General Guidelines

Stewardship Responsibility

Missionaries are expected to employ sound expense management practices and exercise prudent financial management in their stewardship of Reliant resources. As such, missionaries share the responsibility of ensuring that these resources are used appropriately, support the ministry, and comply with Reliant policies, applicable laws and regulations, and donor restrictions. All missionaries and central employees are expected to exercise due diligence when generating, reviewing, and approving transactions that commit to the expenditure of Reliant funds. Missionaries must use discretion and also consider the reputation of the ministry when determining how much to spend on any given expense. Excessive and unnecessary expenditures must be avoided, and Reliant may, in its sole discretion, decline to reimburse excessive expenses. 

General Criteria For Determining A Permissible Expense 

In order to be reimbursed to an individual, a ministry expense must be:

• Necessary to perform a valid ministry purpose fulfilling the mission of Reliant; and
• Reasonable in that the expense is not extreme or excessive, and reflects a prudent decision to incur the expense; and
• Appropriate in that the expense is suitable and fitting in the context of the valid business purpose.

Necessary

An expense is necessary if there is a valid ministry purpose required to fulfill the mission of the Reliant. The primary beneficiary of a necessary ministry expense is Reliant or the participants in the ministry activity, not the individual. A necessary expense is a minimum purchase or service required to achieve a valid ministry objective.

Reasonable

Reasonable means that the amount being spent reflects the value that normally would be spent in that specific situation. An expense is considered reasonable if it is not extreme or excessive and reflects a fair and prudent decision and action to incur the expense. A cost may be considered reasonable if the nature of the goods or services acquired, and the amount involved, therefore, reflect the action that a prudent person would have taken under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision to incur the cost was made. Major considerations involved in the determination of the reasonableness of a cost are: (a) whether or not the cost is of a type generally recognized as necessary for the operation of the ministry; (b) whether or not the individuals concerned acted with due prudence in circumstances, considering their responsibilities to the ministry, its employees, its participants, the Federal Government, and the public at large; and (c) whether or not the cost represents fair value for the good or service provided.

Appropriate

Costs are appropriate if they are suitable or fitting for a ministry purpose. For a cost to be appropriate it is also presumed that there is a valid ministry purpose, which is normally the responsibility of the missionary to determine.

The following questions should be considered when determining the appropriateness of costs:

• Could the cost be comfortably defended under public scrutiny?
• Would you be confident if the cost was selected for audit?
• Would you be comfortable explaining to a donor that their donation was used this way?
• Does the supporting documentation align with the reimbursement policy?

 *Reliant reserves the right to determine whether or not an expense fulfills the above criteria. 

Reimbursement Types

• Expenses that qualify under IRS guidance for non-taxable reimbursed business expenses are referred to as a “Reimbursement”. Reimbursements can be paid out of the MTD account for which you are responsible or from project funds. 
• Requests for recovery of expenses that do not qualify for non-taxable reimbursement under the IRS guidance are referred to as “Expense Recovery Bonus” or ERB. These expenses will be recuperated through a bonus which will be considered additional taxable wages (compensation) for the missionary. 

Accountable Reimbursement Plan 

In the course of raising financial support and conducting ministry, it is reasonable to expect that missionaries will incur legitimate ministry-related expenses. Any expense that does not support the ministry of Reliant and does not reflect proper stewardship is considered non-reimbursable and non-recoverable regardless of the source of funds. Reliant expects that missionaries will demonstrate scrupulous integrity when deciding whether an expense is ministry related or personal in nature. Missionaries may not use, or attempt to use, Reliant's non-profit status for personal benefit (e.g. avoiding state sales tax on personal or ministry items). Misuse or attempted misuse of Reliant's non-profit status is grounds for discipline, up to and including termination, in Reliant's sole discretion. 

Reliant's Accountable Reimbursement Plan states that missionaries must follow the following basic guidelines when submitting a reimbursement. (See Documentation Guidelines for greater detail.)

