In this post, we explain how to submit a valid expense on the platform. For a detailed explanation, please refer to our documentation.‍

Managing Expenses

Using funds from your collective’s budget to pay expenses is simple.

1. Someone can submit an expense on your collective's page
2. Once an expense is created, a collective admin (someone on your team) must review and approve it as an accurate and expected expense.
3. Next, a member of OC Europe's team reviews and approves the expense. This is done to ensure the expense meets requirements, e.g., having a valid receipt.
4. Once the expense is verified, the expense recipient gets paid. ‍

Difference between reimbursement and invoice

Please note that all receipts and invoices must be addressed to the name of the collective and to the name and address of one of the admin of the collective. Receipts or invoices that include a reference to Open Collective Europe will not be accepted!

‍Reimbursements ‍

Create a reimbursement to pay for purchases made on behalf of the collective:

• Reimbursements are used to pay people (often volunteers) back when they have made purchases for the group.
• Receipts are required so that we can ensure the requested amount matches the purchased amount in order to approve the reimbursement.

For a receipt to be approved by OC Europe's team it must:

• include an amount equal to the amount requested
• include the identification of the vendor
• include the nature of the expense ‍

Invoices‍

Invoices should be used to pay individuals for work completed on behalf of the collective. When someone uses an invoice, they are treated as an independent contractor. The independent contractor must upload an additional invoice including:

• Full identification (name, address, tax/company number)
• Nature of the service
• Tax rate (if tax rate is 0%, please explain why on the invoice)

We hope this will help you manage your expenses.