Welcome to the Expenses page! You should be able to find answers to most of your questions here. If you can't find what you are looking for, then:
#expense-reporting-inquiresap@gitlab.comGitLab utitilizes Expensify as our team member expense reimbursement tool. All team members will have access to Expensify within 2 days from their hire date. If you didn't receive an email from Expensify for your access, please contact ap@gitlab.com. Note: Ensure to opt-out from news by logging in and navigating to Settings > Preferences > Contact Preferences and un-checking the box at Relevant feature updates and Expensify news.
Expense reports are to be submitted at least once a month. Additional information on getting started with Expensify and creating/submitting expense reports can be found here.
As the service does not require your personal information in order to process the reimbursement, we encourage you to redact your personal information before uploading receipts to protect your privacy. Managers should relay this caution to your team members, but we will no longer deny the expense report if receipt images contain personal information.
Consider redacting this information:
At a minimum, information about the items/products purchased and the total purchase amount should be visible so managers can validate the expense reimbursement amount requested along with the actual items and total purchase price.
The procedure by which reimbursable expenses are processed varies and is dependent on contributor legal status (e.g. independent contractor, employee) and subsidiary assignment. Check with Payroll if you are unsure about either of these.
For general information and guidelines regarding the company expense policy, check out the section of our team handbook on Spending Company Money. Managers and the Accounts Payable team will review expenses for compliance with the company travel policy. The CEO will review selected escalations at least annually.
Team members should also consider the terms and conditions of their respective contractor agreements when submitting invoices to the company.
Team members in a US policy will be automatically reimbursed through Expensify after their report is "final approved" within 7 business days by Accounts Payable team. For all other team members, please see the reimbursement process below based on your location or employment status.
The company will reimburse for these office equipment and supplies if they assist you in achieving greater business results, and local law allows us to pay for items without incurring payroll taxes. Please keep in mind that while the amounts below are guidelines and not strict limits, any purchase (other than a laptop) that will cost GitLab $1000 USD per item (or over) will require prior approval from your Manager and Accounting.
When you evaluate the value of greater results relative to the cost of an item, we encourage you to spend company money like its your own. This means weighing the cost of a dollar spent to the value that it brings to the business, just as you would assess a personal dollar that you spend against the relative benefit that it brings you.
When reimbursing through Expensify please select "reimbursable" for the portion which GitLab will be covering, and add a note explaining the receipt difference.
Team members should not use a Corporate Credit Card to purchase office equipment for their personal workspace. All office equipment purchases for a team member's personal workspace should be made on a personal credit card and expensed.
For Laptop Purchases/Refreshes, please refer to IT Ops Laptop policy and procedure.
In order to prevent issues during the reimbursement of purchases that go above the guideline price listed in our office equipment and supplies handbook page, we recommend getting pre-approval before making a purchase and submitting for a reimbursement. This isn't required for purchases below the guideline price.
Keep in mind that GitLab won't reimburse items that are included in the list of non-reimbursable expenses.
To obtain pre-approval, post in the #expense-reporting-inquires slack channel - the equipment you are purchasing, the cost of the item and the reason why the purchase is above the guideline price (this could be due to higher taxes in your region for example). Tag your manager as well so they are aware of the ask and they can help provide context if needed. Someone from our Accounts Payable team will reply to you with approval. When you are submitting your expense, add a note saying "Jane Doe (name of approver) pre-approved this expense".
Sometimes expenses get rejected by our third party accounting team. Before following the steps below, please ensure your purchases don't fall in our list of non-reimbursable expenses.. An expense might get rejected if it goes above the guideline price listed in our office equipment and supplies handbook page.
If you didn't get pre-approval from the accounting team before submitting the expense, then start a new post in the #expense-reporting-inquires slack channel and explain the situation. Follow the same format as described in requesting pre-approval. Once you get approval, submit your expense again, highlighting that the accounting team has given their thumbs-up to the expense.
If you got pre-approval from the accounting team before submitting the expense, then go back to your original post and follow up with the person who approved the item and share the rejection message with them so the team can follow up with our third party accounting team.
