Expense policy templates your auditors will recognize
12 industry handbooks with full clause text, recommended limits and IRS Accountable Plan language. Word, PDF or Notion.
Recommended limits by industry and size
Pick your industry and headcount to see the starting limits, approval routing and audit coverage we recommend.
Employees
Technology & SaaS
501 to 1,500 employees
| Category | Recommended limit |
|---|---|
| Domestic hotel (per night) | $289 in tier-1 cities, $219 elsewhere |
| Daily meals (traveling) | $84 per full travel day |
| Client meal (per attendee) | $115 including tax and tip |
| Domestic airfare | Economy; seat selection up to $49 per segment |
| International airfare | Economy; premium economy on segments over 6 hours |
| Ground transport | Standard ride-share or transit; $68 per airport transfer |
| Alcohol | Two drinks per person with a client or candidate meal |
| Home office / remote stipend | $62.50 per month through payroll |
- Approval routing
- Manager, then department head above $1,500, finance above $5,000
- Policy tiers
- Two tiers: employees and directors+, with regional hotel overrides
- Duplicate detection
- 45-day window, matched across every card program
- Audit coverage
- 100% line-item audit, daily flag queue, monthly repeat-pattern review
Fits the Phyto Nex AI Growth plan.
Open full Technology & SaaS handbookAll 12 handbooks
- Technology & SaaSFinance and people teams at software companies with 50 to 1,500 employees, written for the controller, AP lead, sales leaders and managers of remote engineering teams.$289 in tier-1 cities, $219 elsewhere
- Healthcare & Life SciencesControllers, compliance officers and AP teams at medical device, diagnostics and health services companies with 200 to 5,000 employees, covering clinical specialists, medical affairs and commercial staff.$264 in high-cost metros, $199 elsewhere
- Professional Services & ConsultingFinance, billing and operations leads at consulting, accounting and advisory firms with 40 to 2,000 professionals, covering engagement managers, partners and staff who travel to client sites.$275 or the client's travel cap, whichever is lower
- Manufacturing & Field OperationsControllers and plant finance teams at manufacturers with 150 to 4,000 employees, written for field service technicians, installation crews, quality engineers and managers who travel between plants and customer sites.$169 near plants and customer sites; $239 in major metros
- Government Contractors (FAR & DCAA)Controllers, contracts managers and AP teams at federal contractors with 50 to 3,000 employees on cost-type and T&M contracts, written for program managers, engineers and business development staff.Lower of the FTR or JTR locality lodging rate or actual cost
- Financial ServicesCFOs, controllers and chief compliance officers at broker-dealers, wealth managers, asset managers and banks with 75 to 3,000 employees, covering advisers, registered representatives, relationship managers and operations staff.$329 in New York, Boston, San Francisco and Chicago; $236 elsewhere
- NonprofitExecutive directors, finance directors and grants managers at nonprofits with 15 to 800 staff, covering program staff, development officers, volunteers and board members who travel on the organization's behalf.Lower of GSA locality rate or actual; $189 where no GSA rate applies
- Higher EducationControllers, sponsored programs offices and department business managers at colleges and universities with 300 to 15,000 faculty and staff, covering faculty, researchers, coaches, admissions and student affairs staff.Lower of GSA locality rate or actual; conference hotel allowed with note
- Retail & ConsumerControllers and finance operations teams at retailers and consumer brands with 200 to 20,000 employees, covering district and regional managers, merchants, buyers, store operations and field marketing staff.$184 in most store markets; $261 in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago
- Construction & EngineeringControllers, project accountants and payroll leads at general contractors, specialty contractors and engineering firms with 100 to 5,000 employees, covering superintendents, project managers, field engineers and traveling crews.$154 within 30 miles of the job site; $212 in major metros
- Media & AdvertisingCFOs, controllers and production finance leads at agencies, studios and media companies with 30 to 2,500 employees, covering account leads, producers, creative teams and new business staff.$312 in New York and Los Angeles; $229 elsewhere
- Biotech & Pharma Field SalesCommercial finance, compliance and AP teams at biotech and pharmaceutical companies with 100 to 4,000 employees, written for sales representatives, key account managers, medical science liaisons and district managers.$219 in territory; $279 for national meetings in major metros
What every handbook includes
Written in policy voice, so you can paste clauses straight into your handbook and send it for acknowledgment.
12 to 13 handbook clauses
Scope, approvals, booking, lodging, meals, alcohol, gifts, receipts, exceptions and audit
Recommended limits table
Nightly hotel caps, meal limits, airfare class, mileage and receipt thresholds
IRS Accountable Plan clauses
Business connection, 60-day substantiation and 120-day return of excess
Industry pitfalls
The mistakes auditors and regulators find most often in that sector
Clarification request wording
How finance asks for receipts or context without starting an argument
Rollout FAQs
The questions employees ask in the first week, answered
Modern corporate travel and expense policy
- 1.0Purpose, scope and who approves what
- 3.2Lodging: nightly caps and folio incidentals
- 4.1Meals, attendees and the alcohol rule
- 6.0Receipts at $75, substantiation in 60 days
- 6.4Return of excess advances within 120 days
- 8.0Audit, clarification requests and exceptions
Download our 2026 Modern Corporate Expense Policy Template (Word + Notion ready)
34 editable clauses with recommended limits, IRS Accountable Plan language and the exact wording our customers use for clarification requests.
Template questions
New to the tax side? Start with the IRS Accountable Plan guide.
Yes. They are licensed CC BY 4.0, so you can edit, rebrand and adopt them. Review the limits against your own spend history and have your tax advisor confirm the Accountable Plan clauses fit your payroll setup before rollout.
Limits follow common mid-market practice for each industry, anchored to IRS thresholds where one exists ($75 receipts, $25 business gifts, the standard mileage rate) and to federal per diem rates for government contractors. Treat them as a starting point and adjust by city tier and role.
Each handbook adds the clauses that industry gets audited on: Sunshine Act reporting for healthcare and pharma, FAR 31.205-46 per diem caps for contractors, client-rebillable expenses for consulting, donor-restricted funds for nonprofits and job-site per diems for construction.
Word if legal or HR will redline it, PDF for employee acknowledgment, and Notion if you want the clauses and limits as a linked database your team can search. The content is identical across all three.
The clauses are platform neutral. If you connect Phyto Nex AI, the limits table maps directly to audit rules so the written policy and the enforced policy stay the same document.
A policy only works if someone enforces it.
Phyto Nex AI turns your limits table into audit rules and checks every receipt against them. Your team approves every message.
14-day free production trial. Read-only connectors. No card required.