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• Submission Request Types
• Alternative Expense Submission Types
• Expense Submission Forms
• Submission Timeframe
• Payment Dates
• Submission Review and Approval
• Sufficient Funds
• Lack of Funding
• Order of Pay
• Remove or Denied Expense Requests
• Receipt Guidelines
• Non-Employee Expenses

Standards by Expense Types

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If the criteria for determining a permissible expense are not met on the original submission, the expense may be resubmitted on a new submission form with the corrected information (in the event it was due to insufficient documentation), or an appeal may be submitted through an exception request if the reason for denial was related to other criteria that require director review for approval.

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Funds1

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Non-Employee Expenses

Read the options below for more details on the expenses submitted by non-employees.

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Associate Expenses

Funds1

Sufficient Funds

As noted above, expense submissions may draw on funds from either the MTD account for which the field staff or associate is responsible or a project fund pertinent to the field worker's ministry. In either case, sufficient funds are required before payment is issued for the expense submission. (See also "Lack of Funding for Reimbursements and ERBs" below for details on what happens when sufficient funds are unavailable.)

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Lack of Funding Lack of Funding

Lack of Funding for Reimbursements and ERBs

If the funding source (i.e., MTD account or project fund) lacks sufficient monies to cover the submitted expense, then the expense submission is considered a back reimbursement or back pay, as described below.

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Some Reliant field staff (particularly those who are preparing to move internationally) work as non-employees or "pre-employed" status for a short period of time while they raise funds to build up the balance in the MTD account they are responsible for with Reliant. In this circumstance, the field staff clearly intends to become a full-time Reliant employee in the near future.  

With the confirmation of the expected hire date already set in place with Reliant (which must be within 90 days of the purchase date of the "taxable" items in order to qualify), Reliant will allow an Associate field staff to purchase a taxable item with the expectation that it can be recovered through an ERB after being officially hired (and working over 20 hours). The ERB should be submitted upon being hired, and the receipt date should be no more than 90 dates before the hire date. The recovery of the taxable item amounts will not be paid out until the field staff is officially hired and receives a paycheck, thus satisfying Reliant's Standard and our obligation to report the value of the items as taxable income to the IRS.

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 currently offers Child-Care Reimbursement through our Cafeteria Plan (tax-saving benefit). 

Project Fund Expenses

In addition to individual MTD accounts, Reliant also manages funds for ministries, non-profits, and churches. When an expense is not directly related to a field staff's specific job role but is more closely aligned to a project or ministry, a project fund Reimbursement can be submitted. Reimbursements from a project require all the same documentation as those from an MTD account and are processed according to the same submission deadlines. Project fund reimbursements also require approval by a designated signer for the fund. 

These types of Reimbursements are paid directly from the project fund based on available funds and the order in which they were received. The MTD account balance the field staff is responsible for does not incur the expense for these reimbursed costs (therefore, the order of pay from the MTD account does not apply), so it is possible for an employee who has back pay and back Reimbursements to receive payment for a Reimbursement that was submitted to be paid from a project fund. Reliant pays project fund Reimbursements if there are available funds in the project fund. A project fund can accumulate back Reimbursements. 

If an expense submitted through a project fund will be owned, stored, and considered solely the property of the church/ministry (with no personal usage by the individual submitting the request), then the expenses are attributable to the church/ministry, which is not taxed for expenses that are usually fully or partially taxed to the field staff MTD fund. 

If an expense is not for an item that will be considered the sole property of the church/ministry, then a field staff can still specify that the project fund (rather than an MTD account) should be the source of funds for a Reimbursement or ERB. In the case of an ERB, the taxable expenditure (including expenses with a partial taxable component) is processed similarly to ERBs funded through MTD accounts. The ERB for project funds can only be routed through a paid employee's payroll; therefore, Reliant associates may not request an expense recovery using a project fund for payment for any taxable expenditures. 

