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As noted in the policy linked above, field staff are expected to employ utilize sound judgment and prudent careful financial management in their stewardship of Reliant resources. As such, field staff share the responsibility of regard to ministry-related expenses. This means ensuring that Reliant financial resources are used appropriately; support the ministry; comply with Reliant policies, applicable laws, regulations, and donor restrictions; and consider the reputation of the ministry . Excessive and unnecessary expenditures must be avoided, and Reliant may, in its sole discretion, decline to reimburse excessive expenses.  Our stewardship responsibility also means that field staff may not use, or attempt to use, Reliant's non-profit status in the sense that we strive for propriety in both fact and appearance. Our stewardship responsibility also means utilizing Reliant's non-profit status for ministry purposes alone and not for personal benefit (e.g. avoiding state sales tax on personal or ministry items). 

General Criteria for Determining A Permissible Expense

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• Reasonable in that the expense is not extreme or excessive, and it reflects the amount that would normally be spent in that specific situation;
• Ordinary in that one would normally expect this kind of expense to occur when performing ministry work;
• Necessary to achieve a valid ministry objective fulfilling consistent with the mission of Reliant and its ministry partners;
• Directly related to the job/ministry of the field staff; and
• Sufficiently documented and timely submitted

 * Note: Reliant reserves the right to determine whether or not an expense fulfills the above criteria and to decline reimbursement of expenses that do not meet the criteria. 

Submission Request Types

Submission for payment Payment of a ministry expense may be done through the following four types of submission requests:

• 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, associatesare not eligible to submit a request for an ERB.
• Expense Advance: Field staff may request advance payment for anticipated reimbursable expenses through an "Expense Advance." Advances are not guaranteed available in all cases but will be considered for approval on a case-by-case basis.
• Grant: For expenses related to a ministry project fund, field staff also have the option of requesting payment through a "Grant" rather than a Reimbursement. Grants are also often used for the expense of an item that the ministry/project will retain ownership of beyond its initial usefund intends to retain on a long-term basis. (See Reimbursements vs. Grants for more details)

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Relevant Forms

All expense submissions for expense Reimbursements and ERBs should use the appropriate form, each of which is listed below with accessible links. Please use the direct form links provided by Reliant to open a brand new form for each month's expense submission rather  (rather than copying a form that has already previously been submitted for a previous expense, ) in order to capture form updates and formatting changes that occur based on information written on the form.  ensure the use of updated forms and to aid accurate and timely expense processing.   

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
  • Continuing Education Form
• Expense advancesAdvances, primarily relating to large, expected travel expenditures, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Exception requestsRequests are available for submission in the event of a denied Reimbursement or a late submission. 
• Add link to grant form here (See Standard for Project Funds and Grant Making for detailed guidance)

Included on the form with each expense should be:

1. Itemized original receipts and all other appropriate substantiating documents must be received by Reliant central within 60 days after the end of the month in which the expense occurs, is incurred or is paid by the employee. (See receipt guidelines below for more details.) 
Employees must provide a written explanation for each expense submitted clearly documenting
2. 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 expense relates to five or more people, list them as a group with the specific number in the group (e.g. 12 ministry partners). Actual names are not necessary for groups of five or more people. Otherwise, use of actual first and last names is required, if the relationship is not uniform.
  • 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

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• • in which an expense is incurred) 

1. Itemized original receipts and other appropriate substantiating documents

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

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For all Reimbursements and Expense Recovery BonusesERBs, 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 the expense can be incurred , when the travel has actually taken place, as long as both the payment date and travel date are listed on the receipt for documentation. 

Late submissions exceeding this timeframe require an exception request. Late submissions are not guaranteed reimbursement and will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the submission of an exception request. The exception request must include a valid reason for the late submission and include supervisor approval.

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(SARAH, I THINK I MESSED UP THE TABLE BELOW AND COULDN'T FIX IT...SORRY!)

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Reliant will pay approved Reimbursements and Expense Recovery Bonuses following the Order of Pay, which includes: SARAH, 1) SHOULD THE "SUFFICIENT FUNDS" SECTION PRECEDE THIS? 2) I THINK PERHAPS WE SHOULD LIST THE FULL ORDER OF PAY HERE AND HIGHLIGHT WHERE REIMBURSEMENTS AND ERBs FIT

1. Expense Recovery BonusExpense Recovery Bonus
2. Back Pay (if applicable), including back pay accrued by either spouse, if married. Back Pay includes previously submitted Expense Recovery Bonuses waiting for funding as long as the bonus remains eligible for Back Pay (See Back Pay for Bonus below for more detail)
3. Back Reimbursements (formerly known as cabinet expenses) are 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 below for more detail)
4. Reimbursements are paid in the order they are received

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Sufficient Funds Required

How funds come out of the different funds

For all types of expense submissions, sufficient funds are required no matter the fund that is being used to pay the expenses submitted. 

In general, expense submissions are paid out of the MTD fund for which the field staff is responsible for 

Project Funds are paid out of the project fund 

Back Reimbursement 

Reimbursements: If the MTD account for which a field staff is responsible does not contain sufficient funds to provide full reimbursement for the amount requested by the field staff 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 staff MTD account, in accordance with Reliant's approved order of pay.  Back reimbursements will be paid out in the order from which the reimbursement submissions were received once funds become available for the whole amount of each individual reimbursement. 

Reliant will not automatically partially pay a back reimbursement. You may request that we reduce the back reimbursement for a partial payment or completely remove it from the queue, but they will then not be eligible to be reinstated should funding become available later. Unpaid back reimbursements will be retained by Reliant for the calendar year in which the expenses were incurred, plus two (2) additional calendar years.