Take inspiration from our all-remote page covering key considerations for a comfortable, ergonomic workspace. You can also consult the #questions and #remote channels in Slack for recommendations from other GitLab team members.
GitLab does not reimburse individual software subscriptions (e.g. Apple Music, Krisp, etc.). Software subscriptions should be set up through the company procurement process, or by creating an access request for an existing company subscription.
Certain types of individual subscriptions are reimbursable, such as VPN service. If you are uncertain whether a particular service is reimbursable, please contact Finance in the #expense-reporting-inquiries channel.
If you need a short-term or individual software subscription, or a single-pay software license, please reach out to Finance in the #accountspayable Slack channel to discuss options before acquiring the software. |
Feel free to check local second-hand/free markets when looking for equipment, especially furniture such as desks and chairs. GitLab will reimburse the cost of any transport and delivery services you need to procure the item(s) provided the total cost is reasonable based on the table in the Office Equipment and supplies page, factoring in any local pricing adjustments.
GitLab will also reimburse costs relevant to one's location in cases where anniversary gifts or company issued swag incurs additional import costs.
The company will reimburse for the following expenses if you need it for work or use it mainly for business, and local law allows us to pay for it without incurring taxes:
people-exp@ gitlab.com. The People Experience team will then send it to the payroll provider in the Netherlands via email. The details of the payroll provider can be found in the PeopleOps vault in 1Password under "Payroll Contacts".
* This is a taxable expense for GitLab Ltd. team members assuming that the internet connection is used partially for personal use as well as business use.If working from home is not practical you may submit for reimbursement for the cost of a co-working space. This can include non-traditional spaces that require a recurring (full-time monthly) membership as long as you average at least ~4 working days per month at the space. If flexible membership options exist in the form of daily passes or hourly packages, then these can be expensed as well, as long as the prorated cost per month does not exceed that of a recurring membership subscription. For instance, if both the monthly subscription and a hypothetical 10-day pass is $200 USD, then you can only expense one such pass each month.
Any agreement must be between the team member and the co-working space (i.e. GitLab will not sign or appear on the agreement). All expenses must be submitted through the normal travel and expense reimbursement policy. The Company will not be responsible for the deposit, and therefore will not reimburse for the upfront deposit. This will solely be the responsibility of the employee. In addition, the company will not be responsible for any expense that relates to office space subsequent to the termination of service between GitLab and the team member.
GitLab team members are allotted $10,000 USD per calendar year to spend on one or multiple training courses. Follow the process for submitting a Growth and Development Reimbursement. Expenses related to reimbursement of tuition will be capped at $1,000 USD within Expensify. Anything over $1,000 USD must go through payroll for reimbursement. Team members must attach a screenshot of the G&D issue when submitting a expense report for tuition, while choosing the "Training" category option. Please note any sort of conference attendance should be categorized to "Conference Attendance", and follow the same G&D steps as outlined above with reimbursement in Expensify capped at $1,000 USD.
Managers are able to send Gifts and Flowers on behalf of their team members in acknowledgment of significant life events such as the birth of a little one; well wishes ahead of surgery, or the loss of a loved one.
The event in question must pertain to a GitLab Team Member or the immediate family of a GitLab Team Member and will be allocated to the respective team members departmental budget - the spend range for significant life events is $75 to $125.
Managers can facilitate the ordering of Flowers or Gifts for delivery, but please note that you are unable to send restuarant gift cards at this time. In an instance where you would like to extend the offer of a meal or food delivery service, this will need to be expensed by the recipient for reimbursement.
When expensing Team member gifts please use the tag FY22_EmployeeGiftsFlowers.
In FY22, each eGroup member has been allocated $50 per team member per quarter for FY22-Q1 to FY22-Q3 for team building events. There is an additional budget for $100 per team member in FY22-Q4. More to come in the section below as we get closer to FY22-Q4.
In previous years, GitLab has allocated $100 USD per GitLab team member for a holiday event in December. Due to continued travel restrictions, each eGroup member will be responsible for setting the holiday event guidelines for their teams. The budget per team member is $100 USD.
