Expense reimbursement policy
For employees in Norway & Sweden
For employees in Norway & Sweden
From the 10th of January 2024, Oda's new Expense tooling for employees were set to live. All expenses and travel expenses must be submitted in accordance with the policy for expenses and travels for work policies set out in this Employee Handbook. As an employee you are responsible to ensure that the expense report is correctly documented and submitted. If the requirements are not met, the expense will be declined, and there will be no reimbursement. A good rule of thumb is that description, receipts and documentation of all expenses should be self-explanatory to a third party auditor.
To enable employees in filling out correct expense report we use our people system, Workday, to process expenses that are reimbursed by any of the companies in the group. Follow these steps to create an expense report.
All reimbursement of expenses are considered documentation and appendices to the company’s ledger accounts, and expense reports are therefore subject to local accounting laws and regulations. For that reason it is important that expenses and including travel expenses meet the legal requirements as specified in this policy.
Expenses are to be submitted as soon as possible, and no later than 3 months after the expense has been incurred / travel has been completed. At year-end, expenses should be submitted in the same year as the expense was made.
Employees should not submit many small expense reports, but collect them together and submit once per quarter if the amount is under 1000 NOK/SEK. Expenses with larger amounts can be submitted when they occur. Preferably not more frequently than weekly.
We will aim to pay out expense the 1. and the 15. every month, the deadline to send in your expenses is 4 business days ahead of the deadline and leaders have to approve at least 2 business days ahead of the deadline (but no rush, if it’s not sent in time, it will just be on the next payout)
All expenses are required to be documented with the original receipt. The receipt must satisfy legal requirements so always ask for a machine written paper receipt or get full receipt over email, and must contain information on VAT/MVA. The receipt must include a specification of the goods or services purchased. The receipt must be fully readable.
Note that bank statements, transfers or payments are not sufficient as documentation and will not be considered valid and your expense report will be rejected until you can provide a receipt.
When requesting a refund of expenses, a specific purpose must be stated for all expenses and/or the expense report. The purpose must be as specific as possible, for example “Meeting with Nestle AS, signing contract”, “Marketing meeting with Facebook” or “Meeting management team at Lier”. Purpose descriptions that are very generic such as “Work”, “Meeting” or “Training” are not precise enough, and therefore not in line with requirements can will result in rejected expenses.
If you request a refund for an expense covering several individuals, for example a meal, tickets etc., you must name the full list for all attendees in the expenses report. If the expense covers individuals who are not employed within our legal entities, you must also state their employer and title. Without a naming list, expenses cannot be approved. Make sure to add all participants to each expense line they are part of when that is required.
In Workday you will be able to choose from a list of so called Expense Items, and this Item represent the type of expense you are submitting. Examples of existing expense items in the system are Language Course, Phone Subscription or Transport by Taxi. They are there to enable us in better documenting the type of expense submitted, and are linked to correct defaulting of VAT/MVA treatments according to law.
When requesting refund for taxi, you must state the specific start address and stop address for the journey. Address must be stated with Street Name and Street Number, Postal Code and City, for example “Nydalsveien 24, 0484 Oslo”. Just stating “Nydalen” will not be approved. Destinations which are commonly known does not need a street address, for example “Oslo Airport” or “Stortinget/Parliament”.
If a refund for an overtime meal is requested, special rules apply. The expense must contain the following, in addition to ordinary requirements; employees home address, start time of the employees shift, end time of the employees shift. If the expense is for several individuals, a complete list naming all relevant workers must be listed in the reports attendee list.
If the employee has a working day of more than 10 hours, up to 200 NOK (rate for 2021) can be refunded with no tax implications. Any amount above this is taxable for the employee. If the absence from home is under 10 hours, or is missing any information as listed above, the entire amount is taxable for the employee.
When choosing restaurants, choose a place with a reasonable price level. An indicative price range is 350 NOK per meal (food + drinks). Exercise discretion where the exchange rate may influence price level. When purchasing drinks with a meal the limit is one per employee. Beverages exceeding this are not subject to refund, and must be paid for by the employee. Hard spirits are not subject to refunds and must always be paid for by the employee.
Social events and gatherings are important for creating a good corporate culture and work relationships. Teams/areas are encouraged to arrange something social on a regular basis. Beverages during the event is covered if considered as reasonable in an event setting, otherwise beverage is paid for by the employee.
When purchasing gifts to employees, you must state the full name of the recipient on the expense report. The purpose of the gift must be clearly stated, for example “Wedding gift”, “30th birthday”, “Recently became parents”. According to current regulations, an employee can receive tax exempt gifts from an employer up to 5000 NOK pr. year (2021 rate), as long as the gift policy is valid for the entire company.
Gifts which is a part of a local bonus / gifts not part of a company wide policy, is always taxable for the employee. Contact Payroll (payroll@oda.com) for more information on current regulations for taxation of gifts.
Representation is actions and/or meeting with the purpose of creating or retaining a connecting with a business partner, for example a dinner or lunch with a current or potentially new vendor. A VAT deduction for the company can be given for up to 468 NOK pr. person, and this rate should be a indicative price range for any representation meals. No liquor is to be served on these occasions. Gifts to business partners can be given and refunded up to 260 NOK pr. gift.
For employees who use their private car for work related travel, a car allowance can be requested. Car allowance is only granted and possible to submit when agreed with manager. Car allowance is given according to tax-exempt rate in “Statens Særavtale” (pr. 2023, 3,50 NOK pr. km.). A passenger addition is given according to the same agreement (pr. 2023, 1,00 NOK pr. km. pr. passenger). If you have toll costs related to the travel, these need to be in a separate expense line with the expense item “Tolls”. Attachments can be made using a screenshot of the tolls calculator. Larger expenses must be sent with receipt.
When requesting refund for car allowance, you must state the specific start address and stop address for the journey. Address must be stated with Street Name and Street Number, Postal Code and City, for example “Nydalsveien 24, 0484 Oslo”. Just stating “Nydalen” will not be approved. Destinations which are commonly known does not need a street address, for example “Oslo Airport” or “Stortinget/Parliament”.
Please note that car allowance is not given for travels between home address and ordinary office location.
Expenses for software license reimbursements need to be processed differently from other expenses, due to tax defaulting. Therefore, submit the software licenses in a separate expense report from the other expenses you are submitting.
If you for any reason need support, first reach out to your manager, otherwise contact the Finance team via Slack #finance-platform-support, or mail accounting@oda.com
As of today Mathem does not cover expenses related to personal gifts for colleagues. This includes occasions such as birthdays, farewells, or other private celebrations. Any gifts given in these contexts are considered personal and should be arranged and paid for privately by those who wish to contribute.
We encourage a supportive and caring workplace culture, but to ensure clarity and consistency, it’s important to be aware that such costs are not reimbursed by the company.