Free Travel Expense Report Template — Track Receipts, Categorize Spending & Submit Faster

You got back from a business trip three days ago. You have a pile of receipts — paper ones crumpled in your bag, email confirmations buried in your inbox, and a few charges you vaguely remember but didn’t save the receipt for. Now your company wants an itemized expense report by Friday.

This free travel expense report template gives you a structured way to log every trip expense as it happens (or reconstruct it after the fact), categorize each item to match standard corporate expense policies, and produce a clean summary your finance team can process without emailing you back with questions.

What’s in This Template

1. Trip Summary

Header section with your name, department, trip destination, dates, trip purpose, project or cost center code, and manager’s name for approval. This information goes on every expense report and having it templated means you’re not re-typing it each trip.

2. Expense Log

The main table: date, description, category, vendor or merchant, payment method (corporate card, personal card, cash), currency, amount, receipt status (attached, photographed, missing), and notes. One row per transaction. Designed to be filled in chronologically — ideally as expenses happen, but it works retroactively too.

3. Category Breakdown

Standard expense categories that match most corporate policies: airfare, ground transportation (taxi, rideshare, rental car, parking, tolls), lodging, meals (solo and client entertainment, itemized separately since per-diem rules often differ), conference or event fees, business supplies, communication (phone, Wi-Fi), and miscellaneous. Each category shows its subtotal automatically.

4. Per-Diem Tracker

If your company uses per-diem rates instead of itemized meal receipts, this section calculates your daily meal and incidental allowance. Enter your destination city, the GSA or company per-diem rate, number of travel days, and whether you received any company-provided meals (which reduce the daily allowance). The template calculates the total per-diem amount owed.

5. Mileage Log

For trips involving personal vehicle use: date, starting location, destination, round-trip miles, IRS mileage rate (or your company’s rate), and calculated reimbursement. Running total at the bottom. Separate from other transportation because mileage reimbursement typically requires its own documentation.

6. Receipt Checklist

A checklist of every receipt you need to attach, matched to each expense line item. Status options: attached, digital copy saved, lost (with explanation), and not applicable (for per-diem items). Having this as a separate section makes it easy to do a final check before submission — so you can catch missing receipts before your finance team does.

7. Summary & Totals

The bottom line: total expenses by category, grand total, amount paid by corporate card, amount paid personally (for reimbursement), any cash advances received, and net amount owed to you. This is the page your approver looks at first.

How to Use It

1. Open it before your trip starts. Fill in the Trip Summary section with trip details, and pre-populate any known expenses (flights, hotel) that were booked in advance.
2. Log expenses daily during the trip. Spend 5 minutes each evening adding the day’s expenses. Photograph every receipt with your phone immediately after each transaction — don’t wait until you’re home.
3. Categorize correctly from the start. Using the right category on first entry is faster than recategorizing 30 items later. The Category Breakdown section shows you the standard categories upfront.
4. Reconcile before submitting. Check your credit card statement against the Expense Log. Look for charges you forgot to record and receipts you forgot to photograph.
5. Export and submit. Download as PDF or Excel (whichever your company’s system requires). If you need to combine the report with receipt images, use the Yopki Travel Document Organizer to merge everything into one submission-ready document.

Expense Tracking Tips

Photograph receipts immediately. Paper receipts fade, get lost, and disintegrate in wash cycles. The moment you receive a receipt, photograph it with your phone. Most expense systems accept digital photos of receipts as valid documentation.

Separate business meals from personal meals. If you take a client to dinner, log it under “client entertainment” with the client’s name and business purpose. If you eat alone, log it under “meals — employee.” The distinction matters for tax and audit purposes.

Note the business purpose for unusual expenses. A $200 dinner looks questionable without context. Add a note: “Client dinner with [Name], discussed Q2 contract renewal.” This prevents questions from your approver and protects you during audits.

Don’t forget tips and incidentals. Hotel tips, restaurant tips, airport parking, baggage fees, Wi-Fi charges at the hotel, and phone charges for international calls are all reimbursable at most companies but easy to forget because they’re small. They add up.

Related Templates

• This Travel Expense Report — dedicated expense tracking and reimbursement preparation. Best as a standalone submission or paired with a business trip itinerary.
• Business Trip Itinerary — meeting schedule, logistics, and a lighter expense tracker built in. Best if you want trip planning and basic expense tracking in one document.
• Travel Budget Template — budget planning and tracking for personal travel. Best for vacation budgeting rather than corporate reimbursement.
• Trip Planning Spreadsheet — six-tab planner with a built-in budget tab. Best for personal trip planning with budget awareness.

FAQ

How do I create a travel expense report?

Start by logging every expense during your trip: date, description, category (meals, transportation, lodging), amount, and payment method. Photograph receipts as they happen. When you return, reconcile your log against your credit card statement, categorize everything according to your company’s expense policy, calculate totals by category, and submit with receipt documentation. This template structures all of those steps so your report is organized before you even open your company’s expense system.

Can I use this template with my company’s expense system?

This template is designed to help you track expenses in real time and organize your data before entering it into your company’s official system (Concur, Expensify, Certify, etc.). The categories match common corporate expense classifications, so transferring data is straightforward. Think of it as your working document that feeds into the official submission.

What if I lost a receipt?

Mark it as “lost” in the Receipt Checklist and add a note explaining the expense. Most companies accept a written explanation for lost receipts under a certain dollar amount (often $25 or $75). For larger amounts, check your credit card statement for a transaction record as backup documentation.

Does this handle multiple currencies?

Yes. The Expense Log has a currency column. Log expenses in the local currency with the exchange rate or converted amount. For international trips, note whether your company wants original currency amounts, converted amounts, or both.

How is this different from the Travel Budget template?

The Travel Budget template is for planning and tracking personal travel spending. This Expense Report template is specifically designed for corporate travel reimbursement — with categories that match expense policies, receipt tracking, per-diem calculations, and a summary formatted for submission to a finance department.