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Business travel request form with cost estimate and approval

Plan a business trip with its estimated costs, get approval for the expensive ones and have everything booked.

4 steps 16 fields
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Business trips are often approved on a guess. Someone says “I need to be in Chicago next month”, the manager agrees, and the real cost only becomes clear when the card statement arrives. Bookings end up in personal accounts, confirmation codes live in someone’s inbox, and nobody asks what the trip achieved.

This template starts with the plan. The traveler enters the destination, departure and return dates, the purpose and an estimate with one line per cost (airfare, lodging, ground transport, meals, event registration or other), and the form adds up the total. A cash advance can be requested with a checkbox. Trips estimated above $2,000 go to an approver, who records the cost center; cheaper trips go straight to booking. Whoever books lists each booking with its code and amount, attaches the tickets and vouchers, and records any advance paid. Finally the traveler reports the results of the trip, what was spent and the receipts.

It fits companies whose people travel for sales, installations, events or training, with an office manager or travel coordinator doing the booking. For example, a $450 flight plus $380 of lodging stays under the limit and goes straight to booking.

How it runs, step by step

The process reads from top to bottom. Each step goes to its owner with a deadline, and everything that happens is recorded in the request's timeline.

  1. Trip

    Whoever starts the request

    Tell us where you are going and how much it should cost.

    7 fields in the request form
    • Destination * Text
    • Departure * Date
    • Return * Date
    • Purpose of the trip * Long text
    • Estimated costs *Columns: Type, Details, Qty, Unit cost, Total Table
    • Estimated total Calculated
    • Cash advance Checkbox

  2. Approval

    A person or team you choose

    Trips above 2,000 need the manager's approval.

    Approval: Approvers you choose Due in 2 days (business time) Runs only when needed
    2 fields
    • Cost center * Text
    • Notes Long text

  3. Booking

    A person or team you choose

    Book tickets and lodging and send the vouchers.

    Due in 3 days (business time)
    4 fields
    • Bookings *Columns: Item, Booking code, Amount Table
    • Total booked Calculated
    • Advance paid * Amount · when needed
    • Tickets and vouchers * Files

  4. Trip report

    The requester

    Back from the trip, report the results and what you spent.

    Due in 5 days (business time)
    3 fields
    • Results of the trip * Long text
    • Spent during the trip Amount
    • Receipts Files

Make it yours

Hold the report until the return

The trip report opens right after booking. Add a wait step that waits until the day after the Return date, so its deadline starts when the traveler is back.

Approve every trip, or by tier

Remove the condition on the Approval step to review all trips, or use approval limits so a manager approves mid-range trips and a director the expensive ones.

Settle advances properly

If people often take advances, the Travel advance and expense report process in the gallery waits for the return date and calculates the balance to settle.

Share the bookings

If several people handle bookings, assign the Booking step to a group with round robin, and add escalation so a late booking reaches the coordinator.

Frequently asked questions

What is a travel request form?

It is the form an employee fills out before a business trip to get it approved. It covers where and when, why the trip is needed and an estimate of the costs, so the approver can weigh the value of the trip against its price before anything is booked.

Should business travel be approved in advance?

For anything beyond routine local travel, yes. Pre-approval happens before money is committed, which is when a trip is easiest to change or drop. If reviewing every trip is too much, approve only above an amount, which is what the $2,000 condition in this template does.

How are travel advances handled?

An advance is paid before the trip and settled afterwards against receipts: the traveler returns what was not spent, or the company pays the difference. Under the IRS accountable plan rules, amounts above the substantiated expenses must be returned within a reasonable period, or they may be treated as wages. This is general information, not tax advice.

What should a travel request include?

Destination, dates, purpose and a cost estimate split by type, such as airfare, lodging, ground transport and meals. Add the cost center so finance can match the spending, and ask whether the traveler needs a cash advance.

Guides on this process

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