Expense Reimbursement Policy

Purpose

Sometimes you pay a cost for NEO or for a client's matter with your own money, such as a filing fee, a courier or parking at a tribunal. This policy explains what NEO repays, how to get approval, which receipts to keep, and when you're repaid.

Who it applies to

• Employees of NEO.
• Students on placement, for approved costs of their placement work.
• Contractors pay their own business costs under their agreement. If a contractor pays a client's disbursement on a NEO matter with the principal's approval, it is repaid as their agreement provides, and the approval and receipt rules below apply.

Two kinds of costs

• Client disbursements are costs of a particular client's matter: court, tribunal and filing fees, process servers, courier and postage, certified copies, searches, transcripts, and travel, mileage and parking for that matter. They are recorded on the client's matter and, where the client's retainer provides for it, billed to the client at cost, under our Fees, Retainers and Billing Policy. Where the client has money in trust for the cost, the principal handles it under our Trust Accounting and Client Money Policy.
• Firm expenses are costs of running NEO that aren't billed to a client, such as office supplies, approved training, and travel for firm business that isn't tied to one matter.

NEO repays you for approved costs of either kind. Your repayment doesn't depend on whether the client pays their invoice.

Get approval first

1. Ask the principal before you spend, by email or message: what the cost is, about how much, and which client matter it is for, if any. Small routine costs that the principal has approved in general terms, such as regular courier for filings, don't need a fresh approval each time.
2. Use NEO's own payment methods where you can, such as a firm card or account. Pay personally only when that isn't practical.
3. Never take money from a client to cover a cost yourself. Clients pay only NEO, by the methods on their invoice, and money held for a client's costs is handled under our Trust Accounting and Client Money Policy. Report any unusual payment request under our Fraud Prevention Policy.

What NEO repays

• Court, tribunal, filing and other government fees for a client's matter.
• Courier, postage, process servers, certified copies and searches.
• Travel for firm business, such as to a court, tribunal, client meeting, filing office or other work location away from your usual workplace: public transit, a taxi or rideshare where approved, parking and tolls, and mileage for your own vehicle at a per-kilometre rate the principal sets, normally no more than the per-kilometre rates the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) treats as reasonable for that year. Keep a short log of the date, purpose, starting point, destination and kilometres.
• Training and professional development the principal approved in advance, under our Professional Development and Competence Policy.
• Other costs the principal approves in advance.

What NEO doesn't repay

• Personal costs, including travel between your home and your usual workplace and parking there, everyday meals, traffic and parking tickets, and personal purchases.
• Home office costs, such as furniture, phone plans or internet, unless the principal agrees in writing in advance.
• Professional fees and insurance, such as Law Society fees, unless your employment agreement says NEO pays them.
• Gifts or hospitality for clients or anyone else, except as our Gifts and Hospitality Policy allows and the principal approves.

Receipts

1. Keep an itemized receipt that shows the supplier, the date, what was bought, the amount paid, and the HST and the supplier's GST/HST registration number where they appear. A card slip alone isn't enough.
2. For a fee paid online to a court or tribunal, keep the official receipt or payment confirmation.
3. If a receipt is lost, explain in writing what was bought, when and for how much. The principal decides whether the claim can be paid.
4. Receipts are kept with NEO's financial records for as long as the CRA and the Law Society's By-Law 9 require. A copy of each client disbursement receipt also goes on the client's file.

How to claim

1. Claim within 30 days of the cost, and sooner for client disbursements so they can go on the client's next invoice. A claim more than 90 days old needs the principal's specific approval.
2. Send your claim to the principal by email to info@neolegalservices.com, or through the staff portal where a claim form is available, with the date, amount and purpose of each cost, the client matter it belongs to (if any), the receipts, and your mileage log.
3. The principal approves the claim, asks for more information, or declines it and tells you why.

When you're repaid

• Approved claims are paid with the next payroll run after approval, by direct deposit, as a separate reimbursement line on your pay statement. The principal may repay a large or urgent claim sooner by a separate deposit. Our Payroll and Pay Days Policy sets out the pay days.
• A repayment of an actual business cost, backed by receipts, is not wages under the Employment Standards Act, 2000, and is generally not taxable income, as long as it isn't a payment of personal expenses.
• Repayments come from NEO's own business account, never from the trust account.

Taxable benefits

The CRA treats some payments to employees as taxable benefits, for example a flat allowance that isn't based on actual costs or kilometres driven, a phone or internet allowance, or payment of personal expenses. Parking at your usual workplace can also be a taxable benefit. If NEO pays you something the CRA treats as taxable, it is included in your income, with the deductions the law requires, and shown on your T4 slip. NEO pays allowances only if your employment agreement sets one out. If your agreement requires you to pay certain work costs yourself without repayment, ask the principal about the CRA's Form T2200.

Firm payment cards

If NEO gives you a firm card or account:

• use it only for approved firm or client costs, never for personal purchases, even ones you plan to repay;
• keep and submit the receipts on the same timeline as a claim;
• keep the card details secure, under our Information Security and Data Breach Response Policy, and report a lost card or a charge you don't recognize at once; and
• return it when you leave NEO or when the principal asks.

Honest claims

Every claim must be true and complete. A false or inflated claim, or misuse of a firm card, is serious misconduct under our Staff Code of Conduct. Accurate records also matter to clients, because each disbursement appears on their invoice.

Review

This policy is reviewed at least once a year, and whenever the CRA's rules or the Law Society's By-Laws change. The principal approves every change.

Questions

Ask the principal, or email info@neolegalservices.com, call 647-200-3526 or toll-free 888-519-2435, or write to us at Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering, Ontario L1V 1B5.