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Payment of a ministry expense may be done through the following types of submission requests:

Reimbursement: Submission of expenses that qualify under IRS guidance as non-taxable reimbursable 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 or for any expense that has a taxable (ERB) component.

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While most expense submissions by field staff will be in the form of either a Reimbursement or an ERB, there are several alternative means of recovering the cost of ministry expenses. They include:are listed in the drop-down below:

UI Expand
titleAlternative Expense Submission Types
  • 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 travel expenses. 
  • Grant: For expenses related directly to a ministry project fund, field staff 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 typically used for the expense of an item that will belong to the broader ministry/project on a long-term basis. 
  • Support Goal: Certain recurring monthly expenses (e.g., monthly mobile phone service costs) can only be recovered by submitting an updated support goal. We encourage employees to use this benefit to offset recurring monthly costs. Associates are not eligible for this benefit and therefore will not be able to recover certain recurring monthly expenses.

Relevant Forms

All expense submissions should use the appropriate form, each of which is listed in the drop-down below with accessible links. Please open a new form for each month's expense submission (rather than copying a form that has previously been submitted) in order to ensure the use of updated forms and to aid accurate and timely expense processing.   

UI Expand
titleRelevant Forms


Note

Key Change to the Standard: The term Expense Submission is now used rather than simply Reimbursement when describing a submitted expense since an expense could be either a Reimbursement or an ERB or a related Advance.

Links for Applicable Expense Submission Forms

  • Current approved Expense Submission Request Forms are required for expense submission.
    • U.S.  Expense Submission Form
    • International Expense Submission Form
    • Project Fund Expense Submission Form
    • Continuing Education Form (all costs associated with continuing education must be submitted using only this form and pre-approval is required)
    • Spiritual and Ministry Planning Retreat Form (all costs associated with Spiritual and Ministry Planning Retreats must be submitted using only this form and pre-approval is required)
  • 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 the appropriate program liaison for assistance.

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

UI Expand
titleKey Components of Any Expense Submission

An explanation for each expense submitted, including:

  • Description of the expense
  • Whom the item is for:
    • First and last names of the people involved
    • The ministry relationship of the person(s) to the field staff. If the expense relates to five or more people, list them as a group with a specific number in the group (e.g. 12 ministry partners). Actual names are not necessary for groups of five or more people. Otherwise, the use of actual first and last names is required, if the relationship is not uniform with all members of the group.
  • Specific ministry purpose of the expense (be as detailed as possible). For more secure locations, please see Secure Lexicon for more details. 
  • Cost of the item (the portion of the cost that is ministry related if not 100%)
  • Date of the expense (a new Reimbursement form is needed for each month in which an expense is incurred) 

Itemized original receipts and other appropriate substantiating documents (if applicable) must be submitted with the form.

*Please refer to all Reimbursement Standards below, which detail receipt information and other specific criteria.


Submission Timeframe

For all Reimbursements and ERBs, requests must be received within 60 days after the end of the month in which the expense is incurred. An expense is incurred when an item is purchased or, in the case of pre-payment for travel, when the travel has actually taken place, as long as both the payment date and travel date are listed on the receipt for documentation. 

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Please review the table below for more details on the timing of receiving Reimbursement/bonus funds based on the submission date. 

Payment Dates

Reimbursement Submitted By...Paid to the Bank Account of Field Staff By...
Between 1st - 15th of the monthThe last business day of the same month
Between the 16th - 31st of the monthThe 20th of the following month, or the preceding business day if the 20th falls on a weekend or holiday

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