I work for a property management company with close to 300 apartment communities across the US and have have been asked to do some benchmarking on travel and expense policies. We are in the midst of revising our policies and I am specifically looking for feedback from others in the property management industry. Here are some of the topics we are reviewing:
Travel meals without an overnight stay - We have a lot of regional staff that are required to leave their homes early in the morning, drive to one or more properties for work throughout the day, and return home in the evenings. Are meals for one-day travel without an overnight stay allowable per policy?
Mileage reimbursement - Most of our staff drive their personal vehicles and receive mileage reimbursement. Since the majority of them are based out of their homes and travel daily to properties, they do not have a standard commute. How should mileage reimbursement be calculated? Would employees in these situations be required to deduct a certain number of miles each day to account for an average commute and if so, what is that number?
