Community Council/Funding And Budgets

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Community Council

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OpenOffice.org Community Council Payments Procedure

What you must know, before requesting for funding

  • Requests must (in general) be approved before the expenditure is done;
  • Fundings are possible for spendings; in general, the work in the community is done on voluntary basis - exeptions are rare;
  • Requests must be send to the budget holder (read more).

Introduction

Devolving financial decision-making

The OpenOffice.org Community Council is responsible for managing the funds donated centrally to the Community. Decisions on releasing funds are generally taken at meetings of the Community Council. However, the Community Council may decide on an annual basis to approve a Budget, which allows expenditure decisions to be delegated to Budget Holders and Authorisers within the limits set by the Budget. The Community Council expects Budget Holders to consult relevant Community members about how the Budget is spent (e.g. on a dev@ mailing list.). For contacting the Council and holding discussions by Budget authorisers, we have budget@council.openoffice.org, a discuss list requiring subscription for unmoderated posting.

Responsibilities

Budget Holders will be appointed by the Community Council. They may nominate one or more Authorisers for approval by the Council. Budget Holders and Authorisers must confirm their agreement to comply with this Procedure on appointment - any Budget Holder not following this Procedure will be personally responsible for any liabilities incurred. Budget Holders and Authorisers must also register with the Treasurer the email address they will use. The Community Council strongly encourages the use of signed emails for any correspondence covered by this Procedure.


Under this Procedure, the Community Council Treasurer (or deputy) is responsible for recording total amounts committed, making payments from the central funds, and reporting periodically to the Community Council.

Purchasing Goods and Services

Approving a Request to Purchase

Budget Holders may raise a Request to Purchase themselves, or process them for other Community members. The Budget Holder may request an email Quotation from the Supplier (note: obtaining a quotation is recommended for all purchases, and is mandatory for purchases of €1,000 or more).


The Budget Holder forwards the Quotation / writes an email detailing:

  • what the expenditure is for
  • where the good/services should be delivered
  • which budget category it falls under
  • value / currency including taxes
  • Supplier name and address

and emails this Request to Purchase to the Authoriser.


The Authoriser checks the Request to Purchase and either returns it to the Budget Holder with a reason for rejection, or approves it and forwards to the Treasurer.


The Treasurer checks the Budget Holder and Authoriser details on the Request to Purchase, and either returns it to the Budget Holder with a reason for rejection, or accepts it. If accepted, the Request to Purchase is recorded as a commitment on the Purchasing Log. The Treasurer will check on the Purchasing Log that the total committed to date including this new Request is within the approved Budget for this Budget Holder.


If there is funding available, the Treasurer emails the Budget Holder, authorising expenditure and issuing the next Purchase Order Number from the Purchasing Log.

Issuing a Purchase Order

Once the Budget Holder receives the Purchase Order Number from the Treasurer, the Purchase Order may be issued to the Supplier, quoting the Purchase Order Number, specifying the delivery address (where the goods/services are required) and the invoice address (the Treasurer). A recommended Purchase Order template is available from the Treasurer.

Receiving Goods/Services

When the good/services are delivered satisfactorily, the Budget Holder must email the Treasurer promptly, quoting the Purchase Order Number, to state the Invoice may now be paid. The Treasurer records the date of the email on the Purchasing Log.

Processing an Invoice

Invoices must be sent direct from the Supplier to the Treasurer. Any Invoices received from Suppliers without a valid Purchase Order Number will be returned unpaid. On receipt of a Supplier’s Invoice with a valid Purchase Order Number, the Treasurer will check the Purchasing Log to ensure that the details match the Request to Purchase, and that the Invoice has been approved for payment. If approved, the Treasurer will pay the Supplier within the Supplier’s payment terms.


If there are discrepancies, the Treasurer will email the Supplier and the Budget Holder to resolve the differences. If the resolution results in an invoice amount greater than the original Request to Purchase, then the Budget Holder must seek approval from an Authoriser for the additional spend.

Travel and Expenses

Approving a Expense Request

Any Community member wishing to be refunded by the Community for travel or miscellaneous purchases must obtain approval in advance from a Budget Holder. The request must specify:

  • name of the individual and role within the Community
  • budget category
  • nature of the expense
  • if for travel:
  • date / duration / nature of the event
  • reason for attendance (e.g. presenting a paper, manning a stall...)
  • transport details (if any)
  • accommodation details (if any)
  • value / currency including taxes
  • bank account details for reimbursement (unless cash – see below)

The Budget Holder must satisfy themselves that the amount requested is reasonable and appropriate. If the Request is approved, the Budget Holder will email a Travel Approval to the Traveller, with a copy to the Treasurer. The Treasurer will note the amount as a Commitment against the Budget in the Purchasing Log.


Note: the Community will generally not issue advances to fund travel or other miscellaneous expenses. It is the responsibility of the Traveller to ensure they have the necessary funding to cover their expenses until reimbursement is received.

Refund of Expenses – Bank Transfer

When the trip is complete the Traveller should submit details of the expenditure actually incurred to the Treasurer. The Treasurer will check that the amount is within the amount authorised on the Travel Approval and if so, will issue a refund to the Traveller.


If the amount claimed exceeds the authorised amount the Treasurer will seek approval from the Budget Holder for the excess before making any repayment.

Refund of Expenses – Cash

At events such as OOoCon it may be more convenient for a Budget Holder or Nominee to issue cash refunds to Travellers in person. In this case, the Budget Holder should request a cash advance from Treasurer sufficient to cover all the Travel Approvals which have been raised for the event. The Budget Holder or Nominee should then arrange to meet the Community Members who require refunds. Each Member should present a copy of their Travel Approval, a statement of the expenses actually incurred, and – if they are not personally known to the Budget Holder - some form of photo identification. The Budget Holder or Nominee must obtain a receipt for all cash disbursed, so the Budget Holder can use these to reconcile any cash balances with the Treasurer at the end of the event.

Treasurer Responsibilities

Recording

The Treasurer shall be responsible for maintaining accurate and up to date records as described in this Procedure, i.e. a Purchasing Log and details of Budget Holders and Authorisers.

Reporting

The Treasurer shall use the information in the Purchasing Log to report to the Community Council on expenditures, committed and incurred, versus budget. Every quarter the Community Council will review a summary financial statement and agree whether any changes are required to the budget for the rest of the year. This summary financial statement will be posted to the website.

Legal and Statutory considerations

This Procedure is designed to satisfy the requirements of the OpenOffice.org Community Council only. It may need to be supplemented by additional procedures to meet the needs of legal, accounting, or other regulatory bodies.

Handling /routing of requests

1. A request must be sent to the budget holder (see under budget); any request that pops up anywhere else, must be redirected there.

2. The budget holder:

  1. Can ask for more information;
  2. Can discuss with other budget holders (and/or the CC) if she/he thinks another budget is more appropriate;
  3. Can think the request is OK and ask the approvers their opinion;
  4. Consult the relevant Community members as to whether the expenditure should be approved (e.g. on a dev@ mailing list);
  5. Can ask the whole cc for a decision in case for example the available budget is not clear or to low.

3. The budget holder then informs the one that made the request, and continues as written in Purchasing Goods and Services and Travel and Expenses.

Budgets

See the following pages for the budget holders, details of budgets and expenditure.

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