Invoices
Where should the invoices for a project be addressed to?
For invoices directly submitted by a vendor or contributor for payment from a Project's balance, what should the billing address be? It depends on the Fiscal Host.
We've seen two main ways that Fiscal Hosts define their relationship with Projects: as a project of the Fiscal Host or as an independent unincorporated partnership. The details depend on the legal situation of the country where the Fiscal Host is located and the specifics of how their legal entity is set up.
In this case, the Fiscal Host is liable for the activities of the Project, just as companies are responsible for projects or departments within them. Invoices should be addressed to the Project with the address of the Fiscal Host.
E.g.:
Babel
Open Source Project 501(c)(6)
340 S. Lemon Ave. #3717
Walnut, CA 91789 USA
This is the most common setup. It offers all the benefits of having a shared legal entity. However, it's best used by hosts that have a limited scope (either by topic or by region) and that have strong trust and policy agreements with their Projects.
In this case, liability is held by the Core Contributors of the Project and the Fiscal Host is just holding money on their behalf. Invoices should be addressed to one of the Core Contributors of the Project and be under the name of the Project.
E.g.:
XR Belgium
Xavier Damman
Personal address
1000 Brussels
Host should check with local authorities to see if this is something you can do within the bounds of “Fiscal Sponsorship” regulations in your country. It's a good setup for when Hosts don't want to or can't assume legal liability for the actions of Projects. In Europe, the Project may need to register for their own VAT number if they have regular commercial activities.
The Fiscal Host Expense Policy is shown on the Submit Expense page of each Project you host. To define it, go to the settings of your Fiscal Host profile and edit the Expense Policy section. It can also be useful to link to an invoice template.
Last modified 5mo ago