Business Expense Updates and Hot Topics Posted October 24, 2025

Available October 24, preparers of Stanford Easy Pay transactions will notice improvements when entering mileage reimbursement information. The changes allow for automatic calculation of standard mileage reimbursement rates defined by IRS guidelines and customization options as needed depending on the funding source.

What’s changing?

• When reimbursing mileage for the payment category Visitor Relocation and Recruitment, selecting the Mileage expense type will prompt a pop-up where the preparer can then select either Recruitment (default) or Relocation. After entering the number of miles driven and selecting save, the system will automatically apply the correct mileage rate per IRS guidelines, either the standard rate for recruitment, or the lower rate for relocation.
• When reimbursing mileage for the payment category Visitor Reimbursement, selecting the Mileage expense type will prompt a pop-up where the preparer can select either the Standard (default) or Custom mileage rate to be applied. If the Standard mileage rate per IRS guidelines should not be applied, for example because the reimbursement rate is limited by the funding source or for long-term travel, the preparer can select Custom and enter the total USD amount that should be paid.

Resources 

• How To: Create Visitor Relocation Reimbursement using Stanford Easy Pay
• How To: Create Visitor Reimbursement using Stanford Easy Pay
   

Stanford uses the U.S. government per diem rates for meals and/or lodging expenses, to take advantage of governmental cost studies and to ensure general equity with grant and contract requirements.

Domestic (Continental U.S.) Rates
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has announced the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) continental United States (CONUS) per diem expense rates effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. The GSA will keep the FY 2026 per diem reimbursement rates at the same level as FY 2025. 
Use the For Fiscal Year dropdown menu to match the dates the trip occurred.

Outside of Continental U.S. and Foreign Rates 
The U.S. Department of State sets the per diem rates at the beginning of each month for foreign and non-foreign locations overseas (also referred to as OCONUS locations, which includes Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.). To view the current per diem rates for an international location, access the Foreign Per Diem Rates by Location.  

For more information on reimbursement methods (e.g., per diem rates and actual expenses), see Topic Overview: Business and Travel Expenses.

As of July 21, new ERS functionality lets preparers upload multiple attachments to a transaction and easily assign them at the transaction level or the line level.

In Attach/View Receipts on the Review page, preparers can use a drop-down menu to select a specific line for each attachment, or make no selection to add the attachment at the transaction level. Once all attachments are assigned, select Submit to add them to the transaction.

Preparers can also continue to add attachments at the line level using the Attach icon (green plus sign or paper clip) on the Review page. 

Additionally, effective July 21, the option to generate a bar code cover sheet and fax attachments to ERS or the PCard Module (e-Fax) has been removed due to low usage of this older technology.

If an attachment that is uploaded to the Expense Requests system (ERS) or the PCard Module appears upside down or sideways, users may now easily rotate it within the system so it is easier to view. Click the Rotate icon on the corner of the attachment to turn it. As shown below, the larger arrow rotates a single or multi-page attachment; the smaller arrow rotates the current page of an attachment.

This functionality was recently restored to simplify preparing, approving, and verifying transactions in ERS and the PCard Module.

Effective February 10, updates within ERS and the PCard Module will provide a more intuitive and streamlined experience for transaction preparers and verifiers. These updates, made in response to user feedback, include:

• Reduced requirements and an improved experience when entering beneficiary information in ERS that will reduce preparers’ processing  time for about half of all ERS transactions. 
• A streamlined user experience with more intuitive fields, buttons, and other elements within ERS and the PCard Module.

Learn more on the Fingate announcement, or register for the February 27 information session for an overview of these changes.

Effective January 16, 2025, the maximum rates when using the actual expense reimbursement method (actuals) for domestic lodging, domestic and foreign travel meals, and car service have been updated to reflect rising industry costs as follows:

Domestic Lodging (Average Nightly Rate Before Taxes & Fees)

• Domestic Standard Rate (Non-Exception Cities): Increased from $250 to $275
• Some Exception Cities increased from $330 to $385: Austin, Boston/Cambridge, Honolulu, Los Angeles area and Washington, D.C.
• The Los Angeles area has been expanded to include Santa Barbara County

Foreign lodging maximums will continue to follow the federal per diem rates by location.

Domestic Travel Meals (Per Person)

• Breakfast: Increased from $20 to $25
• Lunch: Increased from $30 to $35
• Dinner: Increased from $40 to $50

Foreign Travel Meals (Per Person)

• Breakfast: Increased from $30 to $35
• Lunch: Increased from $40 to $45
• Dinner: Increased from $70 to $80

Car Service

• One-way: Increased from $150 to $155
• Round-trip: Increased from $300 to $310

These updated rates are effective for travel booked on January 16, 2025 or later. For reference purposes, the previous maximum rates will remain on the corresponding business expense pages.

