Travel Expense Policy

Travel and Expense Policy

Background

Accurate reporting and accounting of travel expenses is imperative for many reasons, including managing costs, complying with IRS and federal government regulations, and billing to Lantana Consulting Group's (Company) clients. As a services company performing work on behalf of clients, many travel expenses are directly billable to our clients.

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to outline the policies when incurring travel-related expenses on behalf of the Company.

Policy

The Company will pay for appropriate and approved travel-related costs necessary to meet the requirements of client engagements or other business objectives. Employees and other parties seeking reimbursement for travel-related costs are responsible for following this policy.

Since the Company has multiple contracts with government agencies, Lantana’s travel policies are based on the Federal Travel Regulations.

Authority and Responsibility

Staff members, including both employees and contractors, must obtain approval from their Project Manager (PM) before making travel arrangements related to a client project. For non-project-related travel requirements, staff members must obtain approval from their managers. Staff should provide a travel estimate when applicable or requested by PMs or managers. Staff should also confirm with PMs or managers the direct or indirect project that should be charged as part of their pre-travel request.

Travelers shall complete an expense report within two weeks of completion of travel so that costs are reported and billed, if applicable, in a timely manner. Expense reports submitted later than 90 days after the last day of travel, or after January 20th for travel in the prior year, whichever comes first, will not be reimbursed by the Company. Some client projects may have different deadlines for submission and travelers should be aware of and adhere to these deadlines. Exceptions may be made on a limited basis at the Company’s discretion. By submitting the expense report for approval and/or payment, the staff member certifies that the travel expenses reported were actual expenses incurred or government per diem as applicable to meet the requirements of client engagements or other Company objectives.

Expense reports must be entered into Unanet, where they will be routed for approval to the PM (if applicable) and then to the manager for approval.

The PM and/or manager is responsible for reviewing the expense report for these items:

  1. The type of expense and dollar amount are reasonable.
  2. The expense report contains the correct information related to the following fields:
    a.  Purpose of the Expense
    b. Travel Location
    c.  Project and Task
    d. Allocation %
  3. Travel was authorized per the contract terms and conditions (for project travel).

Once reviewed by the appropriate parties, the expense report will be routed to Accounts Payable (AP) for final approval and reimbursement. AP will review the complete expense report for the following items.

  1. Expense report has been properly approved.
  2. All required information to properly account for the travel expenses and process the reimbursement is provided.
  3. Expenses are supported by required documentation, including receipts. The receipts should reconcile with expense amounts.
  4. All per diem amounts claimed are in accordance with this policy.

If AP finds any issues related to these items, the expense report will be returned to the traveler for revision. Items not returned by AP should not be construed as acceptance for future practice. AP reserves the right to seek additional information as warranted.

Airfare/Train Travel

Staff should consider the least expensive and most energy-efficient means of travel that reasonably meets their needs. Travelers are strongly encouraged to book well in advance of travel to secure the lowest fares. Staff must receive advance approval before purchasing airfare or train travel that is greater than $500.

Airfare greater than coach class accommodations and for any flight upgrades, including, but not limited to upgraded seat selection, early check-in, refundable fares, flight insurance, and additional leg room are considered unallowable by the Federal Government in most cases and won’t be reimbursed by Lantana unless approved in advance. Certain exceptions may apply based on Federal Travel Regulations. In some circumstances, an employee may be granted an exception. Each exception request will be discussed on an individual basis with the traveler’s manager, and alternatives may be suggested. The traveler’s manager or PM will send the formal request to the Chief of Staff (COS) who will review each request on a case-by-case basis. Even if an upgrade is approved internally, only the base cost (non-upgrade cost) will be recorded as allowable, and the remaining cost will be booked as unallowable.

Travelers who wish to drive instead of fly must provide a comparison of flight costs vs. driving costs, along with the expected time spent traveling during work hours for both scenarios, including a screenshot of the best flight option for the actual travel dates. Travelers should submit requests to drive instead of fly to the PM or manager for review, who will send formal request to the COS for authorization. If the cost to drive is higher than flying, the traveler may be asked to submit an estimate of actual gas receipts instead of mileage reimbursement to reduce the driving cost below the flying option.

