Filing your voucher for off-base lodging

Reviewed 30 July 2026 against DTS Guide 3: Vouchers (v4.3, December 2025), the DTMO receipts guidance and JTR paragraph 010301.

The mistake that costs people money

Lodging goes in the Per Diem module, not Expenses. In DTS, adjust the Lodging Cost field under Adjust Per Diem Amounts. If you also add lodging as a line under Expenses, you get paid twice — and months later the government takes it back as a debt. It is the single most common way an honest claim turns into a collection action.

What a valid lodging receipt must contain

A receipt is required for lodging regardless of amount, and for any other single expense of $75 or more. Per JTR paragraph 010301-A, a valid receipt shows:

the name of the business providing the service
the dates the service was provided
the price, and any tax levied, itemised
the total amount due
and it must show that the total was paid

These are not valid receipts: a reservation confirmation, a non-itemised statement, a bank or travel-card statement, or a screenshot of DTS. If you lose a receipt, ask us for a duplicate first — a lost-receipt statement is not accepted in place of a hotel or lodging receipt.

Every TDY Place stay comes with a PDF receipt built to that specification: our legal entity, the property address, your name, inclusive dates, the rate line, taxes and fees broken out separately, the total, and the words paid in full with method and date. Upload it as-is.

Step by step

Build the authorisation with the correct TDY location. Enter the installation, not the nearby town — entering the city breaks the government-quarters logic and flags the claim for audit.
Check government quarters. If they are unavailable, capture the non-availability number. At Altus, get it from the Red River Inn rather than DTS.
Have your AO authorise commercial lodging.
Enter the nightly rate under Adjust Per Diem Amounts, to match your receipt.
Attach the receipt in the Expenses details for the lodging entry.
Adjust M&IE for any provided meals.
File within five business days of travel ending.

Why claims get rejected

No receipt, or a reservation confirmation submitted instead of a paid one
Lodging invoice not itemised — taxes and fees not broken out
Receipt does not show payment was made
Lodging entered in both Per Diem and Expenses, causing overpayment
Claimed lodging above the locality ceiling, or above government quarters cost when quarters were available
Missing non-availability number for a TDY to an installation
TDY location entered as the town instead of the installation
Missing AO authorisation for commercial lodging

Official sources

TDY Place is a lodging provider, not a finance office. This page is general information, reviewed against published regulations on the date shown. Your orders, your reporting instructions and your Authorizing Official govern your travel. When they conflict with anything here, follow them and ask your finance office.