TDY documentation has gotten complicated with all the receipt threshold rules, itemized folio requirements, and lost-receipt procedures flying around. As someone who relied on credit card statements in the early part of my travel career and had vouchers returned because they didn’t show the nightly rate breakdown that DTS requires, I learned exactly what documentation is needed and when. Today I will share it all with you.
What Receipts Are Actually Required
The threshold rule for CONUS TDY is straightforward: receipts are required for lodging (always) and for any single expense over $75. Below $75 per expense, a receipt is not federally required under JTR rules, though your command or DTS may have stricter local policies. Knowing the actual rule prevents both under-documentation and over-documentation.
For OCONUS TDY, the documentation standards are higher and may require receipts for all expenses regardless of amount. Check the applicable OCONUS travel regulation before travel rather than after.
Lodging Receipts
Every night of commercial lodging requires a receipt showing the hotel name, dates of stay, room rate, and amount paid. The itemized folio — not just a credit card statement — is what DTS and auditors want to see. Most hotels will email a folio upon checkout; request one if it isn’t offered automatically. I’m apparently someone who relied on credit card statements in the early part of my travel career and had vouchers returned because the credit card entry didn’t show the nightly rate breakdown that DTS requires.
What Happens When Receipts Are Lost
A lost receipt doesn’t automatically kill a legitimate claim. The JTR provides for a statement of fact signed by the traveler under penalty of law that substitutes for missing receipts in limited circumstances. The statement must describe the expense, the date, the vendor, and the amount with enough specificity to be auditable. This is a last resort, not standard practice.
That’s what makes the statement-of-fact option endearing to travelers in genuine circumstances — it exists precisely because receipts do get lost, and the regulations acknowledge this. But it’s accompanied by a signed statement that you’re asserting accuracy under legal consequences.
Conference and Registration Fees
Registration fees for conferences and training events require receipts regardless of amount. These are direct-billed expenses in DTS and should match the authorization that was approved before travel. If the conference fee changed between authorization and attendance, document the change in DTS before submitting the voucher.
Organizing Your Documentation
Probably should have led with this, honestly: create a habit of photographing or emailing receipts immediately at the time of transaction rather than saving paper receipts to scan at the end of the trip. Hotel folios emailed at checkout, email confirmations of registration fees, and phone photos of gas receipts taken in the parking lot — these take 15 seconds each and prevent the scramble at voucher time that produces missing-receipt problems.
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