The following links provide essential information for the International missionary to consider as they reach 80-90% Support Raised towards their MTD Goal.
These links will be discussed in a International Financial orientation. Those sessions occur every month, typically on a Friday afternoon. Please reach out to international@relaint.org to find out when the next session is available for you to attend.
Banking
Finance FAQs
- This page provides important information about the FEIE (Foreign Earned Income Exclusion), getting Tax help (and what is reimbursable), as well as discusses possible credit cards that have low transactions fees and how they may be useful to a missionary for reimbursement purposes.
Reimbursement Forms
- see the Reimbursements Manual for all the types of ministry expense eligible for reimbursement (and watch the video!)
- Receipts are generally required for costs over $75 and some items always require a receipt - see Receipt Guidelines
Expense Advances - Used to request funds prior to making a large (expensive) ministry-related purchase, similar to a reimbursements loan
- Provides access to funds in advance of receiving a reimbursement, to pay for a large ministry expense such as a conference expense, plane tickets, laptop, etc.
- Missionaries can request an expense advance up to 30 days prior to when they will be making the purchase.
- Reliant tracks what was advanced for a period of 90 days (3 months). The missionary then makes their purchase and submits their receipts and required documentation back to the reimbursements team using the "pay down" form provided by Reliant.
- After all receipts and documentation have been received by Reliant, any excess amount spent by the missionary for the purchase (in excess of what they were advanced) will be paid to the missionary in the next available reimbursements direct deposit batch. If the amount the missionary was advanced exceeded the cost of the actual purchase, the missionary will keep the excess funds and may elect to have the excess amount converted into a payroll advance and deducted from their next paycheck or subtracted from a future reimbursement. It is also possible for the missionary to return the excess funds to Reliant by check. However, that option requires additional administrative work for tracking and reconciliation so it's not the preferred option.
Per Diem - International - Used to receive a daily allowance (non-taxable) amount for food, travel incidentals and Hotel costs outside of the US
- No receipts are needed unless you want to receive more than the lodging allowance per day
- Use for ministry travel outside of the United States for a period of 3 days or longer
- This is an excellent and preferred option for Visa runs etc. saves you time tracking and entering individual receipts for meals on a reimbursement form etc
Per Diem - U.S. - Used to receive a daily allowance (non-taxable) amount for food, travel incidentals when in the US
- No receipts are needed
- Use for ministry travel within of the United States for a period of 5 days or longer
- This is an excellent and preferred option for furlough and trips back to the US for MTD
- Please exclude PTO days, all other days are considered "working" and eligible for Per Diem
- Allows you to use the received funds for some things that cannot be reimbursed. For example - gift cards as thank you to a host for lodging/food
Payroll Advances
See Forms for Payroll - this link has all of the forms related to Payroll - Direct Deposit, Federal W4, Payroll Advances. |
Payroll Advances - Used to receive a portion of your future paycheck early, similar to a payroll loan
- Provides access to funds in advance, to pay for rent due or to access to US dollars (cash) from an ATM and then carry the cash in country to cover your living expenses (if USD are hard to come by in the country where you are living/ministering)
- Internationals can request up to 12 months of rent or living expenses as an advance.
- Reliant tracks what was "loaned" and deducts that amount in equal installments from the missionary's paycheck for the period requested, until the advanced amount that was "loaned" has been fully recouped/deducted from the employees preceding paychecks.
- Advances can also be requested when you have a bonus approved but need funds prior to the next paycheck when the bonus will be paid out.
Bonuses
Bonuses - Read this page to learn about the types of bonuses International Missionaries may be eligible to receive