1. 1. Current approved Reliant reimbursement request forms are required for expense submission.
   2. Itemized original receipts and all other appropriate substantiating documents must be received by the Reliant finance department 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.) 
   3. Employees must provide a written explanation for each expense submitted clearly documenting:

      • Description of the item

      • Who the item is for which includes
        • Actual first and last names of the people involved
        • The ministry relationship of the person(s) to the missionary. 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. The groups must have the same uniform ministry relationship (e.g. ministry partners, members of church music team, etc.). Otherwise, use of actual first and last names is required, if the relationship is not uniform.

1. 1. • 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 you incurred an expense) 

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

Expense advances, primarily relating to large, expected travel expenditures, may be available. Please refer to the Expense Advances for details. If advance payments to cover anticipated expenses are made by Reliant, missionaries must return all unused portions within 90 days.

Exception requests are available for submission in the event of a denied reimbursement or a late submission. 

Submission Timeframe

For all Reimbursement and Expense Recovery Bonus requests must be received within 60 days after the end of the month in which the expense occurs, in incurred, or is paid by the employee. However, flights/rental cars/hotels for travel expenses that were paid prior to the month of travel can either be reimbursed when purchased or in the month that the travel actually occurs as both the payment date and travel date will be listed on the receipt for documentation. 

Late submissions will only be accepted 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.

Please view Payment Dates & Deadlines for more details on the timing of receiving reimbursement/bonus funds based on the submission date. 

Receipt Guidelines

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

Receipts must include the following itemized details:

• What was purchased
• Amount paid
• Date
• Name of the company (or person) that was paid
• And (if applicable to the receipt) your name listed as the "payee" (such as for a flight or hotel)

Credit Card Receipts

Credit card statements or credit card signature receipts that don’t include the list of purchased items are not acceptable as the only receipt documentation for an expense. However, typically it is the credit card receipt that shows any tips that have been added to the purchase. If you would like to reimburse the tip amount for an expense over $75 where an itemized receipt is required, please attach both the itemized receipt and the credit card receipt showing the amount included for the tip expense. 

Hand-Written Receipts

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

Receipts from Mobile/Banking App

For receipts from mobile apps (such as Venmo, Square Cash, PayPal, Google Wallet, or a banking app), please 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 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.) 

Receipts for Shared Expenses

If a Reliant missionary pays an individual for a portion of an expense that requires a receipt (the portion is over $75), they will need to submit two receipts.  The missionary submitting the expense will need 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 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.

Resolution of Removed or Denied Reimbursement Requests

If expenses are removed from or denied on a reimbursement request (see Denied Expenses & Re-submission for more details), they may be resubmitted for further review. If the item is removed for improper documentation or a similar situation, it may be resubmitted under the guidelines provided for proper receipt documentation in the Reimbursement Standards. If the item is related to a policy issue, a formal exception request must be submitted.

Sufficient Funds

Sufficient Funds Required

If the MTD account a missionary is responsible for with Reliant does not contain sufficient funds to provide full reimbursement for the amount requested by the employee on a reimbursement request form, Reliant will hold the form and delay reimbursement until sufficient funds are available in the staff MTD account, in accordance with Reliant's approved order of pay.

Although Reliant may normally pay certain expense reimbursements in such a way that they are not included in the employee's federal taxable income, the employee bears ultimate responsibility for the proper tax treatment of all payments received from Reliant, and should consult with his or her tax adviser to determine the appropriate reporting and treatment of such payments. (See more details on Taxable Expenses.)

Reimbursements Without Sufficient funds

If reimbursement submissions do not have sufficient funds to fully cover the total amount for the reimbursement, then they will be stored as "back reimbursements". They will be paid out in the order from which the reimbursements were received once funds become available for the whole amount of each individual reimbursement. If funds are not available to immediately pay the Expense Recovery Bonuses (ERB) (previously known as taxable reimbursements) then Reliant will short-check those bonuses and include them with backpay.

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

If a missionary 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 missionary 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 missionary.  

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. "

Exiting Employment with Unpaid Reimbursements

If a missionary is exiting employment and has reached their 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 missionary needing to submit a request for partial payment of the reimbursement.

Guidelines by Expense Type