Expense claims

OtaHoas tenant committee members, keyholders and other active members will pay purchases and other costs by themselves because OtaHoas does not have a bank account or a credit card.

To make a reimbursement of costs, the process is as below:

  1. Think through all upcoming purchases and payments, and calculate the exact total amount.
  2. Ask from the tenant committee by email or on Telegram if your purchase is acceptable. Links to a webstore would be a good addition.
  3. If the purchase is accepted by the committee and they allow you to purchase it, buy the thing by yourself. If the purchase is expensive look at the title “Expensive purchases” at the bottom of this page.
  4. Write “OtaHoas” to a big/expensive/loanable item with a permanent marker pen.
  5. Fill and sign the Expense Claim Form. Remember to fill out all the asked details and date! You can write the “Role in committee” to be “Keyholder”. Don’t forget kilometer allowance if there is any.
  6. Attach receipts to the right corner of the expense claim form. If the item is bought online and you don’t have a receipt, print the order confirmation and the bank event from your online bank.
  7. Bring the expense claim form with receipts to OtaHoas tenant committee meeting where it will be officially accepted. Meetings are announced on OtaHoas Telegram group and webpage, but you can still ask the time for the next meeting from the chair of the committee.
  8. You will get money to your bank account in 2 to 3 weeks usually. Time depends on how quickly the tenant committee signs and sends the memo to the Hoas office and if Hoas has any delays.

Expensive purchases

If you hope to buy something expensive (over 500 euros), you can agree with a vendor that they will make an invoice. Tenant committee can then forward the invoice to Hoas.

The order details could be discussed with business sales. Make sure that terms of payment is long enough! Receiver of the invoice should be written to be “Helsingin seudun opiskelija-asuntosäätiö”.

It is possible to get a promissory note from Hoas. That means a stamped paper where Hoas has agreed to pay listed items. This is needed if the vendor wants to make sure that Hoas will surely pay the purchases. Asking a promissory note must be accepted in a tenant committee meeting. This way, the process takes longer but does not require anyone to use their own money. 

Ask tenant committee before making any purchases with invoices!

More information of annual budget, expence claims and promissory notes can be found on Hoas webpage:

https://www.hoas.fi/en/tenants/tenant-activity/the-duties-of-the-tenant-committee/allowances-and-expense-claim-forms/