Expenses
CivicActions will timely reimburse approved business-related out-of-pocket expenses as long as you submit a receipt.
Step 1: Request approval for an expense
Before incurring an expense the cost should be estimated and approved by the budget owner. The exception to this is prodev expenses of less than $50, which do not require approval.
To request approval:
- Go to the Expenses Trello board
- Create a new card in the "Requests" column. Note that it is fine to group several related expenses (e.g. a complete trip including travel, accommodation and food) into a single card - please break out significant costs in the card description.
- Add the appropriate label to your card (pro dev, marketing, summit, client related funds, etc)
-
Your card should indicate (see the example in the instructions column):
- Card title: Your name and the purpose of the expense - The estimated amount(s) of the expense - Any key dates relating to the expense
-
Assign the card to the budget owner who will become your "Approver":
- Pro Dev: Elizabeth Raley - Client projects: Project Manager - Marketing: Aaron Pava - Sales: Bill Oglive - UX: Shira Kates - IT/IS: Owen Barton - Other: Elizabeth Raley
-
Click on Watch under Actions so you will be notified when the card is moved to the "Approved" column (you will not move the card to "Approved").
Step 2: Expense approval
- To approve your request, the budget owner will move it into the "Approved" column.
- If they have questions, they will ask you in the card comments.
Step 3: Submitting expenses for reimbursement
The steps below assume you already created a card in "Requests" and your Approver moved it to "Approved" (see above). Once you have incurred your expense, here is how to get reimbursed:
- Log your receipts to Harvest.
- Once all receipts are logged, add a comment to the Trello card indicating the total amount of expenses incurred.
- Move your card from the "Approved" column to the "Submitted" column. (Remember that the Approver needs to be the one to move your card from "Requests" to "Approved" first.)
Step 4: Receiving reimbursement
- The Admin reviews cards in the "Submitted" column and moves them to "Retrieved" in preparation for reimbursement.
- Then the Admin will reimburse the expense amount and move the card to the "Reimbursed" column.
Expense guidelines
- Treat company money like it is your own money, use it to work smarter and spend it with wisdom and care.
- Please book as early as possible - for flights and accommodation this can make a big difference!
- Consider AirBnB instead of hotels. If you are unsure of how many people can attend, getting a slightly larger AirBnB ahead of time is normally better than waiting and getting an AirBnB or hotel rooms last minute.
- Your Project Manager and the Officer Manager will provide information about what is or isn't reimbursable. For example, if you prefer first class for a flight or want to add a leg for a vacation, then that wouldn't be reimbursable but the amount for an economy class return would.
- Reduce your footprint when possible and use public transit or shared Lyft Lines instead of single occupancy rides.
- If you are purchasing multiple "under $50" items in a short timespan, please consider that a single purchase and request approval first.
Travel expenses
See Travel 101 for more details on travel expenses, whether for billable or non-billable work.