Expense Reports

Expense Reimbursement Policies

Fellows may be reimbursed for approved travel for CivicSpark trainings, events, and service days. In order to be reimbursed, Fellows should follow the procedures listed in this Confluence page. Expense reports in Concur are due monthly (if reimbursable expenses incurred) by the 3rd business day of the month for the prior month’s expenses. Following expense reimbursement instructions and policies will prevent delays in the processing of your expense reimbursement.

Non-CivicSpark expenses (e.g. project-related expenses) are only allowed if a Partner has specifically added this to their contract and if they are pre-approved. If the partner does not have a mechanism to reimburse the Fellow, the expense should not be incurred. See the Project Partner Billing section for instructions.

CivicSpark Expense Policies

Travel expense reimbursement rates will follow the Federal rates for mileage. As of January 1, 2024, the mileage rate is $0.67/mile.
As CivicSpark travel funds are shared across each state, we encourage Fellows to be mindful to avoid unnecessary travel.
Regular commute expenses to/from your service site (mileage, public transit, parking, etc.) are not reimbursable.
For program-related travel, you will need your Regional Coordinator’s approval before incurring an expense for car rentals, airfare, and for ride sharing, such as through Uber/Lyft, etc.

As gasoline can be expensive and environmentally detrimental, we expect the use of carpooling to CivicSpark organized events. Your Regional Coordinators will help facilitate carpooling. However, individual travel for regional events is reimbursable if necessary.
Fellows are encouraged to use public transportation (bus, light rail, etc) or active transportation (walking, biking, etc) to attend events. Public transportation fares for attending CivicSpark organized events can be reimbursed with an appropriate receipt.
- For folks using BART/Clipper Cards or other Regional Transportation (RT) cards: we encourage you to set-up an account with the RT provider so you can pull receipts from there. We will not be able to reimburse you for reloading your card for X amount; we can only reimburse for the trips taken related to CivicSpark.

Volunteer engagement project travel is limited to 2 meetings with partners and 2 events without Regional Coordinator approval. Additional Volunteer Engagement Project travel will need to be pre-approved.

Lunch can be reimbursed up to the meal per diem amount for CivicSpark organized Service Day events. Dinner can be reimbursed on the same day, up to the per diem amount, if the fellow has an 8+ hour day of loggable activities. Loggable activities include: roundtrip transportation, service activities, activity debriefs and project partner activities, and approved cohort-connector facilitated activities.

If the fellow has been approved for overnight accommodations, meals will be reimbursed throughout the duration of travel. Travel starts when fellows leave their home, and ends once they return.

Meal Per Diem

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
$17	$18	$33

If the total amount spent is over the dollar per diem meal limit, you can still submit for up to that amount. i.e. you spent $20 on lunch, the limit is $18; you can submit an expense for $18 even if your receipt shows you spent $20.
Tax and tip are reimbursable expenses up to the meal per diem. Tip should be no more than 20% of the bill.
Alcohol purchases are not an allowable expense and will not be reimbursed.
Itemized receipts are required.

Expense reimbursements must include an itemized receipt for all expenses.
- Best Practice: Always ask for itemized receipt when incurring expenses. If a restaurant does not offer itemized receipts, provide a photo or copy of the menu with the ordered items highlighted.
- Best Practice: You are encouraged to take a photo of any paper receipts immediately so you don’t lose the receipt.
Each receipt total should match the amount on the expense entry (unless only billing for a portion of the expense).
All receipts must be attached to the expense or reimbursement will be denied until sufficient backups are provided, within the time limit.

Project Partner Billing

Fellows cannot be reimbursed for project-related expenses by CivicSpark. If you incur an expense without approval from your Site Supervisor, and the host site is not able to reimburse you, that expense cannot be reimbursed by CivicWell / CivicSpark either. Be sure to ALWAYS double check with your SS before making any project expenses! If Fellows have partner billing approved in their contract, Fellows can follow this process for processing partner approved expenses.

Expense Reporting Procedures

CivicSpark uses an online expense reporting system, SAP Concur, for submitting and processing expense reimbursements. Expense reports are due on the 3rd business day for the prior month’s expenses. For example, the September Expense Report is due on the 3rd business day of October. Any reimbursement payments will be included in the second paycheck of that month.

Concur offers a mobile app that you can use with most smartphones. Please check the Apple Store or Google Play and search for SAP Concur. You can manage your expenses, upload receipts, and create and submit reports using either the web application or the mobile app.

Questions?

Have additional questions or need help? Several resources are available to guide you through the process.

★First, reach out to your Regional Coordinator for immediate assistance. They will also be your guide for policies, procedures, and expense details.

★ If your Regional Coordinator can’t help, contact CivicWell’s Concur system administrator, Tonya, at Accounts Payable - ap@civicwell.org

★ Use the Online Help feature:

To access online Help, hover the mouse pointer over the Help menu (upper-right corner of the page) and then click the appropriate link from the menu that appears. Online help opens on its own tab. To return to Concur, close the help tab or click the Concur tab.
Navigate through Help topics
- Use the left-side menu to access different help pages.
Search for topics in Help
- Search is located in the upper-right corner of the help page.
To search for a topic:
- Type a keyword in the box and press Enter. A list of topics appears in the contents frame.
Click the appropriate topic. The topic replaces the search results.