Effective January 1, the Internal Revenue Service increased the per-mile reimbursement rate from $0.67 to $0.70 for using a private automobile for business purposes. The per-mile rate to use a private automobile for moving expenses ($0.21) did not change.

The 2025 mileage reimbursement rates are now available on Fingate and updated in Oracle Financials. For reference, the rates for 2024 are also included on the Fingate Resource page and still apply to travel expenses incurred in 2024.

The Stanford Diversity and Access Office, in partnership with Employee & Labor Relations (University Human Resources), Faculty Affairs, and the Stanford Office of Accessible Education, recently shared an update to the travel medical accommodation process. The processes for Stanford faculty, staff, and students to request medical accommodations for university-sponsored travel has been updated to align with the existing medical accommodation process (as described in Administrative Guide [AGM] 2.2.7 Requesting Workplace Accommodations For Employees With Disabilities).  

Effective December 9,  travel accommodations (including airfare medical waivers) must be approved by the appropriate authority. If a Stanford faculty, staff, or student needs medical accommodation for university-sponsored travel, they must follow the process documented in the support request (Submit Approved Travel Medical Accommodations for Faculty, Staff and Students) before booking their travel.

Visitors seeking a travel medical accommodation should submit a request through the department sponsoring their travel.

For guidance on requesting travel medical accommodations for faculty, staff, students, and visitors, and submitting related transactions in the Expense Requests System (ERS), visit Business and Travel Expenses.

Effective November 12, in Oracle Workflow Notifications, the rejection reason options for approvers of Expense Requests System (ERS) transactions have been consolidated and realigned for clarity. The Class of Airfare and Local Travel rejection reasons have been replaced with a new option: Review for policy alignment. This new option may be used for any policy-related issues and will decrease the use of the more general Other rejection reason. The consolidated rejection reasons are:

• Incorrect allocation or expenditure type
• Insufficient Business Purpose
• Missing documentation/receipts
• Review for policy alignment
• Other

The change enables approvers to provide clearer, more helpful transaction rejection reasons for preparers. It also allows approvers and finance managers to more easily and accurately analyze ERS rejection data (within their departments and/or schools and units), which is available in the OBI Expense Request Efficacy Dashboard. 

Recent updates to the Expense Requests System (ERS) now allow preparers to more easily upload multiple attachments to ERS. Preparers may use the Choose file button in ERS to select and upload multiple receipts to a single transaction line, rather than uploading each receipt separately. This functionality, available for all ERS transactions as of this month, was previously only available when uploading files within eReceipts.

In the spring of 2024, several other changes were also made within ERS to make it easier to upload attachments. The changes include:

• An expanded list of allowable characters to use in file names (based on campus feedback), which includes:
  • parenthesis ()
  • dash/hyphen –
  • underscore _
  • dollar sign $
  • period .
  • comma ,
  • ampersand &
  • apostrophe '
  • plus sign + 
• A specified range of file formats for attachments, to ensure that auditors can open a file and it does not become stuck in the system. The supported file formats for attachments include:  .heic, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .pdf, .txt, .doc, .docx, .html, .rtf, .xml, .xls, .xlsx. 
• If a file format or special character is not allowed, an error message appears that lists the allowable characters/file formats. 

These changes support administrative efficiency for preparers by reducing the number of steps needed to attach multiple files; preventing unreadable files from becoming stuck in the system or returned; and providing guidance on allowable file formats and characters within Oracle.

The changes to attachments in ERS will also become available soon within the Purchasing Card (PCard) module. 

The Business Expense team regularly reviews meal maximums to adjust them to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As a result of the most recent review, effective October 14, 2024, the maximums for business meals increased by: $5 for breakfast and lunch, $10 for dinner, and $5 for receptions or refreshments. Dinner and reception maximums can still be combined when both are provided as a part of the business meal. 

For reference, these are the previous business meal maximums: 

Previous Meal Maximums Effective through October 13, 2024

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has released the Fiscal Year 2025  (FY25) continental United States (CONUS) per diem expense rates effective October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025.

Visit the GSA’s Per Diem Rates to access the new FY25 rates (searchable by city, state, or zip code).

For trips that took place prior to October 1, the previous FY24 rates can be accessed by selecting “2024” from the For Fiscal Year dropdown menu.

Concurrently, the Department of Defense (DoD) released the FY25 rates effective October 1 for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories, and Possessions (OCONUS rates).

For more information on reimbursement methods (e.g., per diem rates and actual expenses), see Topic Overview: Business and Travel Expenses.