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:

  1. Go to the Expenses Trello board
  2. 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.
  3. Add the appropriate label to your card (pro dev, marketing, summit, client related funds, etc)

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  1. To approve your request, the budget owner will move it into the "Approved" column.
  2. 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:

  1. Log your receipts to Harvest.
  2. Once all receipts are logged, add a comment to the Trello card indicating the total amount of expenses incurred.
  3. 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

  1. The Admin reviews cards in the "Submitted" column and moves them to "Retrieved" in preparation for reimbursement.
  2. 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.