Reimbursement policy

DRAFT

This document describes the reimbursement policy of Wikimedia Belgium. This reimbursement policy has been approved and adopted with the board meeting of ...

For a simplified version, see Reimbursements.

Article 1: Definitions

Referred to are:

1. the association, Wikimedia Belgium or WMBE: Wikimedia Belgium vzw/asbl;
2. the board: the board of Wikimedia Belgium;
3. the treasurer: the treasurer of Wikimedia Belgium;
4. the association wiki: the wiki of Wikimedia Belgium at https://be.wikimedia.org;
5. a reimbursement: a request to Wikimedia Belgium for the compensation of costs incurred.

Article 2: General provisions

1. Only expenses that benefit the statutory objectives of the association are eligible for compensation by the association.
2. The treasurer determines whether or not an expense benefits the statutory objectives of the association.
3. Only expenses for which the treasurer has given prior unambiguous approval, in any way, are eligible for compensation by the association.
4. The treasurer determines whether or not prior approval has been granted for an expense.
5. Expenses are only eligible for reimbursement, insofar as they are reasonable.
6. The treasurer determines whether or not an expense is reasonable.
7. Notwithstanding article 2, paragraph 3, prior approval is not required in relation to claims for:
   1. travel costs, made by members of the board, to the extent arising from obligations in connection with their work for the association;
   2. travel costs, made by members of working groups, to the extent necessary to attend working group meetings that cannot or can hardly be organized in another way;
   3. other costs, made during or in relation to board meetings or working groups meetings.
8. Travel by private motor vehicle will be reimbursed on the basis of a kilometer allowance via the fastest route. The allowance per kilometer is the amount as determined annually by the federal government and described on Kilometer allowance. For the allowance, notwithstanding the provisions of article 4 paragraph 2, no further evidence has to be submitted. In addition to the kilometer allowance costs for parking, toll roads and ferry can be reimbursed separately; however, for those costs receipts have to be presented as referred to in article 4 paragraph 2.
9. For international travel on behalf of the association, it may be chosen to reimburse costs for a standard per diem amounting to 25 euro for each full day of the journey. These costs may not be reimbursed otherwise and these costs do not include the costs of international and long-distance (public) transport and accommodation. For the allowance no receipts have to be submitted notwithstanding the provisions of article 4 paragraph 2. For international and long-distance (public) transport and accommodation costs, receipts have to be presented as referred to in article 4 paragraph 2.

Article 3: Acknowledgement

1. By requesting a reimbursement, the applicant acknowledges the importance of transparency and accountability. This means that the applicant does his/her best to inform the board about all physical activities for Wikimedia Belgium, and shares metrics and statistics for reporting purposes. Wikimedia Belgium is required to periodically report to the Wikimedia Foundation, the Wikimedia community and others.
2. All offline activities carried out in the name of Wikimedia Belgium must be mentioned on Activities, not only those activities which imply expenses.
3. If expenses are made as part of a project, a project page must be made on the wiki of Wikimedia Belgium. This project contains the headers with information as described on Reimbursement policy/project page. See also: Project page
4. If expenses are made as part of an activity in collaboration with a partner organisation, including a cultural or educational institution, a short report about the collaboration has to be written after the completion of the collaboration. The report can also include photos, metrics and statistics. The report must be linked from the page Activities and from the project page (if existing). Activities with educational institutions are reported in the Education Newsletter. Activities with other organisations are reported in the newsletter This Month in GLAM.
5. In addition, the treasurer or board of Wikimedia Belgium can require (further) reporting.
6. By requesting a reimbursement, the applicant acknowledges the importance of building a network for free knowledge. The applicant informs the people present at activities about the existance of the newsletter of Wikimedia Belgium, and asks who wants to receive the newsletter and be informed about news and activities of Wikimedia in Belgium.

Article 4: Submitting reimbursements

1. A reimbursement is made by means of a digital reimbursement form, duly completed. This form can be downloaded from the page Reimbursements and must be submitted as editable spreadsheet file.
2. Digital scans or photos of all invoices and receipts have to be submitted together with a request of reimbursement. The applicant should add a single receipt in a single scan/photo/file, unless the two receipts have been issued for the same expense.
3. Each (scan/photo of the) receipt must show the amount, the date, the supplier and what the costs are related to.
4. Each request for reimbursement must contain clear indications as for which activity and/or project the expenses have been made.
5. All requests for reimbursement as well as the proof of payment must be sent to infowikimedia.be.
6. All requests for reimbursement for a year must be submitted before an indicated date as determined by the treasurer and mentioned on the page Reimbursements.
7. All goods paid by the association become property of the association, unless otherwise determined by the treasurer.
8. The treasurer shall determine for each claim if there is sufficient information provided and if the reimbursement is in compliance with the conditions.

Article 5: Processing

1. Every reimbursement is checked by the treasurer and a second member of the board.
2. The payment of the reimbursement by the association takes places through a bank account, reimbursement of expenses does not take place with cash.

Article 6: Supplementary provisions

1. In all cases not covered by this document, the board decides.
2. The Board may deviate from the provisions in this policy on weighty grounds.
3. The board must report and is accountable to the general assembly of the association on the decisions mentioned in the previous two paragraphs.
4. A decision by the treasurer not to honour a reimbursement claim can be appealed to the board of the association.