Per Diem Travel Expense Tracker (Excel + Google Sheets)

Track every business trip at official GSA per diem rates, without looking up rates by hand. Pick the city, log each day, and the spreadsheet works out meals and incidentals (M&IE), the lodging maximum, and what's deductible.

What's inside

- GSA rates built in: FY2026 and FY2027 per diem rates for all 345+ GSA areas in the 48 contiguous states and DC, including monthly (seasonal) lodging maximums. Each day uses the right fiscal year automatically, even for trips that cross October 1

- Trip log and day log: one row per trip and one row per travel day, with a check that tells you when a trip's days are all logged

- M&IE per day: 75% on the first and last day of travel, the full rate in between

- Provided meals: mark breakfast, lunch or dinner provided by a client, conference or employer and the GSA meal amount comes off (incidentals are never reduced)

- Lodging vs. the cap: enter what you paid and see the allowed amount and anything over the GSA maximum

- Self-employed deduction: 50% of the standard meal allowance (80% if you're under DOT hours-of-service rules), plus your actual lodging cost, as IRS Publication 463 describes

- Summary per trip and overall, plus a Rate Lookup tab for any city and date

- Works in Excel and Google Sheets. Comes as a blank file, a copy with example trips, and a Google Sheets upload copy, plus a PDF guide

Example: New York City, Nov 3-6, 2026: lodging 3 nights x $358 = $1,074, M&IE $69 + $92 + $92 + $69 = $322, total $1,396. That's the same result as our free GSA per diem calculator.

Sources: rates from the US General Services Administration (gsa.gov/perdiem, as published Oct 20, 2026); travel rules from the Federal Travel Regulation (41 CFR 301-11.20 and 301-11.21); deduction rules from IRS Publication 463.

Covers the continental US only (not Alaska, Hawaii or foreign travel). Not affiliated with GSA or the IRS. Not tax advice.