The number you encumber is the number you pay.
You budget a year ahead, against a purchase order, for an amount that has to be
right before the year begins. So our side of that is simple: no invoice from us that
you did not agree to before your fiscal year started.
Counted once, then locked
Your traveler count is taken at the start of the term and does not move during
it. Nothing is measured in arrears, and there is no true-up invoice at the end
of the year to reconcile against a purchase order that has already been closed.
Growth during the term is free
A hiring push in February or a new grant in March does not change what you owe.
Travelers added mid-term cost nothing until the term ends, which means nobody
has to ask permission to put a new employee on the system.
People you reimburse but do not employ are free
Interview candidates, guest speakers, board members, students. A travel
administrator creates them and files on their behalf; they never receive an
account, so they are never counted. Unlimited, at no cost, however many you
have in a year.
Approvers and AP staff are free
A dean who approves forty forms and never travels is not a traveler, and is not
billed as one. The same goes for accounts payable, auditors, and system
administrators. If they do not file for themselves, they do not count.
What happens when the term ends
We recount, and we tell you the number at least 90 days beforehand—in time for
it to go into the next budget rather than land on top of one already approved.
Because that moment is one you are already rebuilding a budget for, a change there
is a planned line item rather than a surprise.
Volume thresholds work like tax brackets, not like tiers. Crossing
one prices the travelers above it at the better rate and never reprices the ones
below it. There is no count at which adding a single traveler produces a step change
in what you pay: one more traveler costs one more traveler.