Previously, we looked at domestic travel costs and how to properly account for them. Now I want to look at international travel. In general, the same principles apply as for domestic travel. But there are four aspects I want to highlight.
Class
Most international travel is done in the frame of a project. The costs are therefore to be charged to the project grant. You should carefully read the conditions your donor may have in regard of international travel. Most donors stipulate that only economy class airfare is an eligible cost for instance.
Traveling with a lot of luggage for a workshop for instance is sometimes cheaper with an upgrade, which may avoid heavy luggage charges for extra suitcases or extra kilos. The airline may recommend this to a passenger at check-in. Likely, your staff will jump at the idea of saving costs. Make sure that in case this happens they document this very clearly. They should compare the economy price ticket + luggage charge to the upgrade ticket price without luggage charge. And they should explain the need for bringing the extra luggage.
Carrier
The Fly America Act is applicable to all US federal grants and contracts. This means that if you receive funding from a US funder you, too, must apply the Fly America Act to any and all international travel under that US grant. The Fly America Act demands the use of US air carriers or of foreign carriers that have a so-called code-sharing agreement with US carriers. Many European carriers are covered by the Open Skies agreement between the US and the EU.
It is good to check the Fly America Act carefully to understand which carriers are eligible and what to do in case you cannot use a compliant carrier. It is best to do this already while you are budgeting for a grant from a US funder. That way, you can include any (arguments for a) request for exemptions already at that stage. Or you might decide to organize the activity differently. You may even decide to use other sources for covering international travel costs if you have that possibility.
In case you are able to travel with a compliant carrier which is not a US carrier, you should make sure to have a copy of the trail of proof that this airline is compliant (for instance it is part of the Open Skies agreement) annexed to the travel documentation files. Remember, you must always be able to show that you checked and what the result of the check was. Preferably on a date stamped print, with a date from before the ticket was booked.
Boarding passes
In case of airfare, the ticket itself is no longer sufficient proof the travel actually happened. After all, you might have cancelled the ticket and gotten a refund. Nowadays, you need a traveler’s boarding passes for your administration as well, along with the ticket. Boarding passes used to be the only real proof a traveler had actually gone to the airport and registered for the flight.
With the online check-in that people now can do from their homes this argument is rapidly becoming less valid, though. Which is why I myself also keep (and present) my baggage stubs as additional proof, as these include my name and flight data as well. However, more and more airlines prefer hand luggage only on shorter flights. So that extra proof might not be always available, either.
I am sure the field of proof of delivery of flights will develop in the coming years, bearing in mind all these developments, with new rules and checks for auditors. For now, I suggest keeping boarding passes, baggage stubs, and proof of travel to and from the airport. But also proof of having been in the destination (for instance in the form of an e-mail afterwards, thanking for the meeting). All this will help you avoid doubts about the reality of the travel and the eligibility of the costs.
Project
If the trip is being made in the frame of a project, and if the costs are being charged to the project grant, you need to make sure that there is a clear, visible and verifiable link to the project. Auditors check whether:
- there is a budget line for it
- there was sufficient budget available at the time of booking
- all conditions are met, as described above for instance. (This more technical part includes also a check that there is a clear reference to the project code and project budget line on the invoice. And also that there is a signature of the relevant project manager approving the charge to the project.)
In addition, auditors need to check that the travel was necessary and approved for the project implementation. Which means, they need to see how the travel is part of the approved project design. (Is this type of travel mentioned in the narrative proposal at all?). And they need to understand how it contributes to achieving the planned results. (What is the aim of the trip itself and does this have a link with the approved aims?). A trip report can help verifying the link to the project objectives. The report needs to outline what was done and to what project result areas meetings or events contributed.
Your policy
In addition to what I wrote in my post about domestic travel, I suggest that you develop a format for travel requests. An important element would be that a traveler needs to submit a travel request and gain approval for the trip including costs and logistics before traveling.
In this format you can include questions as to the background and aims of the travel. The traveler can make clear what the link is between the travel and the project that covers the costs. You can also add budgetary questions, including regarding the mode of traveling. And you can add questions or tick-boxes relevant to certain donor conditions. For instance regarding airlines to be used, etc. This way you can address the above concerns prior to the trip itself, in the planning stage.
In your policy, I would add the following items on your traveler’s checklist of to-do’s:
- To prepare a clear paper trail connecting the travel to the project aims, activities and budget (which can be done in the travel request form, if you design that cleverly);
- To make sure to keep boarding passes, baggage stubs and any other document proof the travel actually happened;
- To prepare a travel report afterwards, including the programme and information about meetings and events attended including papers, leaflets, photos, etc.
How I can help
Check out my free resource ”Ten Tips to Make Clever Project Budgets”: https://www.changingtides.eu/10-tips-to-make-clever-project-budgets/
If you would like simple steps to set up and organise your finance & admin foundations guidance by me, you can get a bundle of six simple and short workshops here: https://www.changingtides.eu/financeandadminbundle
In case the bundle is too much for you at this moment, feel free to pick one or more of the workshops individually:
- Set up your financial processes: https://www.changingtides.eu/financialprocesses
- Understand important basics of bookkeeping for nonprofits: https://www.changingtides.eu/bookkeepingfoundations
- Be sure you are keeping all the documents you need for project donors, auditors, or officials: https://www.changingtides.eu/documentationfornonprofits
- Plan your cash flow for a year: https://www.changingtides.eu/cashflowfornonprofits
- Get a feel for how time sheets can be helpful to everyone in your nonprofit and set them up straightaway: https://www.changingtides.eu/timesheetsfornonprofits
- Learn how to calculate the price of time spent of your team members, including allocations for general costs that are used in different projects: https://www.changingtides.eu/feesfornonprofits
Please note, the bundle is cheaper than buying all six workshops separately: https://www.changingtides.eu/financeandadminbundle
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