry is saved automatically in Mini while you are making it. You can exit the location view by clicking the Done button or clicking the X button at the top right corner.
Adding kilometers to the travel invoice
1. You can add a kilometer expense by first clicking the + button and selecting then the Kilometers button.
2. Add the departure location to the Drive from field and destination to the Drive to field.
3. Add the Time of arrival.
4. Check that the Time zone is correct in the expense entry.
5. Add the kilometers driven.
6. Select the right type in the Allowance type field.
7. Once you have entered the kilometer expense, a new location entry, the one you entered as the destination in the kilometer expense, appears automatically in the travel invoice.
Please note that you cannot add additional people to a kilometer expense entry you made directly. If additional people have been riding with you, make a new kilometer allowance entry with Kilometer allowance, additional person as the expense type. Remember to delete the automatically created arrival location entry from the kilometer allowance entry. Otherwise, the arrival location is duplicated in the expense invoice.
8. You can delete a created kilometer entry with the trash can icon. It is not necessary to separately save the entry. The entry is saved automatically in Mini while you are making it. You can exit the kilometer view by clicking the Done button or clicking the X button at the top right corner.
Meal compensations in a travel invoice
- You can enter the meals during the journey by clicking the + button and selecting the Free meals button.
- From the meals, select the quantities corresponding to your own journey.
- The maximum number of meals corresponds to the Finnish Tax Administration’s guidance.
- You can add meals to the travel invoice only when the Claim daily allowance option is activated in the Travel start section (i button in the left side).