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Travel and Expenses 101

You may be required to travel, from time to time, for business purposes such as events, team meetings, meetings with customers etc. The company will cover all work-related travel expenses. This includes accommodation and meals for the business trip. We really want our team members to be productive and not need to worry about travel arrangements and stuff.

The company can accommodate custom requests. It is OK to stay longer on your trip. However, the extra days will not be covered by the company.

Always have proof of ID and a credit/debit card with you. Hotels will generally expect you to have a physical credit card to present upon check-in. This credit card will be kept on file for the duration of your stay. Even if your lodging was prepaid by the company or by using a company credit card, the Hotel may still require a card to be on file for "incidentals". Please note that we are trying to minimize the effort you need to put on this, thus we try to prepaid for all travel arrangements.

How should I book my flight & accommodation?​

In order to book your flights & accommodation please first get in touch with the Operations Team. Contact the Operations team using @@operations in the thread related to your reason for travel in Jellyfish. If your trip has been discussed in a different flow, it is always useful to link it for context. Operations will help you with your flight and accommodation for your trip. We currently use Travelperk for booking flights and accommodation, so you will most likely be advised to book everything through there and Operations can approve.

If you are traveling to Seattle to work from the Seattle office, we have a corporate agreement with a Hotel nearby, so let the Operations Team know and they will book a room for you. Note that you will need to provide proof of ID and a credit card for any incidentals.

How should I pay for my expenses while I'm traveling?​

All the expenses made for the duration of your business travel are covered by balena. For clarification purposes, these expenses include accommodation, food, business meals, transport and any unforeseen hardware required to perform the task at hand. Accommodation most of the time is prepaid or handled by the Operations Team. Meals, transportation and other expenses are paid by the employee and reimbursed. You can submit expenses through Expensify if you are an employee or Deel if you are a contractor.

What happens in case of an emergency?​

In case of an emergency, the first thing you need to do is get in touch with the Operations Team. Don’t hesitate to contact Apostolis (apostolis@balena.io) or Fotis (fotis@balena.io) via email or using the @@operations group in Jellyfish. In case of an emergency, don't hesitate to call them on their mobile phones. They will guide you in any way possible. In the unlikely event that the Operations Team is not available to assist you (that would occur only due to time difference), and depending on the need, there are a few things you can do. Please see below.

Accommodation​

In case the emergency requires an employee to pay for something that was supposed to be handled by balena (eg Hotel room), but for an unpredictable reason, it wasn’t, then the employee will be reimbursed as soon as the Operations Team receives the expense report.

Do I have travel insurance?​

Travelperk offers travel insurance and we normally have this set up by default. In case of an emergency, the first thing you need to do is get in touch with the Operations team.

How do I submit my expense report and when will it get reimbursed?​

You may be required to pay for business expenses, from time to time. Reported expenses are submitted to the financial team for approval and are reimbursed with payroll or invoice payment, usually at the end of each month. In cases where the value of expenses is high, the company will make every effort to reimburse the employee in the shortest time possible.

For the time being, employees forward all their expenses via Expensify and contractors via Deel. Note that you should always keep a copy of the receipt in order to expense it.

Another important note is that when you submit a Travel expense, under the “department” option or the notes/comment section, use the reason for traveling. If you are traveling for marketing purposes use “marketing”. In case you are traveling for “sales” purposes then use “sales. Here are a few examples:

Let’s say a Software Engineer is asked to Travel to present a demo for a sales pitch. Even though the Engineer is under the “Engineering” department, for this travel specifically he/she should mark everything expensed under “Sales” department. The same would happen if a Software Engineer was asked to go to an event. They would mark all expenses under the “Marketing” department.

In addition please add a reason for the expense, under “comment”, if it is not related to an Event.

Please check out this Expensify guide or this Deel guide before forwarding any expenses.

How do I submit expenses in a foreign currency​

When you expense something in a foreign currency (other than the currency you are getting paid in), we suggest that you expense the amount that appears in your bank statement. That will include any relevant fees (conversion) and what you pay for the interbank rate.

Is there a limit on the money I can spend on food while I'm traveling?​

In balena, we’re trying to maintain a friendly environment to work in. Thus, we have decided not to put a spending limit for employees on food, although you are expected to use your judgement to determine what is reasonable, a good rule of thumb would be to consider what you would spend if you were paying out of your own pocket. All expenses are reviewed and any expense considered not to be reimbursable will be left out.

If you're submitting expenses for you and other team members, please don't forget to mention that while submitting your expense report.

What kind of expenses are acceptable?​

Please take a look at the acceptable expenses below. Note that for any expense you are not certain whether it’s reimbursable or not don’t hesitate to contact the Operations team before making any purchase.

Food​

Breakfast, if not included in the accommodation, as well as lunch, dinner, coffee, and snacks in between are expensible.

Transport​

Taxi, train, bus or rental car costs for all the transport required for the duration of the travel. Please try to manage your budget as best as you can and take public transport where possible appropriate and if cost effective.

Business meetings​

Any cost related to a business meeting that has not been handled by the Operations Team. From renting an office for a day to taking a client to a business meal.

Hardware​

In case an employee needed to purchase Hardware that either was not foreseen or couldn’t be transported then the employee will be reimbursed for that purchase. If you are at an event for example and you buy a board because the one that you are using for a demo has malfunctioned, that will be reimbursed.

Emergencies​

In case an emergency requires a purchase please don’t hesitate to contact the Operations team. Let’s say that you got sick when on a journey with balena and you need medicine. That purchase is reimbursable.