How to be a “good” Society Treasurer

How to be a “good” Society Treasurer Paula Park- Director of Finance df.union@ncl.ac.uk 0191 2393911

TRAINING AGENDA Introduction Grant Applications Roles and Responsibilities NUSU Financial Systems Sponsorship Preventing Fraud Student Group Finances (SGF) Reports Vehicle Booking Fundraising

Peter Brown Finance Assistant George Williams Finance Assistant Edward Sheils Finance Assistant Sultana Khatun Activities Finance Paula Park Director of Finance Introduction to the NUSU Finance Team Bernie Dick Finance Assistant Michelle Wills Senior Finance Assistant

WHAT DOES A TREASURER DO? THINK OF SOME ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES YOU MAY HAVE THIS YEAR

APPROVE TRANSPORT COSTS SUBMIT & APPROVE CLAIMS APPLY FOR FUNDING LEARN & UNDERSTAND FINANCIAL SYSTEMS KEEP TRACK OF INCOME & EXPENDITURE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITES ATTEND SOCIETY MEETINGS AND EVENTS ORGANISE FUNDRAISING & SPONSORSHIP UPDATE COMMITTEE MEMBERS ON FINANCIAL SITUATION BUDGET FOR EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

What we’ll cover • Grant Applications • Viewing Reports • Member’s balance • Grant balance • Special Grant balance • Student Group Finances • Money requests • Sales invoices • Purchase orders • Sponsorship & fundraising • Vehicle bookings NUSU Financial Systems

CLUB GRANT IS DISTRIBUTED AT THE START OF THE YEAR • Focus on promoting your society to get good membership numbers early- • membership numbers as of 7th October get £2 per head • E.g. have 150 members? You will receive a grant of £300 from NUSU • Fill in application by 3rd October indicating society aims and goals for the year • No spending on food and drink • Only available for the academic year then the Union will take it back • Try use up your grant money first! Grant Applications

Special grants can be applied for during the year- online form • Can only be spent on what is indicated in the application • Not on social events • Allocated for projects, purchases and events • Will only be allocated for a set period of time make sure you spend it or you lose it • Need to report back on impact of the grant after it is spent Special Grant Applications

WEEKLY BY EMAIL SUMMARY OF BALANCES FULL DETAILS Will be sent automatically to treasurer. Amounts in each account. All transactions by account. Reports

NO EXTERNAL BANK ACCOUNTS SHOULD BE HELD. -Cash/ cheques go to the cash office • Cheques must be made payable to: “Newcastle University Students’ Union” • Write the name of your societyon the back of the cheque • All cash should be paid in as soon as possible -PayPal card readers available to loan from the Union for events & fundraising Paying into the account -Online ticket sales through the NUSU website -Sponsorships paid in through SGF -Transfers to bank account (with prior arrangement)

VAT- You need to pay it! -Money requests on SGF • Reimburse yourself, another student, or a supplier • Approve invoice payments on SGF- we can pay suppliers directly -Costs for events held in the Union Spending from the account -Consider timescales -Payments made once a week

Need help using SGF? SGF IS THE MAIN SYSTEM YOU’LL NEED TO GET YOUR HEAD AROUND AS A TREASURER

Student Group Finances (SGF) • Navigate to SGF through your club page, and go to “finances” • You can view your account balances here (not live, updated weekly). • Here you can make 3 kinds of requests

Balance Available Balance This is combined amount between your grant and general members balances. This balance is not live, it is updated weekly. This is the balance (as described above), plus/ minus the expected income/ expenditure from the requests you have made in the past week Balance VS Available Balance

Purchase Order Money Request Sales Invoice • Use this only when a company sends you a purchase orderfor goods/ services before you receive an invoice. Do not use this if you have been given an invoice. • This should be used when wanting to reimburse someone for a payment they’ve already made on the club’s behalf. • Also use this to pay a supplier if they give you a purchase invoice for goods/ services you have bought. • This is when you are requesting money being paid into the account, such as through sponsorship. • You do not need to do this for products on the NUSU website, income is automatic for these. Request types

Student Group Finances (SGF) • In money request, you can request a reimbursement or pay a supplier directly. • Provide as much detail as you can, justification is important! • Ask yourself: • Members, grant, or special grant account balance? • Does the amount requested match the amount on the receipts uploaded? • Have you got enough in the account to pay?

Student Group Finances (SGF) • Members can also make requests, but all requests must be treasurer approved. • You can also add multiple items to one request if the payee is the same. • Reviewing: • Approve: if request looks ready to go to the next approval step. • Refer to Requestor: if the requestor needs to edit/add more information. • Reject: completely cancel the request. • Return to draft: you can edit the request yourself. • You can see the full history of the request below.

Student Group Finances (SGF) • For Sales invoices (money coming in) and purchase orders (money coming out): • Click on corresponding request type in the “finances” section • Complete ALL boxes • To add multiple requests to one company just create the first one and then “add item” to add another. • Must approved by you and the president/secretary before being passed to NUSU

You should track each request on the SGF timeline to see which stage it is currently at. When you see that its status is “complete”, you should email the supplier/ payee to confirm they’ll receive their money. You should tell them I the email what to look for on their bank statement: “NUSU” and the SGF request number

All requests go through a train of approval before processing: FRAUD IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE Treasurer | Secretary/ President | Activities | Finance If you see a request that looks fraudulent, reject it or refer it back to the requestor. YOU have responsibility to stop Fraud This is why justifications and receipts are important.

What expenditure is allowed? DISCUSS THIS IN GROUPS

LET’S SAY YOU’RE PLANNING A SOCIETY BALL… Basic Budgeting You need to start with a budget Ball costs: • £1000 venue hire (including VAT) • £20 plus VAT per head for food How much do you need to charge?

Basic Budgeting

RULES • No sponsorship from bars or nightclubs or anything alcohol related permitted • Sponsorship must be pre-approved by an AU Officer • DON’T SIGN ANYTHING WITHOUT GETTING APPROVAL FIRST Sponsorship TIPS • Don’t underestimate the value of advertising to students • Look out for national organisations • Sponsorship isn’t always a monetary value- look out for discounts for your members

Follow NUSU guidelines NOTE: You can’t just give members or grant funds away to charity! • Who are you fundraising for? • Only raise funds for official registered charities or your own society • Follow Charities Commission guidelines • Make sure funds raised are secure e.g. sealed collection buckets Fundraising Bring funds raised to the cash office promptly No funds can be paid out to charity without evidence they were raised for the charity

Driver registration forms Vehicle bookings Treasurer must approve Invoice will be paid Vehicle booking forms Costs added when vehicles are booked Will you need any minibus drivers? Online submission by any club member AT LEAST 2 WEEKS IN ADVANCE Online approval Check account balances Check account balances Change in “available balance”

Finance documentation: https://www.nusu.co.uk/getinvolved/societies/documents/ Resource links

How to be a “good” Society Treasurer