Invoice vs. Reimbursement
Understanding when to use an Invoice vs. a Reimbursement and what is required for each.
Invoice vs. Reimbursement: What's the Difference?
Invoice: Use an invoice when you're getting paid for work (like coding, designing, or contributing to the community). An invoice should include:
Description of services provided
Timeframe of work, such as "February 2023,"" Q1 2023," or "5 hours in September 2023"
Total amount due
Payment details (e.g., bank account, PayPal)
Example: If you've spent 10 hours coding a new feature, you will submit an invoice detailing your hourly rate and the total amount for those hours.
Reimbursement: Use this when you're getting paid back for expenses you’ve already incurred on behalf of the project (like purchasing software, hosting services, or equipment).
Reimbursements require Receipts showing:
Vendor’s name (who you paid)
Transaction date
Description of the item or service
Amount paid
Currency and form of payment (cash, credit, etc.)
Name of the hosted project or payee who made the purchase
Example: If you bought a domain name for the project, you'd submit a reimbursement request with the receipt containing your name or the hosted project's name.
In order for any expense to be paid
The "pay to" name (the payee) must match the name under "payout method"
The "pay to" name (the payee) must include their billing address, which the payee will be prompted for when submitting the invoice
Invoices can only be processed for work done during your tenure with Open Source Collective; we cannot process any invoices for work completed prior to becoming hosted by OSC
Examples
Reimbursements
Receipts are required so that we can ensure the requested amount matches the purchased amount. A valid receipt needs to be issued by the vendor and contains:
The name of the vendor (person or company you paid)
Transaction date (when you paid)
A detailed description of goods or services purchased (what you bought)
Amount paid
The currency in question. This is usually clear from the address and the currency symbol.
Form of payment (cash, check, or last four digits of the credit card)
The name of the payee or hosted project.
When uploading the receipt into Open Collective, the date, currency, and amount given must match the receipt exactly. The name of the vendor or detailed description should also be generally clear.
Invoices
Must include a detailed description of the work completed. This part is very important. Our accountants and auditors check records so make your descriptions easy to understand and concise. Instead of writing "maintenance" or "support," specify what you are maintaining or supporting. Using words like "work" or "payment" is too vague.
If attaching a .pdf invoice that requires an address, the invoice should be made out to OSC: Open Source Collective 440 N. Barranca Ave #3939
Covina, CA 91723
For any invoice over $5,000 USD: the payee can’t be the one who approved the expense (unless they are the sole admin), and; payments must be made by electronic bank transfer via Wise, not PayPal
We might mark an invoice "incomplete" if it lacks sufficient explanation of the work performed or other important information. This does not mean we are canceling your payment, but we need you to add more detail to the description. In the event that your invoice is marked "incomplete," a collective admin will need to re-approve it after you have made the necessary revisions.
It is helpful to include the relevant changelogs, repositories, or blog posts to support your invoices whenever possible. Providing links and supporting documentation fosters transparency and expedites invoicing processing, allowing you to get paid quickly.
You can reference GitHub's URL structure here to create a link that encompasses the work in your invoice. For example, this URL will show the work done for a specific time period by one particular user: https://github.com/ORG/REPO/commits?author=USER&since=YYYY-MM-DD&until=YYYY-MM-DD
Invoice Examples
You can include the details of the work done in the description field of each line item.
You can create one invoice for the total and attach your own invoice or time tracker to detail the work done. You do not need to attach your own invoice or time tracker for OSC, unless your collective requires it.
Another thing you could do is note something like: "Maintenance on core for the month of April, 2023." Here are examples of attachments:
Grants, Awards or Donations
Grants, awards, and donations should be used to reflect "gifts". Gifts can be given when there is no expectation of work to be performed on the project. However, we need an example of how this gift benefits the community. A URL to the award announcement or link to a discussion on your forums/discord is sufficient.
Example: 'Aosus writing contest' award announcement
If you are sending money to someone for contributions made to the project (code, documentation, design, community), please do not use these terms: "grant", "award", or "donation". You should instead use terms like 'supporting...', 'time spent on...', or 'maintenance on....'
Last updated
Was this helpful?
