Why you need to keep a travel diary (and how to do it)

If you travel for business or work and are away from your usual residence for six or more consecutive nights, you need to keep a travel diary and substantiate your expenses. And no, we don’t mean a sentimental diary detailing your tourism adventures… 

When we hear the phrase “travel diary”, it is easy to picture an aspiring writer trekking through Europe. Whilst that’s a nice idea, we’re talking about something much more practical — a truly useful tool. Keeping a travel diary for business can provide you with much-needed guidance when apportioning trip expenses. 

Do you really need a travel diary? 

Short answer? Yes. Here’s the long answer: let’s say you’ve flown internationally for six nights to attend a work conference and to secure a contract with an international client. After the convention, you’re treated by your client to many expeditions, meals and invaluable connections (lucky you!). Some nights, you’re by yourself and enjoy soaking up the local atmosphere. 

Upon your return, the whole trip becomes a blur, but the next day you must report back all business expenses… Without a travel diary, you’ve completely lost track of your expenses and only have a few ambiguous receipts. A travel diary is a saving grace that removes any guesswork, and saves you time when it comes to reporting what you did. 

Of course, not all business trips warrant a travel diary. If trips are less than six nights and predominantly for business, then keeping track of personal expenses may not be necessary. However, if using a travel diary brings ease of mind, there is no harm in using one, no matter how small the trip. 

How to use a travel diary. 

Choose how you best write on the go — a physical or digital diary. You might even manage by simply taking notes on your phone. You can also download a Travel Diary sheet with all the fields you need — we have one we give our Ascent Accounting clients. 

At the end of each day — or at each instance if you prefer — write down: 

• The date. 
• A description of each activity. 
• The total cost (if applicable) and currency used. 
• Details of who supplied the goods and services. 
• The start and end times of the activity so the duration is clear. 
• The location of the activity, for example, the name and suburb of a restaurant (not just “Sydney” or “Thailand”). 
• If you have a receipt, keep this, too. 

Once you return from your trip, you can then apportion the business expenses based on the percentage calculated on time. For example, if only half of the trip was for business, then you’d apportion half of the cost to business. 

More advice on travel diaries. 

If you would like more information on travel diaries or apportioning business expenses, contact Ascent Accounting — we’re experts in business planning Perth-wide. We would be more than happy to provide you with some business advice. Start the conversation here.