Software Freedom Conservancy Travel and Reimbursable Expense Policy

===================================================================

== Overview

This Travel and Reimbursable Expense Policy (``Policy'') applies to all

Conservancy Member Projects (``Projects'') of Software Freedom Conservancy

(``Conservancy'') and has been created to memorialize Conservancy's

incurred by Conservancy staff, Project Leadership Committee (``PLC'')

at the behest of Conservancy and/or a Project (``Travelers'').

This Policy includes an Easy Reference Guide that can be used as a 

refer to the more detailed sections below.  

== Purpose

in order to maintain its financial viability and tax exempt status.  

Conservancy and each Project is also accountable to our donors to ensure 

that we manage their contributions wisely and maximize our ability to 

pursue our charitable mission.  As such, Conservancy expects Travelers to 

use good judgment and to claim reimbursement for only those expenses that 

are necessary and reasonable.  Excessive expenses, including but not 

limited to luxury accommodations and services unnecessary for, or unrelated 

to the furtherance of Conservancy's charitable mission are not eligible for 

reimbursement. 

by a Project's Leadership Committee (``PLC'') in a regular and documented

allowed expense. 

== Easy Reference Guide

Travelers should adhere to the following guidelines to stay In-Policy. 

* Flights.  

   * Before you buy tickets, save a screenshot of a flight search that

     shows the least expensive fare available from multiple airlines for

     the dates you need to travel.

   * Book at least 14 days in advance.

   * Fares within $100 of that lowest fare you found are In-Policy, even if

     you book on a different site or for different dates.

   * Fares over $750 domestically or $1,500 internationally require

     Conservancy's pre-approval.

* Hotels. 

   * Hotel fares < GSA rates are In-Policy.  Visit

     http://www.gsa.gov/perdiem to determine the rate for your

     destination.

   * Be sure the receipt from your hotel includes the dates of your

     stay, not just a total.

* Receipts.  Keep and submit PDFs of the following, as applicable:

   * Your fare search (i.e., a screen shot)

   * Your plane/rail ticket (e-confirmation of purchase is sufficient)

   * Your hotel/lodging invoice

* Per Diem.

   * Use your per-diem to cover meals and incidental expenses.

   * Your per-diem is based on GSA guidelines.  Visit

     http://www.gsa.gov/perdiem to the determine the per-diem for your

     destination.

   * Try to be frugal - GSM per-diem rates are rather generous.

   * When attending a conference where food is included, Do The Right

     Thing and claim a lower per-diem.

* Reimbursement.

   * To receive reimbursement, send hotel and flight/rail receipt,

     along with a list of Per Diem days and totals to

     accounting@sfconservancy.org.  Refer to the Expense Report

     section below for details.

   * Your complete reimbursement request must be submitted to

     accounting@sfconservancy.org within 90 days of the last date of

     travel.  Untimely requests *will not be reimbursed*.

== Reimbursement Procedure

  * a brief paragraph explaining what was accomplished for the project

    during your travel and/or with the funds being reimbursed.  This can

    be informal; it's just for our records to confirm the travel advanced

    the not-for-profit mission of both Conservancy and the project.

  * A brief report listing the items to be reimbursed.

  * Full receipt(s) for everything, unless the travel policy does not

    require receipts (e.g., for per diem expenses).

    If your receipts are in a different currency than your preferred one

    for reimbursement, include documentation of the rate conversion (e.g., a

    redacted credit card statement in your preferred currency).  Otherwise,

    Conservancy will use the prevailing rate for the date of the expense for

    conversion.

    Please verify that the receipts that you submit are within the attached

    travel policy requirements.  Note, however, that your Project Leadership

    Committee may have set a stricter budget than what the general

    Conservancy policy allows.

  * How you'd liked to be reimbursed. The four payment options, in order of

    Conservancy's preference, are:

    * PayPal.  For this, we need (a) the email address that is registered to

      the PayPal account that will receive reimbursement and (b) the

      preferred currency.  (Please verify that PayPal supports transactions in

      https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/sell/mc/mc_intro-outside[your

      preferred currency before choosing one].)

      Note that sometimes PayPal charges fees.  Usually we're taking

      funds from our PayPal balance, which means no fees appear on our side,

      but they may appear on yours.  In our experience, USA PayPal account

      holders physically in the USA are not typically charged fees; but we do

      advise you to check PayPal's fee schedule before choosing this method.

    * Issue you a check in USD from a USA bank, sent to you via post.

      For this option, I just need your postal address.

    * Wire the amount in your local currency to your bank account in your

      country.  For this option, I need as much of the following information

      as it's possible for you to collect.

      Required information

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Additional required information by country

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Additional information we can use

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

== Project Leadership Committee Review

exception. 

PLCs are responsible for creating procedures for requesting exceptions, 

Project Fund, and for granting or refusing approval for travel expense 

outstanding contracts payable.  PLCs are not to approve travel expense 

requests when their Project does not have sufficient funds to cover the 

expense.  If a PLC has any questions regarding whether their Project has 

sufficient funds to cover a Traveler's expense request, the PLC should 

== Transportation

=== Overall transportation Cost

Domestic transportation costs greater than US$750 requires Conservancy 

approval prior to booking, even if all other Policy conditions have been 

met.  International transportation costs greater than US$1,650 requires 

Conservancy approval prior to booking, even if all other Policy conditions 

=== Advance Purchase

Tickets for travel by air or rail (excluding commuter train and subway) 

should be booked at least 14 days in advance; any travel booked less than 

14 days in advance requires written pre-authorization by Conservancy.  

