NumFOCUS Finance
NumFOCUS Finance
Welcome to the Finance and Contracts Page at NumFOCUS.
The Finance department at NumFOCUS provides invoicing, payment processing, grants management, finance tracking and reporting, and contract creation services for NumFOCUS projects, contractors, events, and internal staff requests.
Invoicing
All invoice requests for sponsorships and tickets can be submitted here.
Contracts
All Contract, Subcontract and Contract Amendment Requests can be submitted here.
Independent Contractor and Subcontractor FAQ
How do I request a contract?
Contract request, subcontract requests, and amendment requests should all be submitted through our online form: https://wkf.ms/4b22kij
I don’t have a contract, can I still get paid?
We will reject expenses submitted to us If the contractor does not have a contract. If an expense is rejected, you will need to re-submit that expense after your contract is complete.
Where is my contract? What is the status of my contract?
Contracts take between 1-3 weeks to fully execute (revised and signed), depending on:
- The number of contracts in our queue;
- The responsiveness of the contractor and PI; and
- The availability of our executive director to review and sign.
PIs can review what the current backlog is on a weekly basis in our Project Updates to know how busy we are that week. Contract status is available to PIs and staff through our contract processing software portal, Outlaw.
What is Outlaw?
We use a contracts management software platform called Outlaw to process our contracts. This includes updating or negotiating contract terms, amendments, updating Statements of Work, and collecting signatures from all three signatory parties. Outlaw instructions are HERE.
What happens when my contract expires?
If your contract is expiring soon and your project wants to renew your contract, please contact us as soon as possible BEFORE your contract expires so we can create an amendment. All you need to do is fill out our contract request form and choose Amendment.
If your contract has expired, we will need to create a new contract. If your contract has expired, we will not be able to pay your invoices until you have a new contract. We will reject expenses with expired contracts. To request a new contract, fill out the contract request form.
We try to contact all contractors whose contracts are expiring a month before the expiration date to see if they need or want to renew.
Why do I need a contract?
Contracts are required for non-employee work including development, maintenance, community maintenance, consulting, technical writing, and other forms of contractor work paid by NumFOCUS on behalf of our projects or for NumFOCUS itself. Contracts protect both NumFOCUS and the contractor by spelling out the general terms and conditions of the work to be done, what open source project the work is for, the project’s responsibility for funding the work, the agreed-upon rates of pay, what work will be completed, and what happens when people want to end the contract, among other things. Most universities, government groups, and many companies and individuals also require contracts for this type of work.
Do I need a contract for a reimbursement?
No. Reimbursements for travel, supplies, etc. are not taxable income and therefore do not require contracts or 1099s.
Who will we be contracting with?
Contractors and subcontractors do not contract with the projects directly, as our open source projects are not legal entities. Your contract will be with NumFOCUS, Inc.
What is the contract threshold dollar amount?
Our requirements are that you need to go through our contract process if you expect to receive more than $600 (cumulative, not individual payments) of taxable non-employee compensation in a single year. Below that we do not require a contract. The $600 threshold is determined by the IRS, who requires us to provide a 1099-NEC form annually to all contractors who have received more than $600 cumulatively in a single tax year.
Am I an employee of NumFOCUS?
Contractors and consultants are not employees, and so they do not receive a Form W-2 from NumFOCUS. Only employees receive a W-2. Read about the official legal difference between contractors and employees in the worker classification article on the IRS website. Contractors are not eligible for payroll withholding or benefits.
What kind of tax document will I receive? Do I get a 1099? Do I get a W-2?
NumFOCUS contractors receive Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation annually in January. Only employees receive Form W-2.
NumFOCUS is required to furnish all contractors who must file taxes with the IRS with a 1099-NEC. This group includes US citizens, residents, anyone else who must file a US and/or state income tax return. You will receive an email from us or from a registered tax service before January 31 for the prior year’s compensation. Keep an eye out for that email. If you do not receive an email and think you should have, please check your junk/spam folder. If you still do not see it, please email so that we can provide you with one.
Why do I need to provide a W-9 or W-8 form to you?
The US government requires us to verify the tax details of all contractors, whether or not they pay US taxes, through the W-9 or W-8 forms. The W-9 form is for people who pay US taxes including citizens and residents. The W-8 form is for people who do not pay US taxes. We cannot legally advise you as to which form to use or how to fill them out. Please read the instructions for each form provided by the IRS:
Can we propose different terms for our contract?
You will have the opportunity to review your contract before signing it and propose alternate terms that are not part of our standard legal agreement. Although we make every effort to find common ground, we reserve the right to refuse to contract with individuals with whom we cannot reach agreement on terms.
Why does a PI have to acknowledge the contract?
Our project representatives (AKA PIs = Principal Investigators) bear financial responsibility for their projects, and this includes approving the terms of contracts and approving payments to contractors and reimbursements. PIs should be aware of their project and grant budgets and balances, and should only approve contracts for which their project has guaranteed funding to pay. We assist PIs with making sure funding is available.
What does the contract mean when it says NumFOCUS will not pay contractors if there isn’t sufficient project funding?
NumFOCUS’s contract specifies that we are not obligated to pay out contracts if the project doesn’t have the money to pay them in their account. We also specify maximum contract amounts. These terms protect us legally and financially from having to pay excessive or inappropriate financial requests.
However, it is important to note that NumFOCUS will not approve or sign a contract which does not have guaranteed funding in full. This is part of the finance team’s process. We match contracts to budgets carefully, we ask PIs to review and update budgets, review existing funding sources and balances, and otherwise make sure that we are in a position to fully pay every contract that we are obligated to. Contractors do not need to worry that we or the project will run out of money and be unable to pay them.