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Sufficient Funds

As noted above, expense submissions may draw on funds from either the MTD account for which the field staff or associate is responsible or a project fund pertinent to the field worker's ministry. In either case, sufficient funds are required before payment is issued for the expense submission. (See also "Lack of Funding for Reimbursements and ERBs" below for details on what happens when sufficient funds are unavailable.)

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Lack of Funding for Reimbursements and ERBs

If the funding source (i.e., MTD account or project fund) lacks sufficient monies to cover the submitted expense, then the expense submission is considered a back reimbursement or back pay, as described below.

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Back Reimbursement 

If the funding source does not contain sufficient funds to provide full reimbursement for the amount on an expense submission request form, Reliant will hold the form and delay reimbursement, storing the expense submission as a "back reimbursement" until sufficient funds are available in the funding source, according to Reliant's order of pay protocol.  If a field staff has more than one back reimbursement, they will be paid out in the order in which the reimbursement submissions were received once funds become available for the whole amount of each individual reimbursement. 

If the funding source covers only a portion of a back reimbursement, Reliant will not automatically partially pay the reimbursement. Field staff may request a reduction in the back reimbursement for a partial payment or altogether remove it from the queue, but in such cases, the remaining portion of a partial back reimbursement or the back reimbursement removed from the queue will not be eligible for reinstatement should funding become available later. To illustrate the process for partial reimbursement, suppose a field staff submits a $1,000 reimbursement that is next in line for the order of reimbursement payout, and only $650 is available to pay out.  The field staff may elect to send an email to reimbursements@reliant.org asking the reimbursement team to pay the $1,000 reimbursement using the available funds and acknowledging that the field staff forfeits any un-reimbursed portion of that reimbursement. Note: this action is entirely voluntary and at the discretion of the field staff.  

Here's a sample email of how to word the email.

"I would like to request that my April (Year-20xx) reimbursement totaling $X be paid out on X date using the available funds in the MTD account for which I am responsible.  I acknowledge that any un-reimbursed funds from this reimbursement will be forfeited and unable to be reimbursed at a future date."

Reliant will retain unpaid back reimbursements for the remainder of the calendar year in which the expenses were incurred, plus two (2) additional calendar years. Once this period has expired (i.e., after January 31st of that next year, when all expense reimbursements have been completely processed and paid by Reliant), any un-reimbursed back reimbursement expenses will be marked as expired and can no longer be paid. Example: expenses submitted in 2019 are eligible for payment as a back reimbursement until January 31, 2022, if the field staff has raised sufficient funds by December 31, 2021.

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Order of Pay Order of Pay

Order of Pay

Reliant will pay approved Reimbursements and ERBs following Reliant's Order of Pay. While Order of Pay considers a variety of additional payroll-related elements, expense submissions follow this order:

1. Current ERB
2. Back Pay (if applicable), including any previously submitted ERB waiting for funding, as long as the bonus remains eligible for Back Pay (See Back Pay for ERB above for more detail)
3. Back Reimbursements (formerly known as cabinet expenses), meaning unpaid Reimbursements waiting for funding and paid in the order they were received, as long as the Back Reimbursements remain eligible for Reimbursement (See Back Reimbursements above for more detail)
4. Current Reimbursement (Again, reimbursements are paid in the order they are received)

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Removed or Denied Expense Requests Removed or Denied Expense Requests

Resolution of Removed or Denied Expense Requests

Upon review of expense submissions, Reliant may remove or deny expenses or return submitted expense forms for various reasons. Explanations for the return or denial of submitted expenses can be found in Google comments within the Google file, the Reliant email of field staff, or StaffNet. Field staff are responsible for checking their Reliant email and Staffnet for reimbursement notes and initiating with Reliant if there are questions about those notes. Reliant will notify field staff via email or Google Drive comments if a form is entirely denied.  

If expenses are removed from or denied on an expense submission request, the expense denied may be resubmitted on a separate expense submission form for further review. Field staff should check the guidelines to ensure they have included proper receipt documentation and only include the items previously removed on the new form submission. There is no extension to the original submission timeframe deadline for re-submissions. 

