Openness and Transparency
As an open source non-profit, Tidepool is committed to operating openly and transparently in all regards.
Tidepool's finances, including how we spend our money, our revenue, grants and expenses, are shared internally with employees on a regular basis, typically monthly after our accountants complete the monthly close. Our tax returns and audited financials are also published openly at tidepool.org/documents.
Expense Policy
Like all startups, Tidepool is attempting to minimize expenses as much as possible in order to extend our financial "runway" for as long as possible. We are frugal, but we are not "frupid" (frugal + stupid). Over 90% of our expenses are people-related: salaries and benefits (especially health insurance), and contractor expenses.
Several of the executives (CEO and VPs) have Tidepool business credit cards. If you need to purchase something, just ask one of us.
All that we ask when it comes to spending is that you be reasonably frugal, but don't be "frupid." Some guidance:
When you book travel, please use Kayak or a similar service and look for good fares. If you have a long flight, it's OK to book an "extra room" seat in coach so that you can get work done. We don't do business or first class. Don't eat at super-fancy 4-star restaurants or take town cars everywhere. Just be reasonable.
Online services that save us time and effort are totally worth the money. We subscribe to a bunch of them: GitHub, Slack, Confluence, Jira, and ZOOM, to name a few.
Tidepool doesn't pay for home internet connections (nor for electricity or water or garbage service, for that matter). Having a fast internet connection at home for work and personal use is routine these days.
If you are a full-time U.S. Employee, Tidepool will purchase a laptop and an external monitor for you if you need one, but you are also welcome to use your own machine(s) as long as they have been set up and audited according to our HIPAA and security policies. Please note that Tidepool-purchased equipment remains the property of Tidepool, unless other arrangements are made in writing.
We use bill.com to do expense and invoice reimbursement. If you have expenses that need to be reimbursed, send the receipts as a PDF to " tidepool.org (at) bill.com ". Employees that incur a lot of expenses may wish to set up an account with Expensify to make it easy to track expenses, but it is not required. Expense reports from Expensify should still be submitted to bill.com.