[FAmSCo] Budget issues: Where are we?

[Clint Savage]

See my responses inline. They aren't going to be too long, hopefully. :-)

>
> To move the discussion forward, I'd like to break down the problem and suggest ways out based on the discussion in FAmSCo meeting:
>
> 1.BUDGET PLANNING
> Problem: we don't know what's the available global budget and how to allocate it to the regions.
> Solution: who should make the first step? Should the regions come up with figures, how much they want to spend, and see if there is enough money for that, or should OSAS/Robyn give us a budget and let us reasonably spend it? From the regions' perspective, I'd rather have the second option. But OSAS is the one who is giving money, so they should express what they want.

I vote for the former. It seems to me from the discussions I've had
with Robyn that if the regions need to have a certain amount of
funding, it shouldn't be a problem. I do not want to see wild and
crazy spending, but I really think the regions respect this and would
come up with something reasonable. Specifically, if they had a
description of the item (as detailed as possible) with estimated
amounts, it should be sufficient. I don't see OSAS/Robyn trying to
predict what each region is going to need as an ideal situation.
Budgets should be requested from each region, approved by FAmSCo and
submitted to RH/OSAS/Robyn for final approval.

> 2.EXPENSE APPROVING
> Problem: how to ask for expense approvals, who is allowed to approve expenses up to a certain amount.
> This is a part I thought we finally solved. It was discussed for months and we finally agreed on that in FAmSCo. But I've been told that the NA region raised objections. Guys, if you don't like the final proposal, please come up with something better, otherwise we will die going in circles. But I don't really want to ditch the current proposal completely. 3 regions are OK with that and we really need well defined responsibilities if the regions are to handle a significant amount of money.

I don't think anyone in NA is bellyaching over this other than to say
that there are already pieces in place that make no sense within the
region. Additionally, it is more of a matter of a guideline vs a hard
and fast rule. The limits are there to protect ambassadors and invoke
a policy, but the CC holders and regional leaders know the people they
are dealing with and should be able to develop a trust over time. I
honestly think the limits should be more of a recommendation and each
region should adopt what they feel is appropriate. The only hard limit
I'd like is what RH requires as a PO. Beyond that, let the regions
define a policy of their own (or use the one FAmSCo defined). It
probably makes sense, however, that each region should have a stated
policy, which means those that care will adjust the one FAmSCo defined
to suit their needs and place it somewhere on the wiki.

> 3.REIMBURSING
> Problem: to find a fast and easy way to pay reimbursements
> Frankly, I don't think there is any way to allow us do wire transfers on behalf of Red Hat. There are 500 people in our office and not a single person is allowed to do wire transfers herself.
> The best solution is to find a service where we can make payments to all countries where we reimburse people and Red Hat pays all fees right away. But this is where we can only help with suggestions. Alejandro suggests prepaid credit cards. Why not if it works in LATAM? But I don't know such a thing in Europe, so it's not probably a global solution.
> Hopefully, Robyn/OSAS/RH financials will come up with something useful. But until that I doubt if we can do anything about it.

There's going to be multiple ways to pay here, but I suspect this will
get resolved soonish by OSAS and RH.

> 4.REPORTING/ACCOUNTING
> Problem: tracking all expenses and knowing how much we spent and on what
> Hopefully, RH financials will provide us with more accounting data after switching to OSAS. But we don't have to rely on them if we track expenses properly. That's where the new accounting track should help. But we need to wait for suehle to design it because it will serve mainly her. When it's up, regional treasurers and credit card holder may work with suehle on details.
>
> Here are some suggested action items coming from it:
> 1. Robyn - defining a process of budget making, or at least saying what'd work the best for her.
> 2. NA guys - proposing changes to the new approval rules, so that they don't stay in their way as little as possible and still work for other regions.
> 3. Robyn - asking our financials/legals to find a service provider that would allow us pay people in most countries in the world
> 4. Suehle - setting up a new trac for accounting purposes

I think this is being worked on and has been agreed that each region
will track their expenses and everything will end up in the expense
trac instance. I'm not certain of the details of this, but I was there
a few FAmSCo meetings ago when it was being discussed.

Cheers,

Clint