Finance
Each society and club has an indiviudal financial 'pot' as we call it held centrally within the SU. This is where any memberships or event tickets you sell goes straight into.
We will send the amounts in each pot out to every society/club at the start of the year, it is then your treasurers responsibility to keep note of any expenditure out of this throughout the year to ensure you do not go over budget.
Please contact Jessie at j.backhouse@uos.ac.uk in the first instance before purchasing or agreeing to purchase anything.
Financial Requests
Societies can use money from their pots in two ways:
1. Reimbursement method - this is where you buy something up front and then claim it back using a reimbursement form and sending us a copy of the receipt.
You must make sure there is enough in your society/club pot in advance of purchasing anything to cover the reimbursement.
Each reimbursement form can only be filled in with one committee member's details on.
Only the president and treasurer are allowed to make purchasers on behalf of their society/club.
All purchases must have matching receipts and we will not be able to reimburse anything without a receipt
The SU cannot guarantee payback of any individual - you make purchases at your own risk and judgement. Please check with us in advance if you are unsure about anything.
2. Budget Request forms - this is where you tell us the items you would like to purchase and we will do it on your behalf
This is most suitable for purchases which are of higher value.
This can also be used when you are not able to use your own funds upfront.
The payment is to a business/venue which can be payable via invoice.
Only the president or treasurer can submit items for purchasing.
We will need at least two weeks notice for this way of purchasing.
When using either of these two method please provide as much detail and context as possible as to what the items are for and quantities required etc.
Guests/Organisations/businesses
Guests are anyone you may have speak or run an event on your behalf that are not students or part of your society/club
Organisations/businesses/companies are venues where you may hold events.
If any money is being requested to pay for the above two things they should invoice the SU. Please get all the relevant details from us before agreeing to this.
You should agree a price in advance and no further costs should be included on the invoice that you have not agreed to.
You should always ensure you have enough in your pot before agreeing to any invoice and please check with us in advance to ensure it will be authorised ad there may be certain reasons that we will decline the payment - so never agree or promise to anything without being 100% sure it will be authorised by the SU.
Activities Fund for 2023/24
This is a pot of money that each society/club can apply to for additional funding to complete a specific activity, event or buy materials etc. which will aim to benefit all members of their society. Please provide as much detail as possible on the form - each society will have been emailed the link to the form
1.When we get applications to access the Activities Fund from any club or society, we’ll firstly make sure the application fits the funds objectives.
2. If they do, we’ll then email the application to all club and society presidents and ask them to reply and let us know whether they want to approve or reject the application or abstain from the decision.
3.We’ll give a deadline of 4 working days to respond.
4. If a majority of responses vote to approve the application then it’ll be granted and the club or society who applied will be able to go ahead with their plans. If a majority of responses vote to reject the funding application then it’ll be rejected but the club or society who put in the application will be able to appeal this decision to the President of Activities and Wellbeing – who will make a final decision on the funding application
5.I will update on the amount left in the fund at the end of each term.
Finance Regulations
1. When members join a society their membership fee will be paid directly into your financial pot.
2. The SU cannot accept any payments in cash so please try and avoid using this wherever possible.
3. If cash is collected by a club/society the treasurer must keep accurate record of this and be able to prove its whereabouts if required.
4. Sponorship contracts should not conflict with the SU's Articles of Association, bye-laws or policies. All sponsorship contracts should be checked by the SU before any agreement is made
5. Clubs/societies are not permitted to operate an external bank account
6. Clubs/Societies wishing to spend money from their pot must have all transactions approved by the SU in advance. The SU cannot guarantee reimbursement.
7. Your club/society pot cannot be used to purchase alcohol, drugs or any other item that would go against the SU code of conduct. Any item of this nature will not be reimbursed in any instance.
8. Your club/society pot cannot be used to make direct donations to any organisation (affiliations, charity or political body) without prior approval.
9. If a club/society is left dormant for two years, any balance will be transferred into a central activities pot within the SU.
10. If a club/society pot goes into a deficit, they must attend a meeting with the SU to discuss a repayment plan. Signatories will need to sign a replayment plan and attend regular review meetings. Clubs/societies in a deficit will not be able to make any payments or claim any reimbursements until they are back in credit.
11. The treasurer of the activity will be responsible for submitting an annual budget report to the SU when asked.
12. The SU does not guarantee payment or reimbursement of any kind.
Please contact Jessie at j.backhouse@uos.ac.uk with any questions.