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General Guidelines

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• Reimbursement: Submission of expenses that qualify under IRS guidance as non-taxable reimbursed business expenses is referred to as a “Reimbursement.” Please note that, although Reliant Reimbursements are processed in such a way that they are not included in the employee's taxable income, the employee bears ultimate responsibility for her/his income tax return(s), including the proper tax treatment of all payments received from Reliant, and should consult with her/his tax adviser as needed to determine the appropriate reporting and treatment of such payments.
• Expense Recovery Bonus: Submissions requesting recovery of expenses that do not qualify for non-taxable reimbursement under the IRS guidance are referred to as “Expense Recovery Bonus”or ERB. ERB payments take the form of a bonus which will be treated as additional taxable wages (compensation) for the field staff. Due to the fact that only paid employees can receive a taxable bonus, associates are not eligible to submit a request for an ERB. A 25% bonus for estimated taxes will be automatically added to all ERB submissions to account for the estimated taxes associated with this taxable bonus. Employees that wish to opt-out of including the bonus for estimated taxes will need to select the box on the form that says "only reimburse the core expenses and not the estimated taxes associated with this bonus."
• Expense Advance: Field staff may request advance payment for anticipated reimbursable expenses through an "Expense Advance." Advances are not available in all cases but will be considered for approval on a case-by-case basis.
• Per Diem: Field staff may request per diem while traveling opting to receive a daily set amount for travel expenses (lodging and meals) instead of submitting individual expense receipts for those expenses. 
• Grant: For expenses related directly to a ministry project fund, field staffs and associates also have the option of requesting payment through a "Grant" rather than a project fund Reimbursement. (See Reimbursements vs. Grants for more details.) Grants are also often used for the expense of an item that will belong to the broader ministry/project on a long-term basis. There are no taxable implications on the individual submitting a recovery for a project expense through the grant process. 
• Support Goal: Certain recurring monthly expenses can only be recovered by submitting an updated support goal which in turn will affect payroll for the MTD account. Associates are not eligible for this benefit and therefore will not be able to recover certain recurring monthly expenses.

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The ME bonus accounts for the following recurring monthly expenses along with other routine monthly expenses particular to the individual Reliant field staff and their specific ministry to be recovered only through a recurring bonus rather than through a monthly reimbursement submission.

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Employees are also given the option to request monthly phone plan reimbursement through a submission request within the employee support goal. Expenses are paid out through a non-taxable monthly recurring payment into the account for which the staff is responsible. Reliant does not need receipts submitted for phone plan payment amounts. Employees will request the appropriate amount needed per month (up to the designated amount for full-time/part-time employees) based on the monthly expenses incurred with their individual phone plans. Full-time employees are eligible for requests up to $100/month. Part-time employees (20 hours or less) are eligible for requests up to $50/month. Associates are not eligible for the monthly phone reimbursement. (To purchase a phone with a one-time payment, you will follow the normal reimbursement and ERB guidelines.)

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• Current approved Expense Submission Request Forms are required for expense submission.
  • U.S.  Expense Submission Form
  • International Expense Submission Form
  • Continuing Education Form
• Expense Advances, primarily relating to large, expected travel expenditures, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Exception Requests are available for submission in the event of a denied Reimbursement or a late submission. 
• Grants are available for expenses related directly to a project fund. The full grant process involves submitting a grant request and following the Board's policy on grant reporting.
• Per Diem - U.S. / Per Diem - International is available to use for travel expenses incurred during longer periods of traveling (5 days or more)
• Support Goal- support goal submission is specific to program teams. Please reach out to to the appropriate program liaison for assisitance.

With each expense submitted Included on the relevant form with each expense there should be:

An explanation for each expense submitted, including:

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Expense submission requests for field staff are typically paid from the MTD account for which the field staff or associate is responsible. Expenses specifically for projects/ministries are paid from project funds. Sufficient funds are required before payment for the expense submission is received and order of pay (see below for more details) for paid employees must be followed. (See also "Lack of Funding for Reimbursements and ERBs" below for details on what occurs when sufficient funds are not available.)  

Expenses that are not for Full-Time/Part-Time Employees

Family Expenses

Expenses incurred related to a Reliant employee's family members (spouses that are not also a Reliant employee/associate and/or children) that coincide with a field staff's job or ministry may potentially be eligible for recovery, but typically only as a taxable expense. As a reminder, Reliant does currently offer Child-Care Reimbursement through our Cafeteria Plan (tax-saving benefit). (See Spouse and Family Expenses for more details.)  

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