Article VII - Expenditures - Documentation

Section 1.

Receipts, invoices and/or other documentation must be maintained to support all disbursements.

Section 2.

Expense reports must be used to document all reimbursements to officers, members and employees. Each item to be reimbursed must be documented to indicate its date, amount and union purpose. Receipts must be attached. All expense reports should be filed on a timely basis.

Employee expense reports must be approved by the employee’s supervisor; officer expense reports must be approved by the Executive Board or a committee of officers selected for that purpose.

Expense reports must account for all expenses reimbursed as well as those incurred costs that are to be paid directly by the affiliate (e.g., direct hotel billings, charges on union-owned credit cards). Expense reports for any meal or entertainment item must list the name(s) and union relationship of the person(s) entertained and provide an explanation of the union business discussed.

Section 3.

Any individual authorized to use a union-owned credit card must provide an itemized expense report to the union accounting for each and every charge. Explanations must be provided to adequately justify the union purpose of the charges. The actual credit card receipt and the itemized sales slip must be attached to the expense report.

Expense reports for direct billed items should be submitted and approved prior to payment of any bills for charged items. Any items charged that are not approved by the appropriate officer(s) or supervisor must be paid back to the union immediately by the person incurring such charges. Under no circumstances should the union make a payment directly to a credit card company for an individual’s personal credit card.

Section 4.

Care should be taken to comply with all appropriate IRS requirements for documentation and reporting, including:

1. Expense reports - see Section 2 above and the Appendices.
2. Credit Cards - see Section 3 above and the Appendices.
3. Payroll Taxes - taxable per diem, lost time, car allowances, officer allowances, stipends, non- accountable expense advances, etc. must be treated as wages subject to withholding and require payment of payroll taxes and preparation of IRS Form W-2s and other applicable tax returns - see the Appendices.
4. Leased cars - if provided to employee, require employee to maintain usage logs. The value of personal usage (including commuting) must be included as taxable income to the employee and reported on the employee’s W-2 form. See the Appendices.