Software Freedom Conservancy Travel and Reimbursable Expense Policy

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== 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

reimbursement policies relating to travel and other business expenses

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

members, and project volunteers while engaged in business on behalf of, or

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

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

template for most of the travel covered under this Policy.  When in doubt,

refer to the more detailed sections below.  

== Purpose

Conservancy must maintain effective control of business-related expenses

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. 

Any travel expense that adheres to this Policy is considered In-Policy

and does not require special approval, so long as the trip itself

has been approved in writing by Conservancy's Executive Director or

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

PLC vote.  Conservancy and/or a PLC can limit allowable travel expenses

to an amount less than what would otherwise be considered acceptable

according to this Policy. If so, the smaller budget is the maximum

allowed expense. 

PLC's may, in fact, have their own travel policy that is more restrictive

than this one.  Please consult the PLC for your Conservancy project before

incurring an expenses to ensure you understand what expenses can be

reimbursed.

== Easy Reference Guide

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

* Flights.  

	* Book 14 days in advance. 

	* Air fares within $100 of the lowest fare (using standard 

	  airfare search tools) are In-Policy.  Fares > $750 domestically 

	  and > $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.  

== Reimbursement Procedure

Note that reimbursements are only processed once per week.  While we usually

can turn around reimbursements in about two weeks' time, please be advised

that Conservancy officially does reimbursements on a NET-30 basis, starting

from the date that complete materials are received.  If this is an issue,

Conservancy is available to prepurchase expensive items like airline tickets

on your behalf, so that you don't need to be reimbursed.

If you seek to be reimbursed for Conservancy Project expenses, please send

the following, in a self contained email (with attachments as necessary),

cc'ing your Project Leadership Committee address (PROJECT@sfconservancy.org)

for Project approval:

  * 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:

    * 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.  While some of this information

      isn't always needed, the more I have, the less likely there will be

      problems with your wire.  I note below in parenthesis which fields are

      mandatory, which varies based on where you are in the world.

                  SWIFT and/or BIC Code (mandatory for non-USA wires)

                  ACH or ABA routing number (mandatory for USA wires)

                  Account Number  (absolutely mandatory)

                  Full Name of the Account Holder  (absolutely mandatory)

                  Full Address of Account Holder

                  Bank Name

                  Bank Address

                  Tax ID of account holder (mandatory for Colombia)

                  Phone Number of account holder (mandatory for Colombia)

                  IBAN (if available, *required* for EU countries)

                  BSB Code (mandatory for Australia, not required elsewhere)

                  Preferred Currency (absolutely mandatory)

      Note that if there is an intermediary bank involved in the USA, you

      should provide all this information for both the intermediary bank

      and the final bank.  Note in particular that if the intermediary

      bank is in the USA, an ACH or ABA routing number is absolutely

      mandatory.

    * Issue you a check in your local currency, sent to you via post.  For

      this option, I just need your postal address and what currency you

      want.

Project Leadership Committees: when you see emails of this nature, please

be sure to have your designated Representative review the materials and

send an approval message to Conservancy.

== Project Leadership Committee Review

Conservancy foresees the need for periodic reasonable exceptions to

this Policy.  Persons working on behalf of a specific Project seeking

an exception to this Policy must petition their PLC to obtain written

approval from Conservancy authorizing the exception.  Persons working

directly on behalf of Conservancy must seeking an exception to the

Policy must obtain written approval from Conservancy authorizing the

exception. 

PLCs are responsible for creating procedures for requesting exceptions, 

and submitting to Conservancy reimbursement requests associated with

their respective Projects.  PLCs are also responsible for making available

a list of required response times for inquiries, including but not

limited to, the following two cases

* a specific number of days to respond to regular reimbursement requests,

and

* a specific number of days to respond to pre-authorization requests.

PLCs are also responsible for monitoring the available balance in their

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

requests based on an assessment of the funds available and of any

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 

contact Conservancy.

== 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 

have been met.

=== 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 

written pre-authorization by Conservancy.

=== Air Travel

==== Class of Service

Coach and/or Economy Airfare is the only acceptable class for all flights

(domestic and international) unless a PLC provides a special exception and

a valid reason (such as a need for business class due to a documented

medical reason) to Conservancy for written approval.  Travelers may select

their airline of choice (e.g., for the purpose of collecting airline miles

and rewards), provided that the resulting air fare otherwise meets the

requirements of this Policy.  Travelers should not book out-of-Policy trips

(and thus pay a higher fare) in order to qualify for a mileage upgrade.

==== Advance Purchase

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

less than 14 days in advance requires written pre-authorization by

Conservancy.  Flights beyond 365 days in advance also require written

pre-authorization by Conservancy.

==== Low Fare

Conservancy aims to balance cost savings with convenience and considers

flights that are within US$100 of the lowest logical fare to be within

Policy.  Any flights greater than US$100 over the lowest logical fare

require written pre-authorization by Conservancy. PLCs shall use standard

air fare search sites for determining the baseline lowest fare.

==== Reasonable Flights

Conservancy asks that Travelers allow for flexibility with respect

to departure times during a desired day of travel, as well as longer

trips in order to reduce cost.  However, Conservancy does consider

flights with two or more connections as unreasonable and does not

expect Travelers to consider those flight options to be reasonable.

==== Excess Baggage

Should a team member travel on an airline that charges for a single piece

of checked baggage, such a baggage expense is eligible for reimbursement.

Team members are responsible for charges on any baggage beyond a single

piece, unless that additional baggage is materials specifically related to

the Project's and Conservancy's mission (i.e., bringing t-shirts and other

promotional materials to an event).

==== Out-of-Policy Bookings

All air travel not adhering to the above Policies are considered Out-of-Policy

and require written pre-authorization by Conservancy's Executive Director.

==== Cancellation Fees

Cancellation fees and other penalties incurred result of a change

of plans are reimbursable at Conservancy's discretion.  In general,

Conservancy shall reimburse such fees if the Traveler can submit a

valid reason for the change of plans.  Acceptable reasons include Conservancy

and/or the PLC canceling or altering the trip or unexpected delays

in flight connections.  In instances where these fees are incurred

without adequate explanation, Conservancy reserves the right to refuse

to reimburse the cost of the fees. 

=== Other Transportation

==== Ground Transportation

Ground transportation necessary as part of authorized Project trips

is considered to be a reasonable expense.   Public ground transportation,

such as taxis, shuttles, buses and municipal transit, are generally

the most cost-effective options and are the standard for eligible

ground transportation reimbursements.  All car rentals require pre-authorization

by the PLC or by Conservancy's Executive Director.  When car rentals

have been pre-approved, the rental of compact cars is encouraged;

mid-size vehicles are authorized when necessary (e.g., when compact-sized

vehicles are not available or the number of passengers or volume of

baggage makes a compact vehicle impractical). 

==== Rail Transportation

Rail transportation as a means of travel for an authorized Project

trip is considered to be a reasonable expense.  All rail transportation

must be in economy and/or coach class.

==== Use of Personal Vehicles

When circumstances require Travelers to utilize their personal vehicles

for Project purposes, they can be reimbursed at the current USA IRS

rate per mile, plus any related parking expenses and toll fees.  Drivers

are encouraged to find the lowest cost reasonably parking area nearby

their destination.

== Lodging

Travelers are expected to be cost-conscious and prudent when booking

lodging for approved trips, and to verify that rates are within the

established per-diem rates for the geographic area of travel.

If the cost per-diem of lodging chosen by the Traveler and/or the PLC

exceeds the

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.