Travel costs calculated based on the fastest route or shortest route

Travel costs calculated based on the fastest route or shortest route

Depending on the settings, employees can claim travel expenses in Elari. When the employee selects a mileage allowance under 'Type' in the expense claim, the 'From' and 'To' fields appear. There, the employee enters the departure location and the destination of the journey. Elari then calculates the number of kilometres and the corresponding amount. It can do so in two ways; this article explains the difference.

Kilometre calculation based on the shortest route

If your organization chooses a calculation based on the shortest route, the number of kilometres is determined by the shortest route at the moment the addresses are entered. Elari retrieves that route from Google Maps. If there is a diversion on the road, for example because of roadworks, Google Maps takes an alternative route. We have no influence on this in our software, so the same pair of addresses can produce a different distance on different claim lines.

In Google Maps it looks like this:

You can see in this image that there are three possible routes. Elari uses the shortest route of 51 kilometres to calculate the cost of this journey.

Kilometre calculation based on the fastest route

Some organizations choose to base the kilometre calculation on the fastest route, rather than the shortest route. Here is an example from Google Maps:

Here you can see that the upper route is longer than the lower route (57.3 kilometres instead of 52.4 kilometres), but that this route is faster. Elari therefore uses the upper distance for this journey: 57.3 kilometres. With this calculation method too, the number of kilometres can differ depending on the moment the expense claim is created. If there is a traffic jam somewhere, for example, Google Maps again chooses a different route. Sometimes that works out in the employee's favour, sometimes slightly less so.

Where do you set the calculation method?

As an application manager you will find the calculation method in Application management > Configuration settings > Expense claims, under setting '041 - Calculation'. There you choose between 'Shortest route' and 'Fastest route'.

Which calculation method you use is up to your organization. If employees ask about the way the distance is calculated, you can refer them to the information above.