What is the difference between a contract and a subcontract?
Most of the individuals and companies that contract with us will be contractors. You must meet certain requirements to be a subcontractor (usually a subrecipient of a grant) as stated below.
Contractors meet the following criteria:
- A contractor is not subject to the compliance requirements of any grant or Federal or state award, including quantitative and qualitative reporting, audit, nonprofit status, code of conduct, conservation, contractual requirements, or similar.
- A contractor provides goods or services developed according to the specifications of NumFOCUS and its Projects and Project Principal Investigators. A contractor does not make independent decisions regarding how to implement the activities under the grant or award.
- A contractor provides similar goods or services within its normal business operations to more than one company or individual and normally operates in a competitive environment.
Subrecipients must meet the following criteria:
- The subrecipient is subject to the compliance requirements of the principal award as noted above alongside NumFOCUS.
- The subrecipient exercises programmatic control over how the grant or award work is performed. It makes independent decisions regarding how to implement the proposed activities, as opposed to providing goods or services to the prime award PI.
- The subrecipient is responsible for substantive programmatic work or for conducting a significant portion of the project.
- A principal investigator has been identified at the subrecipient who functions as a Co-PI. Publications may be created or co-authored.
** Note that when one of the Project PIs for an award or grant is an employee of a contractor, this does not create a situation in which the contractor becomes a subrecipient. For grant and award purposes, the Project PI acts as a representative of NumFOCUS and the Project rather than in their capacity as an employee of a contractor.
Instructions for the Contract Request Form
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Request Date |
Auto-filled. The date the form was filled out.
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Contractor/Subcontractor Legal Name |
This can be an individual or a company’s name. It should be your official government document name, the same name used on tax and banking documents. Do not use aliases or nicknames.
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Contact Email Address |
The email address we will use to send the contract for review and signature.
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Full Address, including Country |
Your permanent address used in tax and banking documents. Please include your country name.
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Contract Type |
Please make one choice. Independent Contractor Agreement, Subcontract, or Amendment. Please only choose Amendment if your prior contract has not expired. For an explanation of Contract or Subcontract, please see our Contract FAQs.
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Project |
Please make one choice. Choose the open-source fiscally sponsored project or affiliated project. This does not mean the language you are writing code in. If you do not know the project name, please contact the person hiring you and inquire.
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Project PI Contact |
Please provide the name of the Project contact who hired you for this work. This person will be responsible for reviewing the contract and financially signing off on the work. If the name provided does not match a PI name we have on file for that Project, we will contact the Project to determine how to proceed.
If this is an SDG and you are working independently of the PIs under the name of a Project, you still must provide the name of a Project PI who is financially responsible for the project.
If you are a PI, you cannot acknowledge your own contract because it is a financial conflict of interest. You must provide the name of a co-PI who can acknowledge your contract and approve your invoices.
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Project PI Email |
The email address we will use to send the contract for review and signature.
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Grant Type |
If applicable, please type in the name of the grant that is funding your work. Some examples are the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), Sloan Foundation, Moore Foundation, Small Development Grant, etc.
If you do not know the grantor’s name or the grant name, please contact the person hiring you and inquire.
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Hourly Rate and Contract Value |
Please add the US dollar amount you will be paid on an hourly basis and the total amount you are to be paid. If you have not discussed these details already with your PI or do not know, please put 0 in both, and we will ask the PI to determine this amount.
If this is a milestone-based contract, please add those details in the Description of Work section.
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Contract Start Date Contract End Date |
When do you expect work on this contract to begin and end? These dates may coincide with grant dates, if you know them.
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Budget Category |
Please choose the option that best describes the work you will do under this contract.
If you are teaching a class, developing instructional materials, conducting a webinar, or similar educational work, please choose “community management”.
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Description of Work |
This is a brief description of the work that you will be doing, less than 50 words in length. It should encapsulate the work described in the Statement of Work.
Example: “Contractor will further develop the Julia language websites (julia.org and the various subdomains) for enhanced learning and community engagement.”
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W-9 and W-8 |
Please upload your Form W-9 (US taxpayers) or W-8 (non-US taxpayers). IRS.gov provides instructions and forms for you to use for this purpose, which are linked in our Contractor FAQs. NumFOCUS does not have the legal authority to advise contractors about how to fill out these forms or which form is appropriate.
Submissions without this form will be canceled and will need to be re-requested.
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Outlaw Contract Software – Instructions
Accessing Contracts
We will send you a notification email from Outlaw asking you to review the contract.
You can view the contract as a Guest or you can create an account. Guests can view and sign, but they cannot edit or comment. Guests also cannot see the status of the contract.
Instructions for creating a User Account. You can also sign in with Google or Microsoft.
Do you need an account? No. However, you won’t be able to see the status of contracts sent to you without an account.
Reviewing and Negotiating A Contract
Once you’re in the system you will see the Overview. Click on Contract to view the contract.
If we need more information, it will be in the form of a Comment Please respond via Comment or redline the document with your changes. If we don’t need information, you won’t see any comments. Please use the Notify checkbox at the bottom of the section if you make changes.
To add a comment, hover cursor (or tap on a phone) beside any contract section and click the dialogue bubble icon that appears. Leave your comment. Other users are notified when comments are made and resolved.
To redline a document (suggest changes), click on a section and add or delete text as you would in any word processor. Please check the Notify button so others know you’ve proposed changes for review.
Signing a Contract
Before signing, you can preview your document as a PDF.
When all comments and negotiation points have been resolved and the document’s information is fully complete and resolved, you can return to the signatory section and tap to sign.