A formal exception request must be submitted if the expense was removed due to a policy issue.

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Receipt Guidelines Receipt Guidelines

Receipt Guidelines

Reliant requires that itemized receipts for expenses greater than $75 must be submitted* along with the appropriate form. *The only exception to the $75 limit is that a receipt is always needed for all hotel/lodging, regardless of the amount requested for reimbursement.

Receipts must include the following itemized details:

• What was purchased
• Total amount paid
• Date
• Name of the company (or person) that was paid
• Name of field staff (if applicable, such as for a flight, hotel, rental car, etc.)

If the amount that is being submitted on the expense form is less than the amount for the item listed on the receipt that is submitted, please add a note to the top of the receipt explaining why the request for submission is a different amount.

Non-Employee Expenses

Read the options below for more details on the expenses submitted by non-employees.

Back Pay for ERBs

If funds are not available to pay an ERB, Reliant will short-check those ERBs and include them with back pay following Reliant's approved order of pay. In the order of pay, Expense Recovery Bonuses take precedence over Reimbursements per IRS requirements. Back pay is eligible for compensation/payment during the year it is incurred, plus two additional years. For example, if an ERB was submitted in March 2019 and the funding source lacks sufficient funds to pay it, the back pay resulting from the ERB is eligible to be paid until December 31, 2021.

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Exiting Employment with Unpaid Reimbursements

If a field staff is exiting employment and has reached his/her final month of payroll without receiving enough funds to cover the total amount of a submitted reimbursement fully, Reliant will automatically reimburse a portion (based on available funds) of the submitted reimbursement without the field staff needing to submit a request for partial payment of the reimbursement.

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Order of Pay

Reliant will pay approved Reimbursements and ERBs following Reliant's Order of Pay. While Order of Pay considers a variety of additional payroll-related elements, expense submissions follow this order:

1. Current ERB
2. Back Pay (if applicable), including any previously submitted ERB waiting for funding, as long as the bonus remains eligible for Back Pay (See Back Pay for ERB above for more detail)
3. Back Reimbursements (formerly known as cabinet expenses), meaning unpaid Reimbursements waiting for funding and paid in the order they were received, as long as the Back Reimbursements remain eligible for Reimbursement (See Back Reimbursements above for more detail)
4. Current Reimbursement (Again, reimbursements are paid in the order they are received)

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Resolution of Removed or Denied Expense Requests

Upon review of expense submissions, Reliant may remove or deny expenses or return submitted expense forms for various reasons. Explanations for the return or denial of submitted expenses can be found in Google comments within the Google file, the Reliant email of field staff, or StaffNet. Field staff are responsible for checking their Reliant email and Staffnet for reimbursement notes and initiating with Reliant if there are questions about those notes. Reliant will notify field staff via email or Google Drive comments if a form is entirely denied.  

If expenses are removed from or denied on an expense submission request, the expense denied may be resubmitted on a separate expense submission form for further review. Field staff should check the guidelines to ensure they have included proper receipt documentation and only include the items previously removed on the new form submission. There is no extension to the original submission timeframe deadline for re-submissions. 

A formal exception request must be submitted if the expense was removed due to a policy issue.

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Receipt Guidelines

Reliant requires that itemized receipts for expenses greater than $75 must be submitted* along with the appropriate form. *The only exception to the $75 limit is that a receipt is always needed for all hotel/lodging, regardless of the amount requested for reimbursement.

Receipts must include the following itemized details:

• What was purchased
• Total amount paid
• Date
• Name of the company (or person) that was paid
• Name of field staff (if applicable, such as for a flight, hotel, rental car, etc.)

If the amount that is being submitted on the expense form is less than the amount for the item listed on the receipt that is submitted, please add a note to the top of the receipt explaining why the request for submission is a different amount.

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Standards by Expense Type

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