Any hacks to keep track of everything?

NedRN · May 15

In nearly 30 years of travel starting well before multistate licenses were a thing, I never did anything about keeping track of licenses and certifications (other than stashing them in my memory). All other documents got scanned: I personally always used a flattop portable scanner for best results (especially on professional documents like written references), but scanning documents with phone apps would be just as legal albeit less professional. Then everything got filed into folders on my laptop, and backed up on a portable drive.

Important points: a professional portfolio with a one page work history (concise enough to fit on one page), a one page cover with a short summary of strengths and experience, a one page skills checklist from PanTravelers (agencies invariably want their own skills checklist but I often bypassed agencies), and several written references curated specifically for the facility of interest. Having this ready to email (fax in the olden times - very few agencies in 1995 had email when I started to travel, even the largest ones at the time) to go in seconds following an interview with a hospital or agency was often important in securing good assignments.

Other credentials such as licenses, certifications, and health records were not usually required immediately (times have changed) before a verbal understanding or even a contract was signed and could be gathered later during the due diligence phase. Still helpful to have all these files organized and ready to send. In any case these days, you have to download the relevant licensure verification from the relevant nursing authority or proxy with a current date showing good standing, and a number of states do not even issue physical licenses anymore.

Tax home compliance docs certainly could be useful to collect should you ever face an audit, but I was too lazy to organize rental, ownership, property tax, utility bills, and physician visit records and would have had to scramble if audited. But I had them. Sometimes my scanned drivers license or passport was needed, because of possible identity theft by those without credentials. Which is easier than one might think when anyone can randomly get a valid license verification with someone else's name.

Per diems, and reimbursements are not required to keep track of with a valid tax home (and certainly would raise the eyebrows of a first line auditor without travel industry experience). In any case, they are detailed in the contracts you have file away, as well as payroll records (which I save diligently as they can be very useful in a number of potential scenarios) none of which you should show to an auditor unless pushed hard. Housing expenses at the remote work area should be kept as they can prove that you were working remotely and eligible for those per diems and reimbursements. Again, for an audit situation (very rare in our income class). The major reason for travelers to get audited is an audit attempt aimed at an agency we worked for to check on their internal tax practices, not because of our tax returns.