Authors: @Hammad1412 and @ElliottWatts
Reviewers: @Matthew_Graham and @anthonyb.eth
Expense policy - Travel, events and business expenses
This contributor expense policy outlines the policy and procedure for what is in scope for business reimbursement and what is not. An expense policy for a growing organisation is essential to ensure fairness and cost control across the organisation. This policy defines “Business-related expenses”, we therefore outline the amount that can be claimed by owl level and set a procedure to authorize expenditure.
This policy aims to provide clarity to nests on event sponsorship and work related expenses for bronze owl’s and above. The expense calendar year will run from April to March each year.
Policy elements
Business-Related Expenses
As highlighted in the events guidelines posted by Growth nest, the G.nest budget only sponsors attendance of events planned by G.Nest that are considered to be official and constitute a valid business case. This policy intends to provide a framework for the Index Coop wide and this should be seen as an employment benefit. Growth Nest has a specific budget for event attendance; this expense policy does not impact this budget and Growth Nest maintains the discretion to allocate this budget how they see fit in line with the events guidance document published.
This document is intended for all at the coop and should be considered the one source of truth when looking to gain reimbursement for business expenses.
Business expenses include the following:
- Accommodation (max $150 per night)
- Event ticket
- Air, train, ship or other transportation fares
- Necessary medical expenses (e.g. vaccinations, covid tests)
- Local transportation during trips (taxi fares, rental cars etc.)
- Car mileage ($0.45 per mile travelled)
- Business meetings
- Entertaining budget (pre-approved and must be customer facing)
Non-reimbursable expenses
We won’t reimburse the following:
- Expenses incurred by spouses or other non-contributors who accompany our contributor on their travels
- Un-authorized service upgrade (e.g. business class or hotel rooms)
- Personal services (massages, beauty treatments etc.)
- Personal purchases (gifts, clothes etc.)
- Lost personal property (e.g. luggage)
This list is not exhaustive. Please ask Finance Nest for clarification about reimbursable expenses. Finance Nest retains the right to refuse an expense should it be deemed out of policy. A disputes form will be available to request a review from the Index Council should an agreement not be made.
Allowance
Below we provide guidance on the amount that can be claimed per year by owl level. The decision to approve the expense is left to the nest’s discretion, however the cost will be taken out of the flexible contributor budget for that specific nest.
The following cap is suggested by owl level per year:
- Gold Owl+ - $2,500
- Silver Owl - $1,500
- Bronze Owl - $500
Example:
Hammad is a silver owl in the finance nest. He is requesting $900 to be reimbursed for travel and an event ticket purchase in the month of June. The nest lead agrees to the reimbursement.
Finance Nest monthly flexible reward’s budget: $30,000
Hammad’s Reimbursement: $900
Finance Nest’s monthly flexible reward’s budget for June: $29,100
Procedure
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Expense approved by Nest lead
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Expense to be requested for reimbursement through the expense request process highlighted in this post
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Expenses will be reimbursed and no forward payments will be made by Index Coop to the contributor
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All receipts must be retained to prove the expense (no receipt, no payment)
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Finance nest will process the payments weekly
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Flexible contributor reward budget adjusted for the nest accordingly for that month