npo-accounting-ikiwiki/UseCases/ReimbursementRequest.mdwn

# Handling Requests for Reimbursements

Most non-profit organizations have to reimburse employees, contractors and
volunteers for expenses, such as travel expenses.  There are two sides to the
reimbursement process that must be adequately handled by a non-profit
accounting system.

## Reimbursement: The Organization's View

The organization has to be able to easily:

  * Receive and store receipts.
    [[Track those receipts|UseCases/TrackingDocumentation]] in the context of
    the [[double entry accounting entries|UseCases/DoubleEntryAccounting]]
    that relate to those receipts.
  * Track the reimbursement request as an invoice.
  * Handle any [[currency conversion|UseCases/MultiCurrency]] related to the
    receipts, both from the point of view of international travel, and also
    considering the fact that the person reimbursed may seek reimbursement in
    a different currency than the native currency of the organization's.
  * Track approvals of the expenses by multiple parties.  (For example,
    perhaps a volunteer project leader must approve, and then later by with
    fiduciary duty to the organization itself).
  * Ideally, the system would auto-detect any places where a travel and/or
    reimbursement policy for the organization is violated (or mandates
    additional approvals).
  * Ideally, the system could "set up" accounting entries for "merger" into
    the accounts, based on an expense report submitted, via some
    [[draft transacting approval process|DraftTransactions]].
   
## Reimbursement: The Traveler's View

From traveler's/reimbursement-requester's view, they'll need:

  * An easy, outward-facing web interface for submitting receipts.
  * Ideally, flagging them when additional approval is needed before
    submitting their expense report, so that they can seek additional
    approval before submitting.
  * Updates on the external web interface system about status when the
    expense is moving through the internal system at the organization. 
  * Automatic calculation of any per-diem allowances.

## Reimbursement on Behalf Of

A classic scenario that occurs for non-profits is an employee or a contractor
buys an item that is actually for someone else.  For example, a volunteer
needs a plane ticket to go to a conference, so an employee or someone else
(the "Floater") who can "float" the expense makes the purchase.  The
reimbursement request comes in from the Floater but the real person who
received the item should be recorded.