Receipts

Travelers should follow these guidelines when submitting receipts:

  1. All expense reports must be accompanied by itemized receipts for amounts more than $75. Credit card and bank statements alone are not acceptable. PDF copies of receipts are acceptable and preferred. The Company highly encourages travelers to submit receipts for all costs regardless of amount. If a receipt is not submitted for an expense over $75, the cost will be reviewed by the Finance Manager to determine if it should be allowed. The cost will be reviewed to see if the expense was necessary and reasonable based on the circumstances and can be supported by proof of travel in the form of a hotel bill, airline passenger receipt, conference literature, or comparable materials. If the cost is determined to be allowable, the Finance Manager will provide written approval with the reasoning which will be documented within the accounting system.
  2. Airfare receipts must include all pertinent information about the trip, including name of the traveler, cost, departure and return flight times and locations, and airline and airfare class.
  3. Hotel receipts must be itemized by day and include room cost separate from taxes.
  4. Meal receipts are not necessary if claiming per diems as the basis for reimbursement. If claiming actual meal costs, receipts must be provided and itemized for food, alcohol, gratuity, and taxes.

Per Diems

A per diem is an allowance determined by the U.S. government to cover meals and incidentals while traveling for business purposes. Per diem amounts are published by the General Services Administration (GSA) and are specific to major cities.

  1. The preferred method for reimbursing travelers for meals and incidental expenses during company travel is on a per-diem basis rather than actual expenses.
  2. Travelers claiming reimbursement on a per-diem basis for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) must use this method for the entire trip with the following exception. If total actual meal costs for the day exceed the daily per diem allowance, a traveler can seek reimbursement for actual meal expenses for that day by getting approval from the manager or PM through the normal expense report approval process. Actual meal receipts shall be provided along with an explanation as to why the total actual costs exceeded the total daily per diem amount. In no case will actual meal costs over M&IE per diem rates be allowable and billable to the government.
  3. Domestic per diems are set by the U.S. government once a year. Non-U.S. per diems can change on a monthly basis due to currency fluctuations and are expected to be used for foreign travel.
  4. The business location (not the lodging location) determines the maximum per diem reimbursement rate. If lodging is not available at the business location, the maximum per diem rate for the location where lodging is obtained can be used.
  5. Per diem rates are established by GSA. The rates are listed by city/state or zip code and date. If a city is not listed, check that the county within which it is located is listed. (Visit the National Association of Counties website at http://explorer.naco.org/ to determine the county of a destination.) If the city is not listed, but the county is, then the per diem rate is the rate for that entire county. If the city and the county are not listed, then that area is considered to be a Standard CONUS (continental U.S.) location, which has its own M&IE rate.
  6. Daily per diem rates for lodging and M&IE CONUS locations can be obtained at the GSA website: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287.
  7. A traveler who attends a local conference or meeting where overnight lodging is not required or is not needed should claim actual meal costs rather than per diems. Itemized receipts should be provided.
  8. A traveler that is claiming per diem while traveling and also provides a group meal to individuals on behalf of the Company during that trip may submit that business meal receipt along with the expense report for reimbursement, provided the daily per diem amount is reduced.
  9. A traveler who is claiming per diem and is furnished a meal by another party or as part of a registration fee for a conference should deduct the specific meal per diem from the daily per diem allowance. A meal provided by a common carrier (such as an airline), or a complimentary meal provided by a hotel does not affect the per diem calculation.
  10. Domestic and foreign per diems are adjusted for the first and last day of travel. Those per diem calculations are equivalent to 75 percent of the full daily per diem. Travelers should use these adjusted amounts for the first and last day of travel when they are not in full travel status the entire day.
  11. Travelers should seek prior approval to exceed the established lodging per diem rate. Actual lodging costs, whether under or over the per diem limit will be reimbursed to staff assuming that costs over per diem have been approved in advance. Lodging per diems established by GSA are different than meal per diems in that they establish the limit on how much can be billed to the government but are not the reimbursable amount to staff. Any lodging amounts incurred by staff over the per diem limit cannot be invoiced to Government clients. Detailed lodging receipts are required to receive full reimbursement.
  12. Company per diem policy follows guidelines set by GSA via Federal Travel Regulations. For frequently asked questions related to GSA's per diem rates, please visit: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287.
  13. For Federal Travel Regulations on per diem expenses please visit: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/subtitle-F.

