Learn more about how direct billing makes expensing easier by enabling employees to charge their business rides directly to the organization’s credit card or invoice instead of paying out of pocket and seeking reimbursement.

In this article, we'll cover: 

• How to create a direct billing account
• How to add employees to your account
• How to pay for business rides with direct billing

How to create a direct billing program

1. Log in to Lyft Business Portal (or at business.lyft.com/login)
2. If your company doesn’t have access to direct billing yet, navigate to 'Business profiles' and 'Programs.'  If you haven’t created any programs yet, click on 'Set up direct billing.' If you have programs, go to create a new program and click on 'Set up direct billing' in the 'Expense details' section
3. If your company has direct billing set up, navigate to to ‘Business profiles’ then click on 'Add program'
4. Enter program settings, including name and receipt forwarding provider.
   1. Under 'Rider Communication,' select either a default logo or contact support to upload your own
   2. Read our guidelines to ensure your logo meets the requirements for formatting and size. Once your personalized logo is uploaded, you can add this to any program you'd like
5. Select 'Directly billed to company' in the 'Expense type' section

How to add employees to your program

1. Select 'Save and Continue' to add employees to the program
2. Copy and paste your employees' email address into the 'Emails' box separated by commas, or upload a .CSV file with their email addresses (Download sample .csv)
3. Select 'Send Invite' and you'll be taken back to the direct billings programs screen with a green banner that says, "Success!". This will appear to let you know the program has been created, and your people were added successfully.

How to pay for business rides with direct billing

Now when your employees switch to their business profile to take a ride, they'll see the profile name in the bottom left corner for the ride where they usually see their own payment method. The direct billing payment method will automatically apply to these rides. Direct billing can only be used to pay for rides taken under a business profile. This prevents employees from accidentally charging personal rides.

Using direct billing for approved rides only

There are no inherent restrictions or caps with direct billing when organizations enable this payment option in business profiles. A hold for the estimated amount for the ride cost with be placed on the account or credit card at the time of ride request. Once the ride is complete, your organization will be charged for the total amount. Mandatory ride expense details can also be activated if you'd like to regulate and/or monitor usage. With this feature employees can be required to enter an expense code and/or an expense note to detail the trip's purpose before they can request a ride in their business profile.