Grants and restricted funds

Every trip charged to the right money.

Every charge carries the cost codes you choose from the moment of booking (a project for the grant or fund, a department for the program), and they flow to invoices, reports and exports. When a funder asks what their grant paid for, the answer is a report, not a search through receipts.

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Trip · Charges

Trip charges and cost codes

Regional partner convening

Flight, Boston → DenverProject: Youth Program Grant · Department: Outreach
$486
Hotel, 2 nightsProject: Youth Program Grant · Department: Outreach
$398
Partner dinner venue transferProject: General operating · Department: Outreach
$142
ReallocatedTransfer moved to General operating by finance, 4 June
Recorded
Export journal fileView invoice
Example screen. The organization and figures are fictional.

Cost codes

Set once, carried everywhere

Each charge is allocated to an entity, a department and a project from the moment of booking, taken from the traveler and the request. Map them to how your accounts work.

Project: grant or fund

Chosen when the trip is requested, so restricted money is charged where it was promised.

Department: program

Taken from the traveler, for program budgets and functional expense reporting.

Entity

The legal entity billed, for organizations with more than one.

Coverage

Reports show the share of charges with entity, department and project set, so gaps are visible.

Shared trips

One trip, two funders

Different charges on one trip can carry different codes: the flight on one grant, a hotel night on another.

When a single cost has to be shared by percentage, work out the amounts with the free cost allocation calculator, post the split in your accounting system and keep the basis you used with your records. If a charge was coded wrongly, finance can reallocate its department or project, and the change is recorded.

What reviewers look for

Documentation that travels with the trip

  • Purpose: why the trip was needed for the funded work, kept with your records.
  • Approval: who approved it and when, in the approval history.
  • Cost: an itemized invoice, not a card statement.
  • Policy: whether it followed your written policy, and why not if it didn't.
  • Allocation: the project and department each charge was allocated to, and any reallocation.

For US federal awards, 2 CFR 200.475 in the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) covers travel costs, including documentation and airfare. Read the current text and your award terms; this is not legal or accounting advice.

Questions

Common questions

How do we spot trips without a grant code?

Reports show coverage: the share of charges with entity, department and project set.

What if a charge is on the wrong grant?

Finance can reallocate the charge's department or project later, and the change is recorded in the audit trail.

Do you know our funders' rules?

No, and we don't pretend to. Your award terms are yours to apply. We make sure each trip carries the information you need to show you applied them.

Can we report spend per grant?

Yes. Spend, net of refunds, is reported by entity, department, project, supplier and traveler, with fees shown separately.

More in Nonprofit travel

Travel policyA policy staff can follow and funders recognise.Approvals and budgetsWho approves what, against which budget, before money is spent.Grants and restricted fundsCharge every trip to the right grant, fund and program.Finance and reportingOne invoice, clean exports and reports for audit and funders.Duty of careKnow where your people are, and reach them when something happens.Events and conveningsBoard meetings, conferences, retreats and field convenings.

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