Back reimbursements are stored until enough funding can be raised through the end of December two years after the expenses were submitted before they expire. 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 from December 31st of the prior year 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 you raised sufficient funds by December 31, 2021.

Back Pay for Bonus

Expense Recovery Bonus: If funds are not available to immediately recuperate all of the Expense Recovery Bonuses (ERB) (previously known as taxable reimbursements) that were submitted, then Reliant will short-check those bonuses and include them with backpay, in accordance with Reliant's approved order of pay. In the order of pay, Expense Recovery Bonuses take precedence over Reimbursements, in accordance with IRS requirements.  As a reminder, Reliant will generally compensate employees for back pay which has been acquired within the current year and the past two years before it is expired, subject to an employee fulfilling his or her obligation to raise the required amount of support for Reliant. 

Requesting a Reimbursement be Partially Paid Out (forfeiting any un-reimbursed expenses)

If a field staff would like to request a reimbursement be partially paid out using the available funds, they must agree to forfeit any un-reimbursed amount from that reimbursement.  For example, if there is a $1,000 reimbursement that's 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 they forfeit any un-reimbursed portion of that reimbursement. Note: this action is completely voluntary and at the discretion of the field staff.  

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

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Funding of Payments for Reimbursements, ERBs, or Advances

Reimbursements and ERBs for field staff are normally paid from the staff's MTD account. They may also be paid from a project fund if approved by the project fund approver. 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.

Back Reimbursement 

If the funding source (i.e., MTD account for which a field staff is responsible or approved project fund) 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 completely 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 a 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 completely 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. "

Unpaid back reimbursements will be retained by Reliant 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.

Back Pay for ERBs

If funds are not available to pay an ERB, then Reliant will short-check those ERBs and include them with backpay, in accordance with Reliant's approved order of pay. In the order of pay, Expense Recovery Bonuses take precedence over Reimbursements, in accordance with IRS requirements.  Back pay is eligible for compensation/payment during the year in which it is incurred plus two additional years. For example, if an ERB is 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.  

Exiting Employment with Unpaid Reimbursements

If a field staff is exiting employment and has reached their his/her final month of payroll without receiving enough funds to fully cover the total amount of a submitted reimbursement, 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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Resolution of Removed or Denied Reimbursement Requests

Upon its review of expense submissions, Reliant may remove or deny expenses or return submitted expense forms due to different to a variety of reasons.  Check for Explanations for the return or denial of submitted expenses can be found in Google comments within the Google Doc, your the Reliant email of field staff, or Staffnet for reimbursement notes indicating why a reimbursement or bonus request is being returned or expenses are being denied. It is your responsibility to check your . Field staff are responsible for checking their Reliant email and Staffnet for reimbursement notes and to initiate with Reliant if there are questions about those notes. Reliant will notify you field staff via email or Google Drive comments if a form is fully denied.  

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

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• What was purchased
• Total amount paid
• Date
• Name of the company (or person) that was paid
• Your name Name of field staff (if applicable such as for a flight or hotel)

Hand-Written Receipts

Hand-written receipts are acceptable when a printed itemized receipt is not available as long as it contains the following criteria.

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SARA, IS THERE A SPECIAL FORM FOR COMPLETING HAND-WRITTEN RECEIPTS?

On the rare occasions when a field staff is unable to obtain a formal itemized receipt, hand-written receipts are acceptable as long as they contain the following information:

• Name of field staff

Writing a Handwritten Receipt

If you are unable to attain a formal receipt for an expense, you can create your own handwritten receipt. 

Create your own handwritten receipt if the organization or person doesn't provide one for you, by including the following information with it:

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• What was purchased
• Amount paid
• Date
• Type of payment (check #, cash, etc)
• Name of the store (or individual) who received the money (please also include contact info (phone/email) if payment was made to an individual)
• A verification statement from a worker at the store/individual who received the money should also be included on the written receipt along with a signature to verify the statement. Example statement: “I, name, received this money from name to cover the cost of expense in which they participated, or purchased from me, etc. on this date. -Signature”. Or

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• the field staff can have the person email

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• the verification statement needed from their personal email address (instead of receiving their signature in person) and attach a copy of that email along with the handwritten receipt when submitting the expense.

Receipts from Mobile/Banking App

For receipts from mobile apps (such as Venmo, Square Cash, PayPal, Google Wallet, or a banking app), please field staff should be sure to include a clear description in the memo or "what's it for?" section of the transaction, to document what expense the payment is related to. Be sure to The reimbursement submission should also include with your reimbursement submission any information that is required for a valid receipt, that is not visible on the mobile app "receipt" (see the guidelines above for what details must be included on the itemized receipt for it to be acceptable.) In most cases, receipts for mobile apps will be for shared expenses. Please see the section below for details on receipts for shared expenses.

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If a Reliant field staff pays an individual for a portion of an expense that requires a receipt (and the portion is over exceeds $75), they will need to submit two receipts.  The field staff submitting the expense will need he/she will need to submit two receipts.  This includes both a copy of the original receipt with the full expense amount listed from the individual who collected the money and paid for the full expense as well as submitting a hand-written or mobile/banking app receipt for the portion paid to the individual to give Reliant a paper trail for both transactions. Make sure to . These two receipts provide Reliant with sufficient documentation of transactions. The expense submission should include all details required for the hand-written or mobile/banking app receipts as detailed above. Remember, if it is for a hotel expense, a copy of the itemized receipt is always required no matter the amount being reimbursed.

Guidelines by Expense Type

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