Finance Training Picture?

What is Your Role?

Authorising the payment of all expenses.* Together, the treasurer and president of a society have primary responsibility for all matters relating to your society’s finances. This includes: Ensuring that you, your executive committee and your members comply with the Student’s Union Financial Regulations insofar as they are applicable to societies. Keeping a proper account of the society’s income and outgoings and keeping tracked of planned and actual expenditure to ensure that projects do not exceed budget. * Paying all society income received in the form of cash or cheques into the society’s account. * Authorising the payment of all expenses.* Picture? * Primarily the responsibility of the Treasurer

Reminders

What’s in Your Account? Union Fund Club Fund Picture?

Union Fund What gets paid into your Union Fund? Members’ joining fees Allocations from the Societies Guild What gets paid out of your Union Fund? Money you have budgeted to spend, as long as the budgeted expenditure has been approved. Picture? At the end of the year, everything in the Union Fund “rolls into” next year’s Club Fund, less any unspent Guild allocations, which must be returned.

Club Fund What gets paid into your Club Fund? Any money from the previous year’s Union Fund Any money you raise for your society during the year from events, sales etc. What gets paid out of your Club Fund? Any money you choose to spend, so long as what you spend it on benefits all members is not alcohol is not illegal Picture?

Budget Applications

Why was our budget form important? In order to use its membership income, each society must submit a budget application using the required form, and this must be approved by the Guild. If you have NOT submitted a budget application, your Union Fund will be frozen until you have submitted one, and it has been approved. We strongly recommend that you check your membership numbers two weeks after Freshers’ Fayre. If the numbers are significantly different from your prediction, you may wish to revise your plans. Picture?

What happened after we submitted it? All forms were carefully reviewed - firstly by the Societies Team, and then by the Treasurer of the Societies Guild Committee. We looked at societies’ spending plans, and considered whether: their projected membership income would be enough to pay for everything, and the spending fell within, or outside, the core aims and objectives of the society. If you wanted to spend more than you were likely to receive from memberships, you may been allocated funds, been asked to subsidise the cost from your Club Fund etc., or both. Picture?

How was funding decided? Funding was allocated to allow you to pursue those activities of most benefit to the most members, given the aims and objectives of your society. Funding has also been allocated where societies are seeking to involve categories of students that sometime struggle to engage with activities on campus, e.g. mature students. To ensure larger and smaller societies were treated fairly, and to reflect the fact that funding comes from the Societies Guild memberships paid by your members, we looked at how much funding was being allocated per society member before making a final decision. Picture?

What if we need more money? Submit a Supplementary Budget Form request if you would like to change your plans in the light of funding decisions. Think about different ways of fundraising, perhaps in collaboration with another society or club. Consider Click crowdfunding (which also generates contacts for your society, and excellent experience for the executive!). If you can wait until the start of Term Two, more money may be made available if societies do not use the allocations they have been given, and this is reclaimed. The Committee is looking at enabling societies to make additional funding bids for specific projects directly to representatives of the Guild. We will let you know more as soon as we are able. Picture?

Weekly Finance Reports

Treasurers and Presidents receive weekly automated reports stating the current balance and transaction history of their society’s account. You should check through these carefully to keep track of your income and expenditure, and also to spot any errors. Picture?

1 4 Picture? 3 2

What Does it Mean? Last year’s Union Fund PLUS last year’s Club Fund LESS any unspent allocation EQUALS your opening balance Membership payments to your Union Fund (£5.00 or £2.50 less VAT = £4.17 or £1.66 per member) Allocations granted by the Guild for budgeted costs that your Union Fund can’t cover – must be repaid if not used Club Fund income includes money from fundraising and profits from events. Outgoings include unbudgeted expenses, and expenses paid in order to fundraise Picture?

Money In - Money Out

Paying Money In Money from web sales – basically, membership and tickets – is paid directly into societies’ accounts. Cash, and occasionally cheques, should be paid into your society’s account at the SU Reception desk as soon as possible after they are received, using a paying-in form. You will receive a receipt, which you should keep. The sum will then be credited to your account. If the money has been raised for charity, you will need to complete one additional form – a RaG form. Just specify the name of the charity that will receive the money, and whether you would like the SU to pay it to them directly, or whether you would like a cheque prepared so that you can send it to them along with a covering letter. Pay all the money you receive into your account. Do not deduct any expenses from the money being paid in. This is important! Picture? Deduct any expenses from the money you have raised BEFORE you pay it in, unless you are happy for use your club fund for these. You cannot claim expenses from the RaG fund.

Expenses Normally, executives or ordinary members pay for items up front, then claim the amount as expenses. To do this, they MUST attach receipts for everything they have spent. Some amounts can be paid by invoice (basically, the seller or provider sends the SU a bill, which we pay to them directly) and particularly large items can be purchased on your behalf. Expenses forms must be completed by the person claiming the money, signed by the Treasurer, and handed in at SU Reception. They should then be collected from the same place, when they will be reimbursed in cash on production of a registration card. Large amounts (£150 plus) will be paid via bank transfer, so please provide your bank details – account name, account no., sort code - along with the form. If Treasurers are claiming expenses themselves, the form must be signed by the President. Picture?

Value Added Tax

*To calculate the VAT just divide by 1.2 * Societies must pay VAT at a rate of 20% on any income they receive. For example: Membership costs £5.00 - you get £4.16 and HMRC gets 84p Event ticket costs £15.00 – you get £12.50 and HMRC gets £2.50 Cake sale raises £50.00 – you get £41.67 and HMRC gets £8.33 The SU will claim back any VAT you pay when you buy goods or pay for travel, but only if you ask for a VAT receipt when you pay. Even shops like Tesco are happy to do this, but you must ask. It is very important to allow for VAT when calculating your income versus costs, or you may make a loss. *To calculate the VAT just divide by 1.2 *

Compliance

All income and expenses MUST go through your society’s official bank account – NEVER offset expenses against income and pay in the difference. It is okay to do this when money has been raised for a charity, because charities do not pay VAT on income from donations. It is ILLEGAL for a society to open a separate bank account, or for any member to pay society money into their own account.

Declaration of Financial Responsibility Verification of Authorised Signatures