Since the inception of the federal regulation, public law 105-246 on January 27, 1998 which mandated the use of a government furnished travel charge card, TMC’s and TSS agencies had many benefits from this program. Most importantly, TMC’s could process payment for travel services and their fees immediately, processing ticketing and reservations for government employees. A TMC receives this payment through either the CBA, centrally billed account, or IBA, individually billed account, and sends payment to ARC. This eliminates the risk of the TMC/TSS not being paid. Government travelers are required to reconcile their bills, confirming the services provided, and submit a voucher for payment internally, as they are individually responsible for payment to the credit card company for their IBA. CBA charges almost always require a pre-trip approval through a PAX or Senior Accounting Manager by a particular entity of the federal government. Some CBA users are pre authorized through a TMC task order or contract. A TMC must always report on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis to the particular government agency, the details of every transaction that were applied to the CBA for Government internal accounting and payment directly to the credit card company. The benefits of the SmartPay and SmartPay 2 program for the US Federal Government are enormous. Most importantly is the accountability for each individual government traveler to follow FTR and JTR, reducing unnecessary and excessive spending. The reporting and tracking capabilities on travel expenses using these programs, increases accountability, and leverages the US Federal Government for discounts on all travel expenses. This also helps a TMC further manage travel and report on all travel expenditures back to the federal government on a timely basis.
By: Scott Carver