How do I travel without a cash advance and without writing a check to pay off my IBA?
OK, the question is slightly misleading but it got your attention I hope. My method doesn’t work 100% of the time, but way more often than not.
Here is what I DON’T want to do. One, I DON’T want to request and then make sure I receive a cash advance prior to leaving on a trip. (And I certainly don’t want to have to concern myself with returning a cash advance if my trip gets canceled.) Two, I DON’T want to have to write a check or otherwise make a payment for my personal travel card after the trip is over.
Let assume a “normal” trip – airfare, rental car, & hotel.
I make my airfare, rental car, & hotel reservations online in our E-Gov Travel system. Airfare is reserved – and paid for – with a centrally-billed account (CBA). Rental cars & hotels are reserved via my individually-billed account (IBA) stored in the E-Gov Travel system.
Then, my travel authorization is sent for approvals in our E-Gov Travel system. Once the approvals have been completed, I’m ready to go.
I’m going to need some cash for the trip so on the day I leave, I take my IBA travel card to an ATM and get some. Not too much, because I will be using my IBA while on travel whenever I can. Keep all receipts – very important.
Now, I’m back from my trip and ready to voucher. My airfare, TMC fee, and E-Gov Travel fees are all paid by CBA, so I don’t even need to concern myself with those. Just record the correct amounts in the voucher.
I have all my receipts so I can add them up and know exactly how much I owe on my IBA.
My agency’s E-Gov Travel system allows me to designate a portion of my voucher reimbursement to be paid directly to my IBA’s vendor. So when I complete my voucher, I add up all my receipts and put the exact amount in column to be paid directly to the IBA vendor.
That’s it! (I check my IBA statement later of course to make sure that my balance is $0.)
I’m old enough to remember having to write and mail a paper check to pay the balance of my IBA. No need to do that anymore with CBAs and direct payments to IBAs.
By: Kevin Young