For additional Company Travel related questions, please refer to our Travel Handbook regarding booking travel through TripActions.
When reducing spend, we'll not take the easy route of (temporarily) reducing discretionary spending. Discretionary spending includes expenses like travel, conferences, gifts, bonuses, merit pay increases and Contributes. By reducing in these areas we put ourselves at risk of increasing voluntary turnover among the people we need most. Discretionary spending is always subject to questioning, we are frugal and all spending needs to contribute to our goals. But we should not make cuts in reaction to the need to reduce spend; that would create a mediocre company with mediocre team members. Instead, we should do the hard work of identifying positions and costs that are not contributing to our goals. Even if this causes a bit more disruption in the short term, it will help us ensure we stay a great place to work for the people who are here.
Purchase the liability insurance that is excess of the standard inclusion of State minimum coverage in the rental agreement at the rental agency. GitLab’s insurance policy provides liability insurance for rental cars while conducting company business, but it may be excess over any underlying liability coverage through the driver or credit card company used to purchase the rental.
Purchase the liability offered at the rental counter if there are foreign employees renting autos in the US or Canada. While workers' compensation would protect an injured US employee, other passengers may have the right to sue. To ensure that GitLab has protection when a foreign employee invites another person into the car we recommend the purchase of this insurance when offered at the rental counter.
Do Not purchase the Collision Damage Waiver offered at the rental counter. GitLab purchases coverage for damage to rented vehicles. If travel to Mexico is required, purchase the liability insurance for Mexico offered at the rental counter. You should verify that the rental agreement clearly states that the vehicle may be driven into Mexico and liability coverage will apply.
Purchase the liability insurance offered at the rental counter when traveling outside the US and Canada. Automobile Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability insurance are required by law in almost every country. Please verify this coverage is included with the rental agreement.
Purchase the Collision Damage Waiver or Physical Damage Coverage offered by the rental agency when traveling outside the US and Canada.
In the event of an accident resulting in damage to the rental car, the foreign rental agency will charge the credit card used to make the reservation with an estimated amount of repair costs if insurance is not purchased. If this happens, GitLab does not purchase Foreign Corporate Hired Auto Physical Damage Coverage to reimburse for damages.
Currently Suspended
No problem, and consider adding it to this list if others can benefit as well.
If you are a team member in Spain or France, please submit your expenses through Safeguard in-house expense reimbursement management system and also submit them through Expensify. Accounts Payable will review, approve, and send the approval of your expense reports in Expensify to your gitlab email address. You will need to forward the approval email to Safeguard enable for them to process your expense reimbursement via payroll.
For Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, and Japan AP will process the approved report on Friday. The payment will be deposited into your account no later than three business days the following week. Accounts payable uses Tipalti to drive payment to the above policies. As part of onboarding, an invitation to the Tipalti portal will be sent. Please sign up and onboard only banking information, no tax information is needed. If set up of the personal Tipalti account is not completed in a timely manner, this may result in a delay of expense payment.
The list of SafeGuard countries can be found here
Team members who are employed through SafeGuard must submit their expense for reimbursement through Expensify. All expense reports must be submitted and approved by the manager and the Accounts Payable team by the 8th of the month to be included in the current month payment. All Expense Reports must be approved by the Manager, and Montpac by EOD on the 7th of the month
Team members working via SafeGuard must submit their expenses through:
The list of Global Upside & Remote countries can be found here
The list of CXC countries can be found here
These instructions apply if a team member is unable to purchase required items, for whatever reason.
As we ask team members to spend company money like its your own, we try not to micromanage spending. Our spending sub-value is the foundation of our expense philosophy, and we've found that the vast majority of team members exercise thoughtful judgement in purchasing. That said, we've had some questionable purchases. Some examples of purchases that have felt incongruent with the spirit of our spending sub-value include:
You should proactively engage your manager if you plan to make a work purchase that is outside of what would be considered standard by an average team member. Please say why, not just what when you are explaining what you are purchasing and why.
In accordance with Reimbursable Expense guidelines, independent contractors should note which expenses are Contribute-related on their invoices, prior to submitting to the Company.
Return to the main finance page.