Tickets for travel by air or rail beyond 365 days in advance also require 

=== Air Travel

==== Class of Service

==== Advance Purchase

==== Low Fare

  * The search must include fares from multiple airlines.

  * The search must cover only the dates of relevant travel.  For example, if

    you're attending a conference that runs Monday through Friday, the search

    must have you arriving no earlier than Sunday, and leaving no later than

    Saturday.

  * Except as allowed by Policy, the search must not use filters that might

    exclude the least expensive fare.  For example, you may filter out

    flights with two or more connections, since Conservancy does not

    consider those reasonable.  However, you may not filter out specific

    airlines, or flights without WiFi.

airlines is acceptable, including sites such as http://orbitz.com[Orbitz],

http://kayak.com[Kayak] or http://hipmunk.com/[Hipmunk].  The PLCs and/or

==== Reasonable Flights

==== Excess Baggage

==== Out-of-Policy Bookings

==== Cancellation Fees

to reimburse the cost of the fees. 

=== Other Transportation

==== Ground Transportation

baggage makes a compact vehicle impractical). 

==== Rail Transportation

==== Use of Personal Vehicles

== Lodging

http://www.gsa.gov/perdiem[United States General Services Administration's Per Diem calculator]'s ``Max lodging'' column and/or

http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp[United States Department of State's ``Foreign Per Diem Rates by Location'' calculator]'s 

``Maximum Lodging Rate column'' for the given location (per Traveler), the Traveler

and/or the PLC *must* obtain written

pre-approval from Conservancy and the PLC before booking the hotel.  If

written pre-approval is not sought or is not granted, Conservancy will only

reimburse up to the amount in the rate table above.

receipts *alone* are unacceptable).  In particular, since Conservancy only

== Other Reimbursable Expenses

listed in this document qualify. 

=== Meals and Incidental Expenses

==== Overview

Travelers can submit for a per diem for meals and incidental expenses

for every day of a trip devoted to Project- and/or Conservancy-related

mission work, including the day(s) of travel itself.  Maximum per diem

rates for travel within the United States shall be based on the

http://www.gsa.gov/perdiem[United States General Services Administration's Per Diem calculator],

using the ZIP code of the travel destination.  For example, a Traveler

based in Palo Alto, CA heading to a conference in Atlanta, GA (with

a layover in Dallas, TX each way) will use the ZIP code of the destination

in Atlanta to calculate the maximum per diem for the entire trip,

including days of travel.

Maximum per diem rates for locations outside

of the United States shall be based on the

http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp[United States Department of State's ``Foreign Per Diem Rates by Location'' calculator]'s ``Meals & Incidental Expenses'' (M&IE) column,

using the name of a listed city closest to the travel destination.

For example, a Traveler based in Palo Alto heading to a conference

in London, England (with a layover in New York City) has a maximum

per diem of the M&IE per diem listed London for the entire trip,

including days of travel. 

Travelers will only be able to submit for the lower per diems. 

==== Group Meals

opportunity to submit for separate per diems after the trip. 

for such expenses before the trip. 

==== Meals For Organizational Development

==== Phone Call Charges Part of Per Diem

expense separate from the allocated per diem. 

==== Currency Conversion Charges Part of Per Diem

=== Conference Registration Fees

for Travelers on approved Project business and/or approved Conservancy 

In-Policy; however, a $225 registration fee for a 2-day conference is not. 

Travelers seeking reimbursement for registration fees that exceed $100 per 

day must obtain prior approval from Conservancy's Executive Director.  

=== Internet Access

that they are listed on the hotel/lodging invoice submitted for 

reimbursement.  Other internet access fees (e.g., airport internet 

services, personal wi-fi hotspots, internet cafes) are not reimbursable 

except as incidental expenses to be covered by a Traveler's per-diem.  

== Additional Days of Travel

mission, or to get a particular airfare that *reduces* the overall cost of

== Non-reimbursable Expenses

following items are typically non-reimbursable expenses: 

personal items 

== Satisfaction of IRS Requirements

== Currency Exchange Rates

based on the exchange rate on the date of incursion.  The currency

exchange rate of record shall be done using

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/10-year-converter/[The Bank of Canada 10-year currency converter].

== Approvals

final approval and reimbursement. 

Board. 

== Expense Reporting

* Name of Traveler 

* Brief description of trip and trip's purpose (e.g., ``August 2011

member''; ``Feb. '12 FOO hackfest in Portland, OR; contributed code'')

** In the event that it is impractical to obtain a required receipt and/or

if such receipt has been inadvertently destroyed or lost, the Traveler should

furnish a written statement to that effect, as well as an explanation

of the expenditure involved.  When possible, secondary documentation (such

as a redacted credit card bill) should be provided instead of the

lost/destroyed receipt.

statement will not be reimbursed. 

are incurred *will not be reimbursed*.

== Consequences of Policy Violations

== Policy Changes