Submitting Expenses

Follow this guide to learn how to submit an expense to a Collective on Open Collective

The first step in submitting an expense is to find the Collective's page on Open Collective, and locate the "Submit Expense" button on the right side of the page.

Screenshot of a Collective's header with a red outline highlighting the location of the "Submit Expense" button on the page.

This will take you to a page where you can choose your expense type, fill in your details, and add information that will enable the Collective and Fiscal Host to approve and pay your expense. On this page, you can also check the Collective’s balance, review their expense policy and review their frequently asked questions.

Expenses cannot be paid if there are insufficient funds in the Collective balance. They must be either less than or equal to the amount of funds you already have.

You may also be invited to submit an expense. In this case, you will receive an email inviting you to set up an account and supply your details to enable payment. The expense may have been already partly-filled in.

To do this:

1. Click on the link provided in the email

2. Set up an account on Open Collective, if you don't already have one
3. Fill in all required details in the expense form provided

4. Submit the expense

Choose your expense type

There are two options for submitting an expense:

• Invoice: This is an invoice for a service or time spent working for a Collective

• Reimbursement: This is a request to be repaid for a purchase you have already made (Learn more on the submitting a reimbursement page)

Select payee information

You will now be asked to specify who will be paid for this expense, where the money should be sent and fill in any other required information to enable the expense to be paid.

You will be asked:

• Who is being paid (you can choose your individual account, Collective account, Organization account, Vendor, or an event or project). You can also invite someone else to submit an expense.

• Which country you are based in

• Your address

• Your payout method, including your preferred transfer method and preferred currency (this feature is not available when the Fiscal Host's currency differs from the Collective's currency.)

• Your account information

• Your address as listed on your bank account (not the bank's address)

You will need to set up an Open Collective account to submit an expense. To be paid as a company, please set up and select your Organization account as the payee.

Your address and bank account details are always required to process an expense. This information will not be displayed publicly, only admins of the Collective and Fiscal Host you work with and specific members of the Open Collective staff will have access. You must also supply your Legal Name on your account info, but only your Display Name will be shown publicly.

Find out how to set your Display Name and Legal Name on the Setting up an Account page.

Choose a payout method

We currently offer the option to be paid by bank account or PayPal.

If you are not able to use these methods for whatever reason, you can also select a "custom payout method," which invites you to share details of how you would prefer to be paid.

Additional payout methods are available at the discretion of the Collective's Fiscal Host. If you need to discuss alternatives, contact the Fiscal Host directly.

Choose a currency

TBC

Add your expense details

You will now be asked to add some details about your expense. Completing this info clearly and in detail will help the Collective and Fiscal Host understand what your expense is for and enable them to pay it quicker.

To improve the chances of your expense being paid, check the expense policies of the Collective you are expensing.

These are visible on the right side of your expense form, and may include information such as:

• How quickly they pay expenses

• Whether they require invoices and receipts

• The types of expenses they pay, and which they do not

• Any groups that are not permitted to submit expenses

• Details which you may include on your invoice (such as the address you should make the invoice out to)

First, input your expense title. This will be displayed publicly, so do not include any information you want to remain private.

You will also be able to add tags underneath your title, which help others to discover this and other expenses by looking for certain types or keywords. Collective and Fiscal Host admins can also add tags to your expense to help them file it into certain categories in their budget.

If you have created an invoice document, or are using third-party invoicing and accounting software, you can upload an invoice by dragging it into the box provided or by searching for it on your computer or device. If you don’t upload an invoice, the expense itself functions as an invoice for accounting purposes, as it contains all required information.

You must then provide details of your invoice. These include:

• A description of the invoice: Make sure this offers clear information about the type of work or service provided, and the time it was delivered if appropriate. This will help speed up payment of your invoice

• The date: This is the date you're submitting your invoice, rather than the date the service was carried out

• The amount you are invoicing for: See earlier on this page for help in selecting the appropriate currency

You can add multiple invoices by clicking the "Add New Item" option next to the "Set Invoice details" section.

Check that the "Total Amount" you are invoicing is correct to avoid confusion.

Review your expense

Before submitting your expense, you will be asked to review all the information provided.

If you need to make any changes, you can do this by clicking "Edit Expense".

You can also add a private note, which will only be seen by the Fiscal Host admins. This enables you to provide information that will help them to approve your expense.

Once you have submitted an expense, you can find it on your public profile page, in your "recent activity" on your Dashboard or in the Collective's budget.

By selecting the "More Actions" menu at the bottom of the page for the expense, you can choose to edit it, download it, or copy the link to the page.

Downloading an expense is only available for invoices, and not reimbursements.