Expense Reporting and Accounting

  1. One expense report shall be submitted for each trip, with costs allocated to the correct project/contract.
  2. Staff should receive advance approval for reimbursable lodging expenses in excess of allowed per diem rates. However, if an amount over per diem is approved internally, said amount will be recorded as unallowable lodging on the Company books. Only the allotted per diem amount will be charged to allowable expenses.
  3. Any alcohol and amounts in excess of lodging and meal per diems that are reimbursable to the traveler are separately identified by AP so that these items can be properly charged as unallowable costs.
  4. The traveler will assign travel costs to the appropriate project names and expense categories (e.g., airfare, meals).
  5. Any group business meal must be explained with the following information on the expense report: business purpose of meal, parties involved and business relationship, date, and location.
  6. Staff will note the use of a corporate credit card, payment by another Lantana employee, or any other advance granted them by the Company on the expense report.

Travel Expense Payments
A proper expense report submitted at least 5 business days before the pay date will be paid out with the following payroll. Contractor payments will follow the same schedule but will be paid out using the payment method they are set up with for invoice payments.

Any report(s) returned for corrections or clarifications will be paid out based on the date the corrected expense report is resubmitted – not the original submission date. For example, if Tuesday the 15th is a payday, and a proper expense report is submitted in Unanet on Tuesday the 8th, it will be paid out on the 15th. However, if the report is rejected and then resubmitted on Wednesday the 9th, it will be paid out on Thursday the 31st.
Please be mindful of Holidays and Closures which will impact submission deadlines. If you have extenuating circumstances and need reimbursement outside of the normal payroll cycle, please contact your manager to discuss.

International Travel

When traveling outside of the United States on Lantana business, staff are advised to obtain information regarding international cell phone charges, currency conversion, rental car requirements, and other pertinent information well in advance of travel.

If visa, passport fees, and other travel preparation items are required for international travel, reimbursement is at the discretion of the management team. Staff should discuss these expenses with the PM or manager in advance. If approved, original itemized receipts are required.

All expenses must be converted to U.S. Dollars prior to finalizing an expense report. Staff will need to obtain and enter into Unanet exchange rates for any expenses that were incurred in a currency other than USD. To obtain exchange rate information, staff can utilize online resources such as x-rates.com. Once the conversion rates are entered, Unanet will calculate the correct extended amount. A print-out of the obtained exchange rate information should be attached to the expense report for verification purposes. Rates must be obtained for the date an expense was incurred (note: this may result in needing to obtain multiple exchange rates for a single expense report). For example, if the receipts show a charge on 6/5/23 for lodging costs and a charge on 6/6/23 for parking, the exchange rate for the lodging expense should be for 6/5/23 and the exchange rate for the parking expense should be for 6/6/23. Contact the Finance Department if you need assistance with currency conversions.

The State Department sets per diem rates for foreign locations. Please use the following website to lookup foreign per diem rates: https://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp. The breakdown of foreign M&IE per diem rates (i.e., breakfast, lunch, dinner, incidentals) can be found here: https://aoprals.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=114&menu_id=75

Travel Emissions Offset Purchase

Lantana is committed to reducing and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from the Company’s activities. Business travel is a major source of Lantana’s corporate greenhouse gas emissions. Lantana purchases carbon offsets to mitigate the impact of the Company’s air travel. The greenLantana Team works with the Finance Department to estimate emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) units. The greenLantana Team researches and recommends a carbon offsets vendor from which to purchase the equivalent offsets. Lantana’s Travel Emission Offsets Policy is that:

  1. The estimated greenhouse gas emission of all company air travel is offset by purchasing carbon credits.
  2. Carbon offsets purchased by Lantana or by staff and reimbursed by Lantana must meet approved standards: Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard, Climate Action Reserve, American Carbon Registry, or the United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism.
  3. Carbon offsets purchased by Lantana will not be charged to clients.

References

  • Federal Travel Regulations, per diem expenses: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-41/subtitle-F
  • GSA, Meals and Incidental Expenses (M&IE) Breakdown: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/101518
  • GSA, Per Diem Rates: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287
  • National Association of Counties website: http://explorer.naco.org/, to determine the county of a city.
  • State Department, per diem rates for foreign locations: https://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp
  • X-Rates currency converter: https://www.x-rates.com/calculator/