This posting will be a discussion regarding how an interface between an EGOV Travel application and an accounting system identifies and captures expenditures for air and hotel charges. First, the discussion will regard the identification and mapping of the air and hotel charges in the EGOV Travel application. Secondly, the discussion will focus on the capturing and reporting options for the air and hotel charges in the accounting system.
In the EGOV Travel application, the traveler selects the appropriate air tickets in the reservation module. The cost of the tickets automatically populates upon the legs being selected, and the Travel Management Center (TMC) fee also pulls in once the tickets are booked. The hotel room rate is automatically calculated, based on the government per diem rate, under the per diem entitlements. The hotel room rate could differ from the government per diem rate if the traveler selected a room at a higher or lower rate than that of the government rate. The hotel lodging taxes are separate from the room rate and require manual entry by the traveler. In the EGOV Travel application, the air and hotel charges are mapped to specific Budget Object Classes (BOC’s) to allow the interface to pick up and expend appropriately.
The accounting system interfaces data from an output file generated from the EGOV Travel application which contains all required travel information for each authorization and voucher. The air ticket charge, TMC fee, and lodging room rate charge are all expended under a specific BOC classification. The lodging taxes are expended under a miscellaneous BOC classification. Through the use of the BOC classification, the air and hotel charges can easily be queried and reported using the accounting system reporting tools.
by Grant Brown
“The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.