Tracking locum shifts and reimbursements
How to follow every travel cost from the receipt to the payment, so you know what each agency or hospital still owes you, and what the IRS expects when a client pays you back.
Short answer
How do I track what an agency owes me?
Tie every receipt to the shift it belongs to, and mark which costs the contract pays back. Then follow each claim through submitted, approved and paid; what the agency owes you is everything reimbursable and matched that it hasn't paid yet.
From receipt to payment
Each agency or hospital has its own portal, form or email address, and a claim can sit at any step for weeks. Tracking the same stages for every assignment keeps the balances comparable:
- Capture. Keep the receipt the day you pay, with the date, amount and merchant.
- Match. File it under the shift or assignment it was for. A hotel stay or a rental car often covers several shifts, so split it across them.
- Classify. Mark it reimbursable, a business cost you pay yourself, or personal.
- Submit. Note when and how you sent it: the agency's app, a portal, email or mail.
- Follow up. Mark it approved, then paid when the money arrives, and check the payment against what you claimed.
What to check in each contract
What is reimbursable is set by each agreement, not by a general rule. Before the first shift, find out which costs the contract covers, such as airfare, lodging, a rental car, mileage, parking or meals, whether there are daily limits, how and by when a claim has to be sent, and what proof the agency asks for.
Reimbursements and your taxes
If you work as an independent contractor and a client reimburses travel costs you had on its behalf, IRS Publication 463 says you should give the client an adequate accounting of those costs. As a self-employed person you account by reporting your actual expenses, with the records described in its chapter 5. If you don't account to the client, you must include the reimbursements or allowances in your income. Either way, you must keep adequate records of the expenses.
Don't count a cost twice. If an agency or hospital paid you back for something, ask your tax professional how that reimbursement was reported before you deduct the cost.
In the app
How Shyft helps
Shyft follows each receipt from the shift it belongs to until the agency or hospital pays it back.
- Matches each receipt to its shift, and splits a hotel stay across shifts.
- Starts lodging, airfare, ground transport, rental cars, fuel and parking as reimbursable.
- Shows what each agency owes you as claims move through Submitted, Approved and Paid.
- Exports expense reports as a PDF with every receipt image, or as a CSV.
Shyft is in beta for Android phones.
More questions
Do I pay tax on travel reimbursements from a locum agency?
If you are an independent contractor and don't give the client an adequate accounting of the travel costs it reimbursed, the IRS says you must include the reimbursements in your income. You account by reporting your actual expenses with adequate records. Whether that applies to your contract is a question for a tax professional.
Does the 50% meal limit apply when an agency reimburses my meals?
Under IRS Publication 463, if you adequately account for your meal costs to a client that reimburses you, the 50% limit doesn't apply to you; it applies to the client instead. If you don't account for the meals and seek reimbursement, the 50% limit applies to you.
How long should I keep reimbursement receipts?
The IRS says to keep records that support a deduction or an item of income generally for 3 years from the date you file the return that claims it. A return filed early counts as filed on the due date.
What records prove a travel expense?
For travel, the IRS asks for the cost of each expense, the dates you left and returned, the destination and the business purpose. You generally need documentary evidence such as receipts for lodging, and for any other expense of $75 or more.
Sources
- Publication 463, chapters 5 and 6: Recordkeeping and How To ReportIRS: rules for independent contractors and clients, accounting to your client, the 50% meal limit, adequate records and how long to keep them.
This guide is general information about US federal tax rules, not tax advice. Rules change and depend on your situation; confirm with a tax professional before you file. Shyft's tax summary is an estimate for record-keeping only.