Glossary · Accounting & finance

Expense reports: rules, receipts and SME management

6 min read · Updated on 1 July 2026

Definition An expense report is a document through which an employee requests reimbursement for costs incurred on behalf of their employer as part of their professional activity. Business meals, travel, hotels, tolls, equipment purchases: all these expenses are reimbursed upon receipt, within URSSAF rate limits.

The full entry

The essentials in brief

Expense report = reimbursement request for business expenses paid in advance by the employee.
3 types of expenses: travel (km, transport), meals, accommodation.
Receipt mandatory unless daily mission allowance < 5h; otherwise URSSAF rejection.
2026 rates: €7.50 for meals outside the company, €0.529/km for personal vehicles ≤ 3CV.
Retention: 10 years (paper or compliant digital format).

I Which expenses are reimbu...

Which expenses are reimbursable?

Business travel

Mileage allowances (MA): per URSSAF rate by vehicle fiscal horsepower. For 2026: €0.529/km for cars ≤ 3 HP, €0.606/km for 4 HP, €0.636/km for 5 HP, €0.668/km for 6 HP, €0.681/km for ≥ 7 HP (up to 5,000 km/year). Beyond this, degressive rate applies.
Public transport, flights, trains, taxis, tolls, parking: reimbursed at actual cost upon receipt.
Vehicle rental during travel: at actual cost.

Meals

Meals outside the company (mission, travel): reimbursed at actual cost upon receipt, or URSSAF flat rate of €21.10 in 2026 without receipt (if travel is mandatory).
Meals with guests/clients: full reimbursement on detailed restaurant invoice (list guests).
Meal vouchers: max €7.26/day tax-exempt in 2026 (employer contribution 50–60%).

Accommodation

Hotels: at actual cost on invoice. No URSSAF cap, but companies may set internal limits.
Breakfast: usually included in the hotel rate.

Other business expenses

Purchase of professional equipment (books, supplies, IT hardware) on named invoice.
Entertainment expenses (client gifts < €73 ex-VAT per recipient per year).
Professional membership fees (orders, trade unions).

0,529 €/km

2026 mileage rate for vehicles ≤ 3 fiscal HP (up to 5,000 km/year)

21,10 €

2026 URSSAF meal allowance for mandatory travel

10 years

retention period for expense reports and receipts

II Receipts: what must a val...

Receipts: what must a valid expense report include?

URSSAF and the tax authorities require that every reimbursed expense must be:

In the company’s interest (professional purpose explicitly stated).
Justified: invoice, cash receipt, named receipt. For mileage allowances: precise journey details (point A → point B, reason, date).
Dated within the employee’s active period.
Reimbursed via a clear process (form, manager approval, payment).

A compliant expense report contains:

Employee identity + ID number
Period covered (month, week)
For each line: date, expense type, amount incl. VAT, recoverable VAT if applicable, attached receipt (number, URL or file), business purpose, signature
Total to reimburse
Manager approval + accounting department validation

Risk without receipt: URSSAF adjustment (expense reclassified as taxable benefit in kind) + tax adjustment (non-recoverable VAT, non-deductible corporate tax expense). Over 3 years, the cost of an audit can exceed €10–20k for a poorly organised SME.

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URSSAF risk

Without a compliant receipt, the expense is reclassified as a taxable benefit in kind: social contributions + non-recoverable VAT + non-deductible expense. Over 3 years of audits, the bill quickly exceeds €10–20k for a poorly organised SME.

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III Frequently asked questions

Answers to the questions we get asked most.

Can expense receipts be digitised and the paper copies discarded?

Yes, since the decree of 22 March 2017: paper invoices can be digitised and the original destroyed, provided the digitisation guarantees the authenticity, integrity and legibility of the document (electronic signature, reliable audit trail, or OCR compliant with NF Z42-013). Many business management software solutions (including Orizen) integrate this compliant digitisation into the expense workflow, cutting processing time in half.

How long must expense reports be retained?

10 years for the expense reports themselves (Article L.123-22 of the French Commercial Code). For supporting documents (invoices): also 10 years. For mileage allowances: keep records of the number of kilometres travelled (vehicle registration, routes) for 6 years (URSSAF statute of limitations), ideally 10 years for consistency.

How long does it take on average to process an expense report?

On average, 18–24 minutes per expense report in manual mode (Excel + paper), according to the SAP Concur 2024 study. With dedicated software (mobile capture + OCR + auto-validation workflow), the time drops to 4–6 minutes. For an SME with 20 employees submitting 5 reports/person/month, this saves 6 to 12 hours each month, equivalent to freeing up half a management position per year.

Which expenses are reimbursable?

Receipts: what must a valid expense report include?

What if a tool handled this for you?

Answers to the questions we get asked most.

Make Orizen